Farmers and GM activists blockaded Sainsburys HQ yesterday afternoon over the stores failure to phase out GM feed to the cows which produce it’s milk, and in protest over the low price paid to dairy farmers.
After their written attempts to arrange a meeting with Sainsbury’s failed, Folk from the Fair Price for GM Free-Milk Alliance tried to enter the offices in London to speak to management about the issues, but security who were on guard outside stopped them, and jammed the only working door to the large lobby area.
There was then a prolonged attempt to get the rotating door working again, with a bundle of bodies cheerfully pushing on the glass to Welsh cries of ‘one, two three… heave!’. The opposing be suited tug of door team on the inside was looking the weaker, until the lock was engaged. After this the group blockaded the entrance instead. The obstruction held, first by shier weight of numbers, and then through enterprising person with a chain. Meanwhile a plain cloths protester climbed up the inside of the large lobby (which all the 7 or so floors of office space look onto) and explained to the assembled employees what the group was upset about. Two women also climbed the outside of the building and hung banners, while leafleting and a loudhailer got the message across to the incredibly supportive crowd of passing pedestrians. After two hours the store agreed to a future comprehensive meeting between senior staff and Alliance members, and everyone went home for tea.
Sainsbury’s suppliers now pay most farmers less for their milk than it costs to produce. 40 dairy farmers are going under every week in Britain at the moment because of the supermarkets priceing policies, it's a quiet national crisis. But it goes hand in hand with the international crisis of biotechnology. Farmers want to avoid GM crops, but the poor payment they currently receive forces many of them to keep using the fractionally cheaper GM contaminated imports. The continuing threat of GM, and the corporate aquisition and gentrification of the countryside, could be stopped if farmers got a fair fraction of the price paid for their milk, and the supermarkets were obliged to keep their 3 year old promise to phase out GM feed.
There was then a prolonged attempt to get the rotating door working again, with a bundle of bodies cheerfully pushing on the glass to Welsh cries of ‘one, two three… heave!’. The opposing be suited tug of door team on the inside was looking the weaker, until the lock was engaged. After this the group blockaded the entrance instead. The obstruction held, first by shier weight of numbers, and then through enterprising person with a chain. Meanwhile a plain cloths protester climbed up the inside of the large lobby (which all the 7 or so floors of office space look onto) and explained to the assembled employees what the group was upset about. Two women also climbed the outside of the building and hung banners, while leafleting and a loudhailer got the message across to the incredibly supportive crowd of passing pedestrians. After two hours the store agreed to a future comprehensive meeting between senior staff and Alliance members, and everyone went home for tea.
Sainsbury’s suppliers now pay most farmers less for their milk than it costs to produce. 40 dairy farmers are going under every week in Britain at the moment because of the supermarkets priceing policies, it's a quiet national crisis. But it goes hand in hand with the international crisis of biotechnology. Farmers want to avoid GM crops, but the poor payment they currently receive forces many of them to keep using the fractionally cheaper GM contaminated imports. The continuing threat of GM, and the corporate aquisition and gentrification of the countryside, could be stopped if farmers got a fair fraction of the price paid for their milk, and the supermarkets were obliged to keep their 3 year old promise to phase out GM feed.
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