Sherborne Sainsbury's Special – the complete moo-down on the day..

I don't think Sherborne quite knew what had hit it when we first arrived. However, by the time we left I don't think there was much doubt about the message that we had come to deliver! 17 cows, 5 milkmen,and a large crowd of leafletters demonstrated outside the store for a couple of hours, as well as circling the town center twice on a busy Saturday afternoon, which also just happened to be market day. Very well received by the general public,we distributed 2,500 of the new leaflets [ www.geneticsaction.org.uk/resources/alliancesainsburys.pdf ]


A fair amount of local and regional media interest. The regional TV station were interested in featuring a clip on the evening news, if we could provide footage ourselves (only one cameraman covers the region at weekends) Unfortunately, a technical hitch on our part prevented this,but we live and learn. A full page, very accurately reported, with full comments from both our concerned consumer group ,and Robert Vint at Genetic Food Alert, allowed us to paint a bigger picture,and highlight a fair deal for farmers. A small photo and paragraph in another local rag on their food and drink page, and possibly a couple of others that requested photos which I didn't manage to send (time constraints) may have run the story regardless. Also I believe we got a mention on a local radio station.

Big police presence, but they kept a low profile,The store manager asked if there was any thing that he could do "personally". I explained that since our first visit about a month ago (1 cow, 1 leafletter,1 banner) I had (as a member of the general public) made 3 enquiries regarding their animal feed policy to 3 separate members of staff who had all given an incorrect or misleading response. I explained that this was something which he needed to address. It would be interesting to know if this is typical of their staff nationally.

The whole exercise involved very little organisation, and I think an unstructured approach on the day made us seem more approachable to the general public, who we found responsive and encouraging. In order to keep the herd mooving (sorry!) along, members of the pubic wishing to ask questions were referred to designated members of our group, who tailed behind.
A big thank you to everyone that took part in this worthwhile action ,which I hope will be inspirational to others.

DO IT YOURSELF...
Your Nearest Sainsbury's: www.sainsburys.com/storelocator
Campaign Leaflet: www.geneticsaction.org.uk/resources/alliancesainsburys.pdf
Campaign Hows and Whys: www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/03/286947.html
Other Sainsbury's Protests: www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/07/294268.html
Costumes available from 01803 840098.