Farmers’ beef with agricultural charity hosting vegan festival
A FARMING charity has been criticised for hosting a vegan festival with an “aggressive anti-farming agenda” that includes an activism boot camp.
The Newark and Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society, a charity with the stated aims of “the promotion of agriculture”, has a three-year contract to host the Vegan Camp-out at its showground.
The festival, which last year attracted more than 2,000 people, is sponsored by an organisation that described dairy farming as “rape” and has hosted talks from activists who have spent time in prison for their campaigns.
Tim Bonner, the chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, said that it had had complaints from members who were coming under increasing attack from vegan activists.
He has written to the society to raise his concerns and called on it to “cancel this event to protect the farming community, rather than promoting extremists who want to end their way of life”.
The Newark and Nottinghamshire Agricultural Society, which was founded more than 200 years ago, holds a number of farming events including the Nottinghamshire County Agricultural Show, which will take place next month.
Mr Bonner told The Daily Telegraph: “It is quite extraordinary that a society with the charitable object of promoting agriculture should be hosting an event that has at its core an aggressive antifarming agenda.
“The society’s showground, which was created to promote farming in Nottinghamshire, is now being used as a training ground for extremists who campaign against livestock farming and the rural way of life.
“The dairy industry in particular, but also other livestock farmers and butchers, are coming under increasing attack from vegan activism.”
In 2018, one headline speaker at the Vegan Camp-out was Ronnie Lee, the founder of the Animal Liberation Front, who was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison and condoned violent protest.
Activism boot camps were held by The Save Movement, the Hunt Saboteurs Association, and Surge and Animal Aid, which all actively campaign against traditional livestock farming, shooting and hunting.
This year’s event, due to take place from Aug 30 to Sept 1, is sponsored by animal rights group Viva! The group has campaigned against dairy, pig and poultry farming, claims that dairy cows are “raped” and last year held a talk at the festival entitled “Face off against the meat and dairy industry”.
The show is headlined by anti-dairy activists including Canadian Erin Janus and Earthling Ed. Dr Alex Hershaft, a holocaust survivor who has compared the agriculture industry to Nazi concentration camps, will also hold a talk.
It will be held less than 15 miles from a farm where activists were last month accused of accidentally killing piglets in a stampede during a protest. Some of those involved had previously attended the festival.
The society said in response to complaints that it was an “active supporter of rural life and agriculture” and pointed out that by renting out the showground it was able to keep shows running as well as offering grants, apprenticeships and equipment loans to the rural community.
A spokesman said: “In a democracy, we recognise the right of those making extreme opinions to express them, even if we disagree with them, provided they remain within the law.”
The organisers of the event addressed the fact that the land is used for “animal agriculture/non-vegan friendly purposes” in their FAQS, but lamented “there is no such thing as a vegan festival venue (yet …)”.
A spokesman for Vegan Camp-out said: “The Camp-out and Camp-out organisers are not opposed to agriculture or farming as a whole, as veganism requires both farming and agriculture to produce amazing plant-based food.”
‘The society’s showground is now being used as a training ground for extremists to campaign against farming’