A member of Redditch Vegetarians and Vegans, along with 3 members of other environmental campaigning groups in Redditch, formed a deputation on Mon 25 June at the full council meeting of Redditch Borough Council(RBC).


The deputation, before 29 councillors (and numerous council officials), was aimed at inviting all councillors to attend a special screening of Al Gore`s film `An Inconvenient Truth` to take place in September, and also to remind councillors that RBC has already signed `The Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change` which commits them to taking positive action in tackling this issue, the greatest threat to our planet!

Other groups that took part were Redditch Friends of the Earth and the Redditch Trade Justice Network. Together with these & other local `green` groups, we have formed the umbrella group Redditch Alliance of Greens.

Due to the deputation being specifically related to Al Gore`s film screening and the Nottingham Declaration, there was no intention to raise the issue of the environmental impact of meat/dairy production. But out of the several councillors that asked questions of the deputation, one chose to make an ill informed comment about how soya(health food) production is destroying Amazon rainforests! Of course, he was very quickly made aware that the large majority(perhaps upto 90%) of this soya is actually fed to livestock!!

RVV believe that our involvement in this deputation, and the ongoing project of screening the film, will reinforce our reputation as a well respected `environmental` campaigning group within the town, ie we promote the environmental benefits of plant based diets, not just the animal and health benefits!

As awareness grows of the devastating impact that climate change will have on the planet, more and more people are seeking ways in which they can reduce their personal ecological footprint. There has never been a better time to create awareness of sustainable, climate friendly diets!!

We firmly believe that by building strong links with a broad range of local environmental, ethical and social justice groups, we can get our message out to a much wider audience, as we did at the recent Redditch Green Fair. See our report here and see the dedicated green fair website www.redditchgreenfair.org.uk

Read an article about the deputation, which appeared in the Redditch Standard on Fri 29 June 2007.

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