The Food
Chain Fortnight
5 – 18 October 2009
www.foe.co.uk/community/foodchain
Contents
Section 1 - Introduction to the Food Chain Fortnight
(3)
Section 2 - A bit of context … (4)
Section 3 - What are we asking you to do? (9)
Section 4 - Lobbying your MP on the Manifesto
demands (16)
Section 5 - How to make your piñata (19)
Section 6 - How to make your giant spoon prop (22)
Section 7 - Using your piñata & spoon (23)
Section 8 - An alternative photo (26)
Section 9 - Getting in the media (27)
Section 10 - Other ideas for your Food Chain
Fortnight (29)
Section 11 - Promoting your Food Chain Fortnight to
individual activists in your area (31)
Section 12 - Other resources and support (32)
2
Introduction to the Food Chain
Fortnight
WELCOME to the Food Chain Fortnight action guide. This guide
tells you about the follow-up action you can take to the fantastic
Summer of Action on the Food Chain Campaign, between 5 and 18
October this year.
The aims of Food Chain Fortnight are:
1) to provide a big, positive, media- and MP- focused climax to
all the hard campaigning work local activists have been
doing on the campaign throughout the year;
2) to give MPs a timely reminder of their commitments and/or
obligations as they head back into the new Parliamentary
session;
3) to bring MPs further up the ladder of commitment by getting
them to commit publicly (through the media) to supporting
not only EDM 845, but also our asks for their party
Manifestos as they begin to think about the forthcoming
General Election.
We're asking you to bring your summer of action to a close by
inviting your MP to help you stage a media stunt where they will be
presented with all of the cut-out animals you've been collecting from
people signing postcards in your area. If you have more time you can
also build up your action into a fun-filled Food Chain Fortnight of
events. We've provided some ideas to get you started.
With this action guide you will have received all the information and
props you need to build a fantastic piñata* for your MP to smash for
the media, demonstrating their commitment to Fixing the Food
Chain. Read on for more information about the about the action, how
to plan it, how to involve your MP and how to get some media
coverage for your group and the campaign.
As always, if you have any questions, concerns or need any more
materials, please contact Richard Hines: [email protected]
or 020 7566 4073
* What is a piñata? Skip to page 19 or see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%B1ata
3
A bit of context…
What’s Food Chain Fortnight about?
Over the summer of action, local activism has focused on building
support from MPs for the Food Chain Campaign. Groups have
engaged in some creative campaigning which has been successful
in getting over 240 MPs to sign up to our Early Day Motion (EDM) on
Deforestation, Climate Change and Livestock – acknowledging the
damaging impacts of the intensive meat and dairy industry and
supporting the need for action to investigate and tackle the UK‟s role
in driving those impacts.
This puts us in a very strong position to move forward to the next
stage where we are asking MPs to support three key demands
being included in their party’s general election manifesto. These
demands build on the issues raised during the summer of action and
EDM.
Why manifestos?
Election manifestos set out political parties‟ priorities, positions and
policies. This is particularly important for the party coming into
power, because if they‟ve committed to support our demands in their
manifesto, it makes it more likely they will introduce legislation on it,
and means we have something to hold them to in future. Manifestos
start being written now and go through many revisions before they
are made public, shortly before an election.
Based on current polling it is likely that the Conservatives will come
into power, therefore it‟s important to push for our demands to be
included in the Conservative‟s manifesto.
But there is a lot of time between now and the election and politics is
unpredictable, so we also want to get commitments into Labour and
Liberal Democrat‟s manifestos. By targeting all MPs it also makes it
more likely MPs will support any future legislation introduced on
those issues.
4
What are our manifesto demands?
Our party manifesto demands are a natural progression from what
we‟ve been asking MPs to support to date and over the summer of
action. Our three priority demands are:
1. A new law to measure, report on, and then introduce a
strategy to reduce the global environmental impacts of
the UK’s consumption of meat and dairy products.
This demand follows on from EDM 845 which raised the impacts of
the intensive meat and dairy industry and called for action to address
it. The strategy is crucial to our campaign and could include a
number of our other demands – see the summer of action guide for
more detail:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/action_guides/food_chain_action_guid
e.pdf
We aim for a commitment to be made to this legislation in the
parliamentary session following the general election.
2. Establish an independent supermarket Ombudsman to
stop the bullying practices of the supermarkets and
ensure fairer terms of trade for farmers and suppliers in
the UK and overseas.
The Ombudsman would monitor and investigate supermarkets‟
buying practices and ensure they comply with the Grocery Market
Code of Practice. Without an independent watchdog the Code will
not be properly enforced.
Supermarkets continue to make record profits while farmers struggle
to survive – small farmers are particularly vulnerable to the price
demands of supermarkets. The pressure for ever-cheaper food has
also forced many farmers to intensify production.
Farmers must be treated fairly and get a fair price for their produce if
they are to be able to invest in more sustainable farming practices –
such as the use of home-grown feeds or more extensively reared
livestock.
We are calling for an independent supermarket watchdog to ensure
5
a fairer deal for farmers and challenge corporate power in the food
system. The campaign has support from farmers, development
groups and MPs from all political parties. We have a particular
opportunity during Food Chain Fortnight to make progress on
this manifesto demand – see page 30 for more details.
3. Call for reform of European farming subsidies so that
public money currently supporting factory farms is
instead directed to sustainable, planet-friendly meat and
dairy farming.
Over £700 million of UK public money goes to factory farms through
Europe‟s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). We are calling for this
money to be re-directed to support sustainable livestock systems.
European agricultural policy is currently under review with a major
reform of the CAP due in 2013. We want the UK to use its
negotiating power to shift European subsidies to support planetfriendly meat and dairy.
We are calling for all livestock related subsidies to support
demonstrably sustainable, low carbon livestock farming systems
such as organic - and more local production, processing and
marketing of feeds. This is a longer-term goal and we will be
advocating solutions for more sustainable farming systems in the UK
as part of this.
What do we want to achieve from Food Chain Fortnight?
We want to get as many MPs as possible publically supporting our
demands for the party manifestos (and letting their party‟s manifesto
coordinator know this).The more MPs that support our demands in
this way, the higher profile the issues will get amongst the many
other priorities. This pressure will also support the national lobbying
we are doing on manifestos.
Getting good media coverage of your MP‟s support for our demands
will make it more likely that they will follow through. We have
provided draft press releases (see
http://www.foe.co.uk/community/foodchain) that you can use to send
to local papers together with photos of your MP. We have suggested
two possible photo stunts using the signed pop-up animals you will
6
have collected over the summer. Ideally we would like you to follow
the instructions to create the piñata photo shot because it will have
more appeal for your local paper, but if easier and you prefer, you
could also set the pop-ups in rows on a table and take a photo of
your MP standing alongside them.
Why a fortnight of action?
The Food Chain Fortnight is designed to give you the opportunity to
do as much or as little as you can, over two weeks when MPs will be
ending their recess and returning to Parliament for the new session.
This is a great time to re-focus their attention on our campaign – they
should be accessible in their constituencies, but they will also be
returning to their colleagues in Westminster with the Food Chain
Campaign at the front of their minds.
In the next section we‟ve outlined the one action that we‟d really like
your group to focus on, but on page 29 you can find some
suggestions for other activities your group might want to do as well if
you have time.
In the run up to World Food Day on 16 October we hope to be
launching our new report and an accompanying film, “Killing Fields”,
which demonstrates the devastating effects of soy plantations on
local people and biodiversity in Latin America. You will have the
opportunity to use the report and the film during your Food Chain
Fortnight if you wish. The report and film will both be available at:
http://www.foe.co.uk/community/foodchain
And you can find out more about World Food Day at:
http://www.fao.org/getinvolved/worldfoodday/en/
What happens next?
Overview – November 2009-June 2010
Our current EDM (845) will expire after the Queen‟s Speech in
November this year, which marks the beginning of a new
Parliamentary session. When the new session starts, we plan to
introduce a Presentation Bill reflecting our demands. This will have
no chance of becoming law, but it will enable a short debate and the
introduction of our demands into Parliament. Bills like this are used
7
to raise the profile of an issue and to gain support amongst other
MPs. At the same time we plan to table another EDM to support this
Bill, and there may be some lobbying work for you to do in December
or January on this new EDM. We‟ll update you on this when we
know more about the timings and the content. This Bill and EDM will
build on the lobbying work you will be doing during Food Chain
Fortnight.
We‟re currently working on the detail of our campaign and activism
strategy in the build up to the General Election (around June 2010).
We want parties to support our demands in their manifestos so that
whichever party is in power after the election will introduce a
Sustainable Livestock Bill in the Queen‟s Speech which will
immediately follow it.
If a commitment to legislation for sustainable livestock is not in the
Queen‟s Speech, we will push for it to be taken up by as a Private
Members Bill through the ballot process. If you have any questions
about this process, please get in touch with Richard Hines.
Activism priorities for the rest of 2009
Food Chain Fortnight will be the “last big push” on Food Chain
activism in 2009. Your group should have already received an action
guide and information about our Demand Climate Change campaign,
that we hope you will prioritise from late October until the
Copenhagen talks in December.
This is a vital opportunity to influence international climate change
policy, and we hope that you will join us in lobbying politicians and
th
marching in The Wave on December 5 in London.
For more information see:
http://www.foe.co.uk/community/campaigns/climate/the_wave_19955
.html
Or contact Tom Wright in the Climate Team at [email protected]
or 020 7566 1673.
8
What are we asking you to do?
This section of the guide outlines in detail the one action that we
would like you to take if you only have time to do one thing. Later on
(see page 29) we've included some more ideas for you to make your
Food Chain Fortnight into a series of events to promote the
campaign in your local area.
If your group can only do one thing during Food Chain Fortnight,
please do the following:
Build your own piñata, filled with cut out farm animals from
your postcard collecting over the summer (each one of which
represents a constituent who supports our campaign);
Invite your MP to join you to smash the piñata, be presented
with the cut-out farm animals and to express their public
support for our manifesto demands;
Invite the media and use our handy media guide (see page
27) to get a great picture of your MP supporting our
manifesto demands into your local paper.
Let us know how you get on with your action, with the media,
and with your MP.
Along with this action guide, we've provided you with detailed
instructions on how to build your own piñata (see page 19), a giant
spoon prop for your MP to use to smash the piñata (see page 22),
and detailed guidance on how to lobby your MP on our three
manifesto asks (see page 16).
How can MPs express their support publicly for our
manifesto demands?
Ask your MP to sign EDMs 845 (Deforestation, Climate Change and
Livestock) and 560 (Grocery Market Ombudsman) and to write to
their party's manifesto coordinator to make the views of their
constituents known to them. If they are strongly supportive of our
manifesto demands ask if they could state their own support in the
letter. If they agree, then you can use your press stunt to publicise a
quote from your MP committing them to the action they have
pledged.
9
Why are we giving MPs a “get out clause” of writing on
our behalf to their manifesto co-ordinator, rather than
writing stating their own views?
The party manifestos are compiled in different ways, with the
grassroots party members having a greater or lesser say. We are
calling for our key policies to appear in the political party manifestos.
Your MP may say they are sympathetic but make a point of saying
that it is not their place to demand that certain policies go in the
manifesto and that there is a democratic process to do that.
You should say that you fully respect this but surely just passing on
the views of their constituents to the appropriate person would not
bypass that process. However if they are strongly supportive of our
three campaign demands, readily agree to write to their party's
manifesto coordinator and have already signed the EDM's or readily
agree to sign them, then you could push to go a little further and ask
if they would be willing to state their support in their letter to the
manifesto coordinator.
How will I manage to get my MP to smash the piñata,
accept the cut-out farm animals, discuss the manifesto
demands with me and pose for a media photo all in one
meeting?
There are several different strands to this action, and but it would be
great if you could pin your MP down to all of our asks. If your MP is
already supportive then this shouldn‟t be a problem, but if you do feel
like you won‟t have time to do it all, or that your MP might be
resistant, you could try the following:
-
-
-
Set up a lobbying meeting with your MP before the media
stunt. That way you can talk to them, get their commitment
and then invite them to publicise it in the media.
Check whether they‟ve also signed EDM 560 – our call for a
Supermarkets Ombudsman – if they have signed this and
EDM 845 then they have already expressed their support for
2 of our 3 manifesto asks so they should be easier to
persuade.
Get in touch with your Network Developer and/or Richard
Hines for help and support in planning your action.
10
What if my MP won't play ball, or is unavailable?
You can still take this action. Find out when your MP's surgery is,
and take your cut-outs along, with a camera to photograph the
handover. See page 25 for more detail on what to do if your MP
won't turn out to support your action. One important thing to
remember is that your MP shouldn‟t be given publicity if they haven‟t
committed to anything.
Building a piñata looks really complicated and timeconsuming…
This stunt is designed to give you a great photo of a quirky action to
get into your local media, publicising your MP‟s commitment to the
campaign and our demands. However if you really think that your
group would have trouble putting it together, we‟ve provided a
template press release for an alternative action, where you can invite
your MP to be photographed with the animal cut-outs on their own.
See page 26 for details. If you‟d like to do the piñata action but need
some help or have questions, please contact Richard Hines.
A note for groups in Wales
As the format of the MP postcards is different for Wales, you will
need to be sent little animal cut-outs representing the number of
action postcards your MP has received.
Please contact Richard Hines [email protected] or Haf
Elgar [email protected] to let us know which MPs you plan to
target.
Planning your action
You can use the following week by week plan to get your piñata built,
your MP engaged and your local media invited. We've included
information on page 26 on what to do if your group wants to do the
action but can't make a piñata, and what to do if your MP has not yet
signed or has refused to sign EDM 845 (see page 25). You'll need to
adapt these steps to suit your own timetables, when you're planning
on doing the action, and the time of the month you hold your
meeting. At any point you can contact Richard Hines
([email protected] or 020 7566 4073) for help and advice.
11
Four weeks to go...
As soon as you've received and read this action guide, get
together as a group and decide what level of action you can
take during Food Chain Fortnight.
Agree a date and time for your piñata action, then get in
touch with your MP straight away and invite him or her to
attend (we‟ve provided a template invitation for your MP,
which if you prefer you can use as a script when you phone
them – see http://www.foe.co.uk/community/foodchain). You
might need to change the date/time to accommodate them,
so you need to get this sorted early. Once you've fixed a
date, confirm this with them in writing (please note – you can
still do the action if your MP won't attend – see page 25).
Start researching local media contacts. Think about paper,
radio, television and web-based media if you can, and you
might want to consider community publications, church
newsletters and other less obvious channels to get your
story out. Find out their copy deadlines, and if possible a
named person to send your press release to.
You should also at this stage work out what other jobs will
need to be done, and who will do them. This will also help
you to check that you're not over-stretching your capacity as
a group.
Key jobs might include:
making the piñata and other props
leading on the media work – adapting/writing the press
release and being the media contact for interviews on the
day.
spokespeople – a couple of group members who are happy
to lead the conversation with your MP about manifesto
demands – and people to take notes of what your MP says.
Liaising with your MP in advance
being the group's photographer on the day.
Taking a lead on any other activities the group decides on
for Food Chain Fortnight.
12
A note on timing for your action
The action has two elements – a media photo shoot and a
lobbying meeting to your MP. You might want to try to arrange
the lobbying meeting for just before any media arrive. That way
you'll be able to tell journalists the outcome of the lobbying
meeting. If no photographers come, you can send out a followup press release celebrating your MP's commitment, along with
your own photos.
Two weeks to go....
Localise the template press release (you can download a
word version from the community website). Email it to your
media contacts and follow it up soon after with a phone call
to check they received it, enthuse them about coming along
and gauge their reactions. Make sure you include a mobile
phone number on which you can be reached on the day.
Top tip: send your press release in the body of a personalised email
(not as attachment) to each contact separately. Sending in the
morning is best as many journalists will be up against deadlines in
the afternoon. The more news desks and contacts you send it to –
and chase up afterwards - the more chance there is of it being read
and noticed!
One week to go...
Chase up any media contacts you haven‟t heard from.
Prepare for any interviews by thinking through what details
you want to get across and having some practice goes. If
you know you have interviews lined up on that day, see if
you can find a friend who can record them for you.
Make sure at least a couple of members of your group are
familiar with the manifesto asks and the lobbying guide, and
happy to talk to your MP about them (see page16).
Make sure you have all the equipment and props you need,
and put your piñata and spoon together. Don't forget to fill
the piñata with your cut-out animals before you seal it!
Check you have a digital camera and someone who can
take photographs for the group. It might be a good idea to
do a practice run setting up your photo too. Just don't
smash your piñata for real...
13
On the day...
Get there well in advance so you can set yourselves up and
be ready in case any media turn up early.
Make sure you're fully briefed on what you need to say to
your MP. In addition to the media coverage, there are two
clear aims for the action: presenting the cut-out animals, and
lobbying them to take the next step on the ladder of MP
commitment and support our Manifesto asks. See the
briefing on page 16 – how to engage your MP – for more
information.
It is useful for the group‟s media person to take along the
contact details of any media you are expecting to come
along and a mobile phone. If anyone doesn‟t turn up, give
them a quick friendly call to check if they have any problems
or are on their way. That way you know how long to stay
there for! Some photographers just get told to turn up and
may not have been given the press release or know what it
is all about. Take spare press releases along and talk to
them a little about why you are there and what you‟re doing
as it will help them get a better photo and avoid any
confusion.
Don‟t forget to take your own photographs.
Once you‟ve finished the stunt, before you go off to
celebrate, choose the best few photos and email them with a
copy of the press release (updated with news of your MP's
commitments if you have time) and your contact details to all
your media contacts the same day. It‟s good to do this
straight away rather than the next day as then it‟s more
relevant and won‟t get „lost‟ on the Sunday. If you‟re super
keen you can always follow it up with a phone call the next
day to „check they got them ok‟ (really that‟s just a cheeky
way to prompt them to cover it though!).
14
It's not over yet... the few days after:
Once your action‟s complete and you‟ve all headed off to celebrate,
it‟s easy to forget the all important follow up work.
For this action in particular, because it‟s so focused on
getting local media coverage, it‟s really important that you
tell us how it all went. Please send us copies of your local
media coverage, by email or post.
You‟ll find an evaluation form in this pack (and on the
community website) – please complete it, attach copies of
your media coverage, and send it back to us so we can get
an idea of the impact the action may have, and how you
found it so we can improve our support for you next time.
You could even fill in your form in the pub – it‟ll be a good
way to „debrief‟ as a group and find out how everyone
thought it went. You can also email feedback to
[email protected]
Please also send us any feedback your MP sends you,
including any letters regarding Election Manifesto asks that
they send on your behalf.
Please send us photos from your actions.
In order to maximise the value of the action for your group and the
campaign, you might also want to consider the following tips:
If your MP got involved in any way, write and thank them.
This is also a good opportunity to gently remind them of any
commitments they made to write letters or speak to their
party on your behalf.
Check out how to celebrate your success at:
http://community.foe.co.uk/resource/how_tos/index.html
15
Lobbying your MP on the Manifesto
demands
One of the key elements of the Food Chain Fortnight is lobbying your
MP on the Manifesto demands (see page 5). This section of the
action guide aims to give you a bit more guidance on how to arrange
and then get the most out of lobbying your MP face to face. This
section is an updated version of the lobbying briefing on our
Community site:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/action_guides/food_chain_mp_visit.pd
f
You might also find it useful to read through the latest frequently
asked questions (available on the community website) and the
Summer of Action guide to prepare you for any curve balls you might
get thrown…
How do I arrange a meeting/discussion?
Simply phone, email or write to your MP‟s constituency office to
arrange a meeting. Try to make this contact as early as possible so
they can‟t blame prior engagements as a reason not to see you.
After all, they are there to represent you and are your elected
representative. They are accountable to you, not the other way
around. If you are organising a piñata or other action to present the
cut-out animals (and please do if you can), then you should try to
combine your lobbying meeting with the media stunt.
If your MP cannot meet you at any other time then you could
consider attending one of their surgeries, but these are usually busy
times and you may not get the time or attention you would at a
separate meeting.
Meeting your MP
The most important thing for you to keep in mind is exactly what
you‟re asking your MP to do – asking them to publically support
our manifesto demands. They can to this by:
Signing EDMs 845 (Deforestation, Climate Change and
16
Livestock) and 560 (Grocery Market Ombudsman) – if they
have already done so thank them for this.
Writing to their party's manifesto coordinator to make the
views of their constituents known to them. If they are
strongly supportive of our manifesto demands ask if they
could state their own support in the letter. They can also give
you a quote and a photograph for the local media to
demonstrate their commitment (we‟ve suggested one in the
template press release – available on the community site –
start by suggesting that they support that quote before you
ask them to write their own!).
How should I prepare?
Keep it simple. No one expects you to be an expert. You are a
concerned individual who is asking your MP to commit to taking
action. That is justification enough for you to see your MP, and they
should (and probably will) understand that.
Prepare some notes. The frequently asked questions available at
http://www.foe.co.uk/community/foodchain can be used as the basis
of this, but you might want to have a look through our „What‟s
Feeding our Food?‟ briefing and jot down some key points from that
too.
Take along some briefings. Your MP might want to take some
information away with them, so you should take along copies of
„What‟s feeding our food?‟ and „Feeding the beast‟. These are
available at http://www.foe.co.uk/community/foodchain or from
th
[email protected]. If you visit your MP after October 16 you
can also take along a copy of our “Killing Fields” report, soon
available from the same address.
Think about any local angles. If you live in a rural area you will be
aware of pressures facing any local small farmers and reassure MPs
that the Food Chain Campaign is supportive of small livestock
producers and calls for a fairer price from supermarkets. You may
live in a Fairtrade town or city, have a thriving farmers‟ market on
your doorstep or local schools involved in the Food for Life or Ecoschools initiatives – all of these can be a good way in to talking about
the issues.
17
What do I do on the day?
Explain the issues, your concerns, and be clear about what
you’re asking for. You should have already covered the basics of
this in your invitation letter.
Take notes of what your MP says. The more detail the better.
Don’t worry if you can’t answer a question. If your MP asks a
question you can‟t answer, offer to find out more and get back to
them. Contact [email protected] for help if you can‟t find the
answer.
Don’t let them blind you by spin or confuse you with irrelevant
information. If they say they‟re supportive but still won‟t support the
Manifesto asks, push them for a reason. If you can pin them down to
one or two of our demands that's great, but push for all three as
much as you can.
Get a firm answer. Vague assurances and platitudes are not
enough so don‟t let them get away with it. Make sure that they‟re
clear about their support for the campaign.
What do I do after the meeting?
Thank your MP for the meeting, and tell them you will be in touch to
follow up any action that was agreed. Send them a letter or email to
thank them and remind them of what has been discussed and
agreed.
Follow up a couple of weeks later to make sure your MP has done
what they said they would. And please get in touch with us to tell
us how it went!
18
How to make your piñata
What is a piñata? Traditionally it is a papier-mâché container filled
with sweets and toys (or in our case, pop-up animals!), suspended
on a rope, which a succession of stick-wielding children try to break
open (or in our case, MPs!). See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi%C3%B1ata
What you’ll need:
Eggshell paint
String
Jam jar lid (or similar)
Scissors
Pop-up animals
TIME – due to drying
times this takes a few
days to finish
Egg-shaped balloon
Paste (make your
own with water and
plain flour)
Old newspaper
Light-coloured paper
1. Inflate an egg-shaped balloon
We found that some packets of balloons
contain both egg-shaped and pearshaped balloons, so you might need to
inflate a couple before you find your
perfect egg.
2. Make some paste
You can either buy specially prepared mixture from arts and crafts
shop, or make your own from flour and water:
Mix 1 cup of plain flour with 1 cup of cold water in a pan.
Slowly add 4 more cups of boiling water, stirring
continuously to remove lumps.
Put the mixture back on to boil for roughly 3 minutes, stirring
as you do.
Allow to cool.
3. Tear up some old newspaper
Tear some old newspaper into strips – roughly 2 inch thick strips
work best.
19
4. Cover your balloon
Dip the strips in your paste and completely
cover your balloon – it only needs to be a
couple of layers thick. Use paste sparingly
so that is dries more quickly.
5. Allow the papier-mâché to dry
overnight
Hanging the egg in an airing cupboard will speed this up.
6. Cover the egg with light-coloured
paper
An extra layer of white paper (computer or
chip-shop paper work well) will make the
egg easier to paint. Use the same paste
mixture, and don‟t worry if the newspaper
layer isn‟t 100% dry before starting.
7. Paint your egg
You need to let your piñata dry-out completely before you do this.
You should be able to find some eggshell coloured paint in your local
arts and crafts store. Apply a layer to your egg then allow it to dry.
8. Cut your egg in half
This will be easier if you pop the
balloon first – you can do this
where the knot pops through the
shell. And don‟t worry; if the
papier-mâché is dry your egg
won‟t collapse!
Cut in a jagged line as shown in
the picture (right).
9. Attach the string
So that the top of the egg stays hanging up when your MP strikes it,
it‟s best not to attach the string directly to the egg. Instead, tie some
string round a rigid disc (a tube-stopper, jar lid or some thick card will
work) and poke the end of the string up through the hole in the top of
the egg.
10. Fill your egg
The most important things to put in your egg are the pop-up
postcards you‟ve been collecting over the Summer of Action.
You might also want to put in a few sweets as is traditional with
piñatas.
With our piñata we also stuck some strips of yellow and white crepe
paper to the inside of top part of the egg to look like yolk and eggwhite hanging down when it was smashed open.
12. Stick your egg back together
A couple of small pieces of sticky tape
should be enough to hold your egg together.
We actually want the egg to break as quickly
as possible to make sure that photographers
and MPs don‟t get bored and give up – and
because the spoon prop isn‟t strong enough
to survive too many hits!
How to make your giant spoon prop
To smash the egg open we‟d like you to put together our giant spoon
prop. This is made up of 3 different sections that need to be cut out
and mounted on card to produce a complete spoon.
The key to this working is the thickness of the card that you use. It
needs to be stiff enough to stay rigid when held up, and strong
enough to smash the egg in half when your MP strikes!
What you’ll need:
Giant spoon cut outs
Thick card
Scissors/craft knife
Glue
1. Cut out the 3 sections of the spoon prop
Printed copies of these have been sent out with the action guide, and
printable versions are available at:
http://www.foe.co.uk/community/campaigns/healthy_planet/campaig
n_materials_20024.html
2. Stick them to your card
Glue the 3 section of the spoon onto your card to form a complete
spoon.
3. Cut around the spoon
Use scissors or a craft knife to cut around the spoon. You‟re now
ready to try a few practice swooshes to check that it stays in one
piece.
Using your piñata & spoon
So you‟ve built your piñata and giant spoon, arranged a meeting with
your MP, and contacted your local media. Now it‟s time to set
everything up for the photo stunt.
Firstly, you‟ll need to find somewhere to hang your piñata. If possible
you should try and scope out the venue before the meeting to see if
there‟s anything suitable to tie it to.
If there isn‟t anything fixed to hang it
from you can use a broom, with the
piñata tied from the end. Someone in
your group will need to hold the other
end of the broom with the piñata
dangling down for the MP to strike.
Now that your piñata is ready you need to get start getting the photos
taken. Ideally the press will have come along, in which case you
should suggest the following shots. You should also try and take
these photos yourselves, even if the professionals have come along
– the more you take, the more likely you‟ll get some good shots.
1. Posing with egg & spoon - This posed shot will show the
message on the giant spoon.
2. Posed action shots – the piñata is designed to break after one or
two strikes, so you should ask for some posed action shots to be
taken. Try and get your MP to look a bit more dramatic than our
volunteer model!
3. Smashing the piñata! – here are a couple of examples….
A few tips:
-
Take lots of shots to make sure you get some good ones.
If you‟re taking the photos yourself, try and send your local
press the best version of each of the three examples above.
Think about the background – our photos would have looked
better if the wall and the egg hadn‟t been similar colours.
What do I do if my MP won’t join in the piñata fun?
If your MP hasn‟t committed to any of our asks - or if they can‟t
meet you for some reason – you can still use your piñata for a
media photo.
Get together as a group, put on some Friends of the Earth T-shirts,
and have a go at smashing it yourselves.
You‟ll need to change the sample press release accordingly. If your
MP has refused to meet you that would be good to mention. But if
they‟re supportive and can provide a positive quote you should
include that. If you need any help writing this alternative press
release please contact Richard Hines.
And remember that after you‟ve smashed the piñata you should still
hand over the pop-up animals at one of your MP‟s surgeries.
An alternative photo
If aren‟t able to make a piñata you can still use the pop-up animals in
an alternative photo stunt involving your MP.
You will need:
Pop-ups animals
A table
Sticky tape or tack
Thick card
Scissors
Glue
Set the animals up in rows, sticking them to the table if you‟re
outdoors. The speech bubble can be put together in exactly the
same way as the giant spoon prop, and can be downloaded at:
http://www.foe.co.uk/community/campaigns/healthy_planet/campaig
n_materials_20024.html
You then need to position the MP as shown below, ready for their
photo – try and get your MP to hold the bubble a bit closer to their
mouth than shown below.
Getting in the media
Getting your MP piñata in your local paper
The Food Chain Fortnight is about sending a loud and clear
message to MPs that their constituents have a real appetite for
planet-friendly food and farming. The piñata stunt will get that
message across to your MP in a uniquely fun way, and then reflect
this back to local people via the media.
Back in April 2008 your co-ordinated push for missing planes press
coverage for The Big Ask generated more than 300 pieces of press
coverage. This worked brilliantly in terms of getting individual MPs to
back our demands, and – when we collated the articles and
communicated them in Westminster en masse – it sent a very clear
message about the strength of feeling across the country.
Template press releases
We‟ve prepared some template press releases that should help you
to make sure the event goes down a treat with your local paper.
They will help you to sell the event to your local paper before and
after you‟ve staged it. These are included in the appendix, and at:
www.foe.co.uk/community/foodchain
These are written about an MP who is supportive of the campaign
and is prepared to back our manifesto demands. Be sure to check
that she/he is happy with the quote we‟re suggesting they put their
name to. You‟ll also notice that the only pop-ups mentioned are
chickens, due to the egg theme – but you should still use the cows
and pigs too.
Top tips for getting the piñata event in the local paper
1. Get them excited. Local papers are used to MPs doing and
saying boring things. They‟re not used to them belting a
giant egg with a giant spoon. Be enthusiastic about your
unique event when you speak to journalists and picture
desks.
2. Web-friendly. Most local papers have websites and editors
are increasingly looking for stories that will work online as
well as in print – a mini film of the piñata event will work
perfectly.
3. More to offer. Suggest an interview with your most
convincing group members and the MP if he/she has agreed
– this way the event may be covered as part of a broader
feature which gives you more opportunity to get the
message across.
4. Think local. Emphasise how enthusiastically local people
have responded to the Food Chain Campaign during the
Summer of Action and include brief details of some of the
activities you‟ve staged.
5. Be persistent. Journalists and picture desks are notoriously
non-committal. Make sure you follow up on emails and
press releases and give them plenty of time to organize who
they‟ll be sending.
6. Snap happy. Take your own photos and email them to
journalists and picture desks that can‟t make it. You don‟t
need a fancy camera to take a useable picture. Just keep it
simple and take lots of shots to give you plenty to choose
from when it comes to selecting the best ones.
For more information and advice on how to get your event in the
papers, have a look at the Summer of Action guide:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/action_guides/food_chain_action_guid
e.pdf
Other ideas for your Food Chain
Fortnight
If your group wants to take their Food Chain Fortnight campaigning
one step further, we‟ve come up with a brief list of ideas you may
want to incorporate. You can continue to use the ideas in the
Summer of Action guide too, or why not get together with your group
and see how creative you can get?
Whatever you do, please let us know what you‟re up to so we can
share your great ideas and possibly promote your events to a wider
audience too (see page 31 for details of how you can let our national
Food Chain Individual Activists know about your event).
Please remember though that a key aim of Food Chain Fortnight
is to get your MP to publicly commit to our asks, so if you only
have time to do one thing, please do the lobbying/media action
described above.
1) Letters to the editor
In support of the main action, raising awareness of the “Food Chain
Fortnight” in your area, bringing out some more detail on the climate
change and food supply arguments, promoting other activities your
group might be planning. You could use the launch of our report,
th
“Killing Fields” as a “hook” for your letter, or World Food Day on 16
October, which is the day when the report will be launched. You will
be able to find out more about the “Killing Fields” report as soon as it
is launched on http://www.foe.co.uk/community/foodchain or from
[email protected]
2) Forward the Feed Me film
Along with our longer films that provide a detailed explanation of the
Food Chain Campaign, we are producing a short and snappy teaser
film – Feed Me - which we‟ll be hoping will go viral and be seen by
thousands and thousands of people and get a good number of them
to sign up to the campaign. It‟d be great if you could forward this to
your friends, family and contacts. It will be up on our YouTube site
by the start of the fortnight:
http://www.youtube.com/user/friendsoftheearth
3) A picnic or dinner with your MP
Following on from the picnic idea during the summer of action, you
could organise a “cold weather” version, with help perhaps from a
local restaurant or café. Your group could use the event to promote
local successes/solutions and invite your MP along to have a nice
meal and be gently lobbied on our demands. An event like this or
the film/meeting idea below would give your Food Chain Fortnight a
public engagement element, and may well also be media-friendly
too.
4) A film screening/public meeting
The makers of the film “Pig Business” that you may have seen a few
months ago on Channel 4, have offered to give our local groups free
copies of a 50-minute version of the film on dvd, to show to people in
their local area. In addition, our “Killing Fields” report launch will be
accompanied by a short film highlighting its key points and featuring
interviews with people from affected communities in South America.
Your group could organise an evening showing one or both of these
films, and invite your MP. Alternatively you could organise a public
meeting with your MP and perhaps a local farmer. For more
guidance and information on either of these ideas please contact
Richard Hines, or your Network Developer. And/or check out our
How to:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/how_tos/cyw_33_hold_public_meeting
.pdf
If you would like copies of the films please let us know at least
two weeks in advance.
5) Put pressure on Peter Mandelson to introduce a
supermarkets ombudsman NOW
If, weather and time permitting, your group would like to get out and
about and talk to the public more generally about Food Chain issues
as part of your Fortnight, then we can provide you with some
postcards from Tescopoly, lobbying Peter Mandelson to establish a
supermarkets Ombudsman. While this is also in our Manifesto
demands, as Secretary of State for the Department for Business he
will be making a decision this autumn on whether or not to introduce
legislation into the Queens Speech to set up the Ombudsman. For
postcards and more information please contact
[email protected]
6) Dressing up as animals
This could be incorporated into any of the actions described above,
to draw additional attention. For example, a cow could present the
piñata and/or the cut-outs to the MP.
Promoting your Food Chain Fortnight to
individual activists in your area
In addition to the usual ways of publicising your events, there is one
extra opportunity to get people involved which your Network
Developer can help you with.
We can send an email out to national supporters and activists
inviting them to your events. These will be people who are interested
in food campaigns, so they should be very interested to hear what‟s
going on in their area!
Many of these activists will not be aware that there‟s a local group in
their area, so this could be a good opportunity for you to recruit some
new members and tell some Friends of the Earth supporters about
the work that you‟ve been doing.
If you‟d like to give this a try, email your Network Developer with a
list of the events you‟ve got planned, along with times and locations,
and he or she will arrange for an email invitation to be sent out to the
people in your area. If you would like us to email national
supporters, please let us know at least two weeks in advance of
your events.
Other resources and support
The key resources to go with this guide are:
Sample press releases – to publicise your Food
Chain Fortnight events
MP invite letter – a sample letter to invite your MP
to your photo stunts
Frequently asked questions – some new FAQs
to help you answer sticky questions
Prop print-outs – print outs for the giant spoon
and speech bubble props are available to
download and print, including bilingual versions for
Welsh groups.
For copies of these, and for lots more information about
the Food Chain Campaign, please visit:
www.foe.co.uk/community/foodchain
And if you have any questions or requests please get
in touch with Richard Hines in the Food Team at:
[email protected], 020 7566 4073 or Richard
Hines, Friends of the Earth, 26-28 Underwood Street,
London, N1 7JQ.
IMPORTANT – if you take part in the Food Chain
Fortnight in any way, please remember to send us back
a completed feedback form to Richard in the Food
Team. This is available at:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/action_guides/food_fortni
ght_evaluation.pdf