Greenpeace volunteers have targeted Tesco stores across Southwark in a protest against deforestation in the Amazon.
Activists placed stickers with pictures of charred trees and the message ‘forest destroyed to produce this meat’ over products on sale in the shops.
Tesco has committed to clean up its supply chains by 2025 – a target originally set for 2020. One of its key suppliers, JBS, has been linked to deforestation and human rights violations in the Amazon, where vast tracts of forest are cleared for intensive farming, often for soya production.
One Southwark resident who took part in the protest, Felicity Brown, said: “Greenpeace Southwark volunteers put pictures of charred trees over the bar codes of meat products in our local Tesco’s to expose the link between industrial meat and rainforest destruction.
“The Amazon is more than 5,000 miles away, but the products of rainforest destruction are in our local supermarket and on our dinner plates.
“Tesco must drop forest destroyers altogether and reduce the amount of industrial meat they sell by at least half.’’
She added: “I am reducing my meat consumption because I cannot keep eating products that I know have contributed to forest destruction, and therefore to the climate emergency.
“I feel fitter and healthier, and have discovered new recipes. Please join me in eating less meat, and sign our petition to supermarket chains and fast food companies on cutting forest destroyers from their supply chains.’’
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We share Greenpeace’s aim to end deforestation in the Amazon.
“It’s why we’ve set challenging public targets committing to zero deforestation, it’s why we’ve committed to a 300 per cent increase in the sales of plant-based meat alternatives, why we don’t sell Brazilian beef and why we support action to ensure all food sold in the UK is deforestation-free.”