Giant KFC Protest in SF 2/6/05

If these filthy rich parasites from out of town had any idea in what neighborhood they were promoting their arrogance, they would literally run for their lives. This Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet, one of perhaps 3 in San Francisco, is in the heart of the Tenderloin, probably the poorest neighborhood in San Francisco, filled with prostitution, drug-pushing, dilapidated housing, homelessness, begging and massive poverty, including lots of hungry people who line up by the thousands for free food at the local charities. The majority are non-white, making this rich white folks picketline look even more ridiculous. You can be sure the people in the Tenderloin and most of the rest of us ignore these picketlines.

When the animal rights crowd gives out free food to the poor, they will gain an audience among the workingclass, the 80% of us who are the labor force of this country. Better yet, the animal rights crowd ought to start organizing labor for better wages, hours and working conditions if they are serious about any change in this country.

It seems like a really well organized protest.

I'm not usually one to agree with PETA but they didnt block the door to the resteraunt which made the protest legit in my opinion.

The right to gather and protest is fundemental to our society.

But so is the right to eat chicken.

So everybody won.

"Giant" protest...with 100 people? They serve more than that at lunch. Give it a rest.

Don't you people have anything better to do than hate on people that are trying to diminish the suffering of others? Sure, I agree that most people who go to PETA sponsored events are middle class (although this is not really true of people who are in the animal rights movement in general), but it is just silly to suggest that they should be doing something else. Everyone picks their own battle against oppression - so pick yours - pick bush, corporations, the war machine, suv drivers, loggers, christian fundamentalists - whatever - just don't waste everyone's time by hating on other protesters.

Ever heard of Food Not Bombs? http://www.foodnotbombs.net/
They serve up vegetarian food for the hungry.

While I think that KFC is bad food (and not a good idea from the chicken perspective), I have got to state that stating in this story that the Civic Center KFC has a "lunch rush" on Sundays is completely absurd. Most of the fast food restaurants in this area of SF serve government workers in the area who work Monday to Friday.

I understand that IMC stories involve a good deal of advocacy, but saying that there is a lunch rush on Sunday at this location undermines the credibility of the story.

What are you trying to say here? Does FNB give out food in the name of the animal rights movement? Does the animal rights movement pay for that food? Is every FNB volunteer an animal rights advocate? Is any one who gives away vegetarian food an animal rights activist by definition? Please clarify.

for just wondering: don't worry about definitions of activism and advocacy and such that's not important beyond what you believe. but, for clarification, food not bombs is a group that serves all vegetarian, often mainly vegan food (because most activists involved with food not bombs do believe in animal rights and are veg). the food is supplied from various places, partly by donations, but mainly by collecting food for free from area grocers and bakeries who give out extra food that would otherwise be thrown away. the food is perfectly healthy and cleanly prepared and cooked by whoever happens to helping out. most groups try to do at least one serving a week, primarily to homeless and less-fortunate people, though usually we'll never refuse anybody a free meal if they want it. food not bombs has been around for 25 years now, originally starting in boston, there are groups all across the country. if there isn't one in your town and you feel that the need is there, then start your own! the website http://www.foodnotbombs.net explains it all.

>because most activists involved with food not bombs do believe in animal rights and are veg

Is that a litmus test for joining?

can't stand an animal post so you gotta make hay with something

the person said to get more info from their website. if you are really just wondering, go to the source

but, of course, you're not *just* wondering, all innocent-like, trying to learn about things you know not so that you can better understand them. you're "just stirring up shit for the sake of stirring up shit" with nothing to really contribute to the discussion whatsover

such a petty hateful mind

An ad hominem is not a rebutal. it's a way to change the subject. Why don't they answer my question instead? It's a legitimate question. it could be answerd with a simple "yes" or "no." It wasn't. Why not?

so now youre complaining about someone else changing the subject? the post is about KFC, not about how to join food not bombs. give it a rest. if youre interested in joining FNB, do it. nobody cares if you eat meat. they just dont serve it. most people who are involved with food not bombs are vegan or veg, not all of them.

now how about that KFC protest.

i help an fnb in ireland im not a vegatarian...

In addition to Food not Bombs, here's a link to an indybay story on veg food relief for the tsunami victims.
http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/01/1712712.php

For the person, who made the point about labor issues, you're right that there's an overlap, and AR activists should be concerned about these issues (and in my experience most of them are concerned). Here's a link to a brand new report (1/27/05) from Human Rights Watch on slaughterhouse employees and anti-unionism. This alone is a reason to boycott the industry.
http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/usa0105/

And finally, while you're right that most AR activists are white, there are efforts to overcome that problem. Al Sharpton and Cornel West, among others, have endorsed this boycott of KFC. Here are links to that.
http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/sharpton.asp
http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com/west.asp

I was at the protest. The attendees were not "filthy rich," judging from the talk of what they did for a living, taking public transportation, etc. Nor were they "out of towners"-- they were wearing nametags that stated their hometowns, and most, if not all, were from SF or the Bay Area. And they certainly weren't "running for their lives"-- many non-white neighborhood folks stopped to talk with the protesters, listened with interest, and took leaflets to read. There were only 2 negative people-- a white guy who said he was buying $500 worth of chicken for a Super Bowl party, and a heavy-set young white woman who was eating chicken strips. Not exactly the disenfranshied poor people you that "JW" depicts.

We really shouldn't respond to mean people who don't even know about the issues. It is such a waste of breath.

Great demo by the way, PETA rocks!

Re: Comments about KFC in the Tenderloin. Thinking strictly in terms of restaurant clientele, I more easily accept animal-eating by the poor than by the rich. What bothers me is this: Why does our society allow so much misery, period--human or not? Below is this week's menu at Chez Panisse. But it's sustainable, you say. Well, for the merchants' pocketbooks it is. How many consumers actually know what "sustainable" means for the animals? And if their fate is justified by the desperation of the poor, where is justice when they are also at the mercy (or not) of the affluent?

Monday, February 7       $50
Monterey Bay squid ragout with leeks, red wine, and herbs
Paillarde de veau: grilled Sylvia Ranch veal paillard with green garlic and herb butter,
      sautéed potatoes with new onions and artichokes, and watercress salad
Ricotta fritters with muscat sabayon and tangerine caramel

Tuesday, February 8       $65
New onion and green garlic tart with cantal cheese and herbs
Grilled trap-caught striped bass with Jerusalem artichoke purée and
      bitter orange vinaigrette
Braised Hoffman Farm chicken with chanterelles, Belgian endive and cream, and
     Chino Ranch greens
Chocolate-hazelnut Paris Brest

Wednesday, February 9       $65
Local fish and shellfish tempura with tartar sauce
Artichoke and celery root soup with green garlic and tapenade toast
Spit-roasted Niman Ranch pork loin with prune and kumquat chutney, potato cake,
      and ragout of Chino Ranch vegetables
Soufflé with royal apricot preserves

Thursday, February 10       $65
Risotto fritters with black truffles and fontina and chicory salad
Winter minestrone with cardoons, cavolo nero and Tuscan olive oil
Grilled Wolfe Farm quail and garlic sausage with caramelized artichokes, new garlic,
      and crispy potatoes
Meyer lemon tartlet

Friday, February 11       $75
An apéritif
Comté cheese soufflé with Bob’s mâche
Dungeness crab and petrale sole tortellini in saffron broth
Spit-roasted Sonoma County Liberty duck with Cognac and green olives,
     turnip purée, and Chino Ranch flat black cabbage
Page mandarin sherbet and candied tangerine ice cream Pavlova

Saturday, February 12       $75
An apéritif
Sea scallop and little neck clam salad with black truffles and Castelfranco chicory
Ricotta and nettle ravioli with chanterelles and new garlic
Grilled Big Valley buffalo tenderloin with red wine sauce, marrow flan, and crispy
      leek and potato cake
Hazelnut praline, chocolate, and coffee ice cream bombe


Service charge: 17 percent      Sales tax: 8 3/4 percent
Corkage:  $20 per bottle, limit two (750 ml.) per table.
1517 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, California 94709 
  Reservations: (510) 548-5525
Other fish varieties may have to be substituted.

While I do think it is a problem that organic sustainable food is expensive, getting the word out about the wholesale destruction for profit of a living being that is a prisoner all of its life only to meet a torturous death, is needed today.
Rock on FNB...
solidarity in the struggle...
we are all in it together....

That location was chosen because it was 4 blocks from the conference--not because PETA is targeting homeless people to go vegan. This is an international campaign, and there have been KFC protests at every KFC in San Francisco since this campaign started. The purpose of the campaign is to persuade KFC to stop its most eggregiously cruel treatment of chickens--slicing birds' beaks off, scalding them alive, breeding them to be so large that their legs often collapse under their own weight, gathering them by throwing them head-first into trucks, and more (visit http://www.kentuckyfriedcruelty.com).

While homeless or poor people may not be in a position to take action on this campaign, the largest purchaser of chickens in the entire world surely can. Incidentally, in the outreach I've done, whenever homeless people come up to our demonstrations and watch our video footage, most tend to be extremely supportive of our cause and want to learn how they can help, including asking about cheap fast-food options that are vegetarian (BK Veggie, Taco Bell bean burrito, Subway veggie sandwich, etc.). Certainly, until this boycott is over and the campaign victorious (as PETA's campaigns against McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and Safeway were), compassionate people of any (or no) income can certainly choose to show solidarity for the campaign by boycotting KFC.

Most people who are progressive on animal issues are progressive on other social issues as well.

However, those who are not progressive re: animals (or put bluntly, have no compassion for animals), tend not to be compassionate toward people.

So perhaps you should take a long hard look in the mirror and stop pointing the finger at others, or telling others to do more for others than you likely do yourself.

great points nora! thanks for following up! excellent work!

I think your KFC demonstrations are wonderful!! The torture of animals is not acceptable! People need to be educated on what happens to the animal prior to it showing up in a colorful bucket at KFC. That also goes for the nicely packaged meat found in stores. Most people don't think about it but a little education would open eyes. You need to come to the East Coast and spread awareness

http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/Prefs.asp?video=pilgrims_web
http://www.petatv.com/tvpopup/video.asp?video=pilgrims_web

The video is almost beyond description―workers at a KFC slaughterhouse stomp, kick, and slam birds against walls. How bad does it have to get before KFC changes the way it treats chickens? Watch now.
For related information, click here.
http://www.kfccruelty.com

People need to be educated on what happens to the food that get's put infront of them Most people don't think about it but a little education would open eyes. I have seen things you would not believe!

with genetics we will soon ahve faster growing cows and there for faster food production. science is solving our rpoblems every day

Diet and World Hunger

Worldwide, nearly a billion people suffer from chronic hunger. 24,000 people per day or 8.8 million per year die from hunger or related causes. Three-fourths are children under five. Chronic hunger causes stunted growth, poor vision, listlessness, and susceptibility to disease.

Global malnutrition is largely the consequence of inequitable distribution and waste of food resources. Only 10% of hunger deaths are attributed to catastrophic events like famine or war. Hunger is a complex problem, but huge amounts of waste occur because of non-sustainable practices related to animal agriculture, such as depletion of cultivable land, topsoil, water, energy, and minerals, and the extremely inefficient process of converting plants-based foods into animal-based foods. More information is available from the Global Hunger Alliance.


Role of Animal Agriculture

A meat-based diet requires 10-20 times as much land as a plant-based diet. Nearly half of the world's grains and soybeans are fed to animals, resulting in a huge waste of food calories. The extent of waste is such that even a 10% drop in US meat consumption would make sufficient food available to feed the world's starving millions.

Moreover, animal agriculture has been devastating the world's agricultural land. The process begins with clear-cutting of forests to create cattle pastures. Eventually, the pastures are plowed under and used to grow animal feedcrops. Depletion of topsoil and minerals begins soon after the trees are cut down and escalates with tilling. Without the plant growth to hold it in place, topsoil, laden with minerals, fertilizer, and organic debris, is carried by the runoff of rain and melting snow into nearby streams. The insatiable demand for animal feedcrops leads to the use of sloping land with greater runoff and arid land requiring irrigation. Irrigation accounts for more than 80% of all water available for human use, leading to widespread water shortages.

from farmusa.org

If you care so much about the needy you should stop eating meat for that reason alone.

Animal rights activists can care about animals and people at the same time, it it one of the benefits of living compassionately. Compassion isn't limited.

if we can assemble peolpe at all kfc locations in san francisco
and say if you build any more this is what will happen then
there is no way they will ever build in s.f. again. If we win this victory than the inspiration will become so great that the animal liberation campaign would have the fuel it needs to conquer any thing