SF Bay Area It's Not Food, It's Violence - DxE January Day of Action (Broken Promises)

NOTE: This is a SECOND demo that we are executing during the workweek in the Financial District. This is IN ADDITION to the main demonstration on January 25, so we can reach the workweek customers and maximize the chances of media coverage.

Main event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1408154952760145/

" 'Food with Integrity' is our commitment to always look closer, dig deeper, and work harder to ensure that our actions are making things better, not worse. It’s our promise to run our business in a way that doesn’t exploit animals…"
-Steve Ells, CEO, Chipotle, Letter to Public (http://goo.gl/AidUyH)

The new year is a time for new promises. But for corporations such as Chipotle, 2014 brings only more of the same: violence, greed, and deceit.

Promises, not new, but BROKEN.

But on the weekend of January 25, activists all over the country will rally in this new year to see that Chipotle's broken promise is redeemed. We will show the world that the corporation has broken its founding promise: to serve food with integrity. And we will march into stores all over the country to deliver to the corporation's management a simple letter and message:

Redeem your Broken Promise. It's not Food. It's Violence.

In a span of three months, Direct Action Everywhere's "It's not Food, It's Violence" campaign (http://goo.gl/lCUa13) against Chipotle has grown from 1 to 17 cities, and has received press coverage in multiple cities. (http://directactioneverywhere.com/press/) More than any other chain, Chipotle -- a booming corporation that has become a darling of both the media and the investment community -- has linked its fortunes to the myth of humane meat. (http://goo.gl/0UooIm)

But we can pop the humane bubble. Together, we can create a strong and confident movement against violence. (http://goo.gl/Vi1MCx) Together, we can breach the new frontier of animal rights. (http://goo.gl/Fkueks) And together, we can leave a mark that will grow into a cascade. (http://goo.gl/HtiQhc)

Join us on the weekend of January 25. We invite participation of all types (even something as simple as leafleting can be extremely effective) and can provide materials and other support. (http://directactioneverywhere.com/resources/)

A model demonstration plan is below. See the pinned post below if you are an organizer interested in more logistical details!

SELECT CITY EVENT PAGES (MORE UPDATES SOON):

CHICAGO (https://www.facebook.com/events/329339513873817/)

CINCINNATI/HIGHLAND HEIGHTS (https://www.facebook.com/events/384734701671720/)

HOUSTON (https://www.facebook.com/events/419901441471314/)

PHOENIX (https://www.facebook.com/events/585439241528756/)

PHILADELPHIA (https://www.facebook.com/events/237476139764242/)

PRAGUE (https://www.facebook.com/events/1398185537098104/)

VANCOUVER (https://www.facebook.com/events/1409261729319695/)

WASHINGTON, DC (https://www.facebook.com/events/337413253063398/)


MODEL DEMONSTRATION

Aggrieved customers and protesters will march into the store, with BROKEN PROMISE - VICTIM OF THE HUMANE MYTH banner held high, and placards that say "IT'S NOT FOOD. IT'S VIOLENCE." They will chant:

BROKEN PROMISES
STOLEN LIVES

BROKEN PROMISES
BLOODY LIES

and deliver a copy of an open letter to the company to management, demanding that the company make good on its promise to "not exploit animals."

Rehearsal video for this plan will be released closer to the date of the action.


BACKGROUND

Read more about the "It's Not Food, It's Violence" campaign and strategy. (http://goo.gl/MtGe3j)

Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) is a grassroots animal rights network which organizes creative demonstrations to protest speciesism and violence against animals. In early 2014, DxE will be launching the big one: for one month, we will release a series of creative protests every day -- protests that show the power of directly confronting speciesism anywhere and everywhere, with a strong community at our back. At the end of that month, we will execute another international demonstration with the Earthlings Coalition, which rallied thousands of activists in 41 cities around the world (http://goo.gl/soJEFf), and launch a powerful campaign – replete with haunting investigatory footage, careful research, and a strategic plan of action –against perhaps the largest animal killer of them all: a company whose penchant for violence is matched only by its proclivity for deception.