Dyrenes Alliance at Folkemødet 2023
Raven chicks on the grill, cow’s milk in the coffee, and a minimal selection of vegan food on site. That’s what visitors were faced with at this year’s Folkemøde on Bornholm.
The animal-friendly and green transition once again took a backseat this year. But that didn’t deter activists from Dyrenes Alliance; if anything, it fueled our fire. And fire it was—we let our activism run wild over those three days.
Thursday: animal rights Square, demonstration at Danish People’s Party, disruptions at Dyrenes Beskyttelse and Venstre, sign actions, and our own panel debate on fish with youth politicians.
animal rights Square in front of Danish Crown’s food stands.
Once again, Danish Crown was the main sponsor at Folkemødet. Pork roast sandwiches were a hit at the prime location by Allinge harbor. So every day we stood with TV screens, talking to people about the brutal truth for pigs right in front of Danish Crown’s booths. This sparked intense debate and attention, including visits from Mette Frederiksen on two consecutive days—she couldn’t miss our message.
Disruption of Zoo event hosted by Dyrenes Beskyttelse
We sent an activist, an elephant costume, and a sign reading “Zoo is Prison” to a debate about the future of zoos. The event, ‘The Zoological Park of the Future—Who Is It For?’, featured Britta Riis,director of Dyrenes Beskyttelse, andBengt Holst,former scientific director of Copenhagen Zoo. Our activism sparked debate over our perspective and sent a clear message: zoos are not freedom for the animals imprisoned there. Most of the animals housed in zoos have no real need to be there to ensure their species’ survival.Our disruption took place right in front of a journalist from Jyllands-Posten, who was attending the debate. This led to an interview about our stance on zoos (which was clear from our sign). Our full position will be published as an article in Jyllands-Posten soon.
Vores disruption var lige foran en journalist fra Jyllands-Posten, som var til stede i teltet. Det betød, at vi fik et interview omkring vores holdning til zoo (som hun jo godt kunne læse lidt ud fra skiltet). Vores lidt længere holdning kommer som Artikel på Jyllands-Posten her én ad dagene.
Disruption of Danish People’s Party’s meat event
We had a “friendly chat” with Danish People’s Party and their audience as they grilled poplar pigs at their event ‘Should Denmark continue producing meat? May we eat it?’ The conversations got heated at times, with our activists calling out the party’s speciesist approach to pigs.Obviously, we reject reducing animals to objects and kept educating the audience about animal rights. Danish People’s Party didn’t appreciate being confronted like this and called the police quickly. After thorough discussions, we were politely asked to stop using audio devices (megaphones), and our pig-costumed activist was nearly detained. You can read more about this incident in the media below:
📰📸Read article from Bornholms Tidende:
https://tidende.dk/politik/politiet-fjernede-veganere-fra-dfs-grillkoekken/134124
📰📸Read article from BornholmNyt:
https://bornholmnyt.dk/unge-aktivister-ikke-populaere-paa-folkemoedet/
Disruption of Venstre’s event on the Bornholm pig
Armed with a sign reading “Does Your Meat Taste Like the Gas Chamber” and a pig costume, we danced and mimed on full display in front of the stage. On Venstre’s stage, Erling Bonnesen, member of parliament and vice chair of the Environment and Food Committee, painted a rosy picture of the conditions Bornholm pigs live and die under. We had an honest, opposing view. Our performance art and pig costume drew curious looks, laughter, and confusion, but the cute costume served as a powerful contrast to the grim reality we mimed.
📰📸 Read more and see coverage of our action on BornholmNyt: https://bornholmnyt.dk/unge-taler-dyrenes-sag/
Does Your Meat Taste Like the Gas Chamber?
Our activist in a pig costume raised awareness among politicians and influencers that Danish pigs are commonly gassed at slaughter. This “method” is claimed to be a humane way to lull them to sleep, but the animals still suffer during the process. The whole system is unnecessary if we switch to plants. We challenged many thought leaders to reflect on what pigs endure. Gassing is certainly not the mildest option — not killing and eating them at all is. Most politicians politely declined holding the sign, but some from The Alternative, Red-Green Alliance, and Socialist People’s Party were happy to support us on camera.
Panel debate on aquaculture, animal rights, and fish with youth politicians
At the Youth Stage, we held a panel debate with youth politicians from The Alternative, Socialist People’s Party, New Right, Liberal Alliance, and Radical Left. We also had a representative from Dyrenes Alliance speak on behalf of the fish, as part of our latest campaign, Free Fins, aiming to shut down the fishing industry sector by sector. We’re starting with aquaculture, which in Denmark means 19 massive nets where fish swim on top of each other their entire lives. We need 10,000 signatures to make a difference. Sign up via the link below. fiskenes sag. Dette gjorde vi som led i vores nyeste kampagne, Frie Finner, som har til formål at lukke fiskeindustrien én sektor ad gangen. Vi starter med havbrug, som i Danmark er 19 kæmpe net, hvor fisk svømmer oveni hinanden hele deres liv. Vi ahr brug for 10.000 underskrifter for at gøre en forskel. Giv din i linket herunder.
Friday: Demonstration in front of Danish Crown CEO and Minister of Food, memorial for killed deer, talks, and an animal rights quiz.
Disruption of Minister of Food, Danish Crown CEO, and NNF
Friday began at the Food Workers’ Union (including the industrial slaughterhouse workers’ union). We exposed the grim truth that almost all pigs in Denmark end their lives in gas chambers. We did this with TV screens and signs. Jais Valeur (CEO, Danish Crown) and Jacob Jensen (Minister of Food, Venstre) tried to discuss the future of Danish slaughterhouses, but we insisted there should be no future for slaughter in Denmark. After the panel debate, we invited participants to come outside to watch the slaughter process on our screens—but neither Jais Valeur nor the minister would face the truth. We were, however, invited to the next day’s panel debate at the union tent on “Animal Welfare or Jobs—What’s More Important?”
See what they wrote about us on Twitter below:
📲 Twitter from NNF (Food Workers’ Union):
https://twitter.com/NNFdk/status/1669634848846233601
📲 Tweet from Public Affairs Manager at Food Workers’ Union NNF:
https://twitter.com/SorenSandKirk/status/1669637650700021761
Memorial for killed and hung deer by the Hunters’ Association
The Hunters’ Association had planned a public gutting and cooking of a roe deer on the outdoor stage—an event and assault we refused to let happen without protest. We arranged a more respectful farewell for the animal, apologizing on humanity’s behalf. We circled the deer silently to honor it until the police were called. The crowd, especially the hunter who shot the deer, became visibly aggressive. Our photographer was nearly attacked as the hunter tried to smash his camera, but he was pulled away by organizers and the camera survived with minor damage. After a good talk with police officers who had started to know us, we headed to the Danish Vegetarian Association’s tent to eat.
📰📸 Read more about the incident at the Hunters’ Association:
https://www.jaegerforbundet.dk/om-dj/dj-medier/nyhedsarkiv/2023/demokratifestival-pa-solskinsoen/
Talk: Should we stop eating fish? 🐟
Our local coordinator in Odense, Simon Nyborg Jensen, gave an interactive talk on fish and aquaculture in the tents of the Danish Vegetarian Association and Plantebranchens. The audience asked many questions, and Simon addressed common misconceptions about fish.
Another encounter with Mette Frederiksen
We met Mette a second time while hosting animal rights Square. Our district coordinator in Copenhagen, Adam Samy, had a longer talk with her about the suffering of pigs and how eating plant-based can stop it.
Youth quiz on animal rights 📝
There were prizes and valuable knowledge about the animal protection law up for grabs when our Press and Digital Coordinator, Lars Corvinius Olesen, hosted a youth quiz on animal rights in the tents of the Danish Vegetarian Association and Plantebranchens.
vegan association stew at DUF🍛
After the day’s events, we met other young people for Association Stew at Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd in the Scout hut, enjoying vegan stew. As a youth organization, we’re a member of Dansk Ungdoms Fællesråd, which unites and activates young people across Denmark to engage in our community and local organizations.
Saturday: Panel debates, UN Youth Summit, activism, and social wrap-up
Since we were invited to an extra event on Friday at NNF, we stayed busy from the early morning Saturday. We had to eat breakfast and pack up at the same time.
Invited debate at NNF: ‘Animal Welfare or Jobs—What’s More Important?’ 🐷
Our disruption of Friday’s debate led to an invitation for this panel, now featuring the deputy head of the Food Workers’ Union NNF (slaughterhouse workers), Jim Jensen; the Director of Dyrenes Beskyttelse;director of Dyrenes Beskyttelse, and, chair of Sustainable Agriculture, Peter Kiær; and our national coordinator at Dyrenes Alliance, Maria Nørgaard 🙌 The debate was lively, as expected. NNF and L&F emphasized collaboration between agriculture and slaughterhouses to improve welfare by preserving Danish jobs. We strongly argued that there can be no real animal welfare without the basic right to life and bodily autonomy. The other panelists didn’t agree.
Read coverage of our debate on the industry’s own pages below.
📰📸 Coverage on NNF’s website:
https://www.nnf.dk/nyheder/2023/juni/naestformand-der-vil-vaere-faerre-kunder-til-kodet-hvis-vi-ikke-far-styr-pa-dyrevelfaerden/
📰📸 Article from Sustainable Agriculture:
https://blb.dk/2023/06/folkemoedet-baeredygtigt-landbrug-laerte-fra-sig-om-de-baeredygtige-landmaend/
Screen activism outside the debate: “This is what gassing pigs looks like—what do you think?”
While the debate raged inside the tent, we stood outside with TV screens showing how pigs are gassed—a so-called pincer method. Many passersby were shocked by the brutal treatment of animals in the industry. We also had good conversations with current and former slaughterhouse workers, and even agreed to organize a tug-of-war next year at Folkemødet between slaughterhouse workers and veganers. So if you’re a strong veganer, we could use your help—some industrial slaughterhouse workers are in a whole different weight class than us activists at this year’s Folkemøde.
Dyrenes Alliance at the UN Youth Summit🌎
The UN Youth Summit took place during Folkemødet. Together with youth from the Global South, Dyrenes Alliance activists presented recommendations to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals more effectively—including leaving animals off our industrial production lines and plates.Danida Fellowship Centreand 2030beyond hosted exciting workshops and offered opportunities to speak with global organizations, industry reps, and UN officials including Anne Poulsen, director of UN World Food Programme Denmark.
Discussion with Effective Altruism Denmark: Global Crises in Our Time 🎤
In a discussion with Mathias Bonde, chair ofEffective Altruism Denmark,Lars Corvinius Olesen, Press and Digital Coordinator for Dyrenes Alliance, discussed global crises, their challenges, opportunities, and solutions. Our current food system and treatment of animals were central topics, linking issues like global poverty, pandemics, resource waste, and the climate crisis.
Debate: Effective Animal Protection—Where Should the Focus Be? 🐾
In a panel debate with the director ofDyrenes Beskyttelse, Britta Riis, and vice-chair of Effective Altruism Denmark, Amanda Dahl Hansen, our national coordinator, Maria Nørgaard, discussed the most effective ways to protect animals. Many approaches are needed. The most important point we made in the debate was that we must stop using animals as mere targets in themselves.
If you're interested in discussing movement collaboration and meeting many other animal rights activists and international actors, get your ticket to our animal rights conference this August.
Summerhouse, cozy moments, and Werewolf card game
After some cold and, for some of us, wet nights, we were offered beds in a summerhouse. This was much needed, and we gratefully accepted. A few fantastic days at Folkemødet ended with a few hours of sofa coziness playing Werewolf (a card game) and a good, though short, night's sleep in a proper bed.
Huge success at this year’s Folkemøde
Participation in six planned events, daily activism, demonstrations, media coverage, invitation to an extra debate, international networking, and major attention. We achieved an incredible amount. There’s still plenty of video footage and many other activities from our activists not mentioned in this blog— including possibly sparking an internal debate in Alternativet about whether the party should cover cow's milk at their regular events.
If you'd like to help us do even more this summer or cover our expenses for Folkemødet, every contribution counts.
Festivals are not cheap for us, but we strive to create as many results as possible.
We’d be extremely grateful for your support so we can continue our work for animals at an ever-increasing pace.
