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Meat Free-(wo)man Victoria Pendleton C.B.E, drove her vegetable sheep Caulin, Baa-bara and Bo, over London bridge in a defiant mood, turning a centuries-old tradition on its head
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The campaign aims to raise awareness of World Meat Free Week (17-23 June)
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It follows in the year ‘meat-free went mainstream’ with 52% of the British public actively reducing the amount of meat they eat.
Victoria Pendleton C.B.E, British jockey and two-time Olympic cycling champion was joined today by meat-reducers of the City of London as they exercised their “right” to go meat free in the ancient heart of the capital.
Turning a Twelfth Century British tradition on its head – the Freemans Great Sheep Drive- Victoria drove sheep created entirely of vegetables across London Bridge. The Freeman were granted access to bring livestock and tools into the City without paying tax.
The stunt has been created to raise awareness for World Meat Free Week, a global initiative created in line with The IPCC report calling on the earth’s population to adopt a plant-based flexitarian diet with meat eaten less than once a week, otherwise the planet will ‘no longer be a safe operating space for humanity.’
Victoria Pendleton, ambassador for World Meat Free Week and vegan said, “For World Meat Free Week I’m encouraging more people to try just one meat-free meal as eating fewer animal products is the single biggest way to reduce our impact on the planet. We need more people to sit up, take notice, and eat less meat – and we can have a big impact on the Earth’s future.”
The double Olympic champion, winning Gold in Beijing 2008 and London 2012 is also a 9 x World Champion who dominated sprint track cycling during her career. Since retiring following the London Olympics, Victoria has continued to excel in her sporting career, whilst living a vegan lifestyle – none more so than successfully training to be a jump jockey in 12 months having never ridden a horse before.
Kicking off with the biggest ever Veganuary, 2019 has marked the dawn of a new era for the Meat Free industry with FAIRR and Oxford University advocating a meat tax, and more recently EAT-Lancet calling for dramatic reductions in meat consumption.
