Campaign Diary & Other Information

28th July 2007 - Hotel du Vin
This is the letter we received from Hotel Du Vin's general manager Mark Davies; stating their removal of foie gras from their menu- Thankfully he witnessed our demonstrations against OPUS restaurant and decided to remove it before we confronted Hotel Du vin about their sale of foie gras!

Dear BARC,

Sorry for the delayed reply but you caught me leaving the hotel to go on my holidays. I would like this email to confirm that we have not had Foie Gras on our menu for some time now. All our menus are samples and I will follow up on the website error which sates we are still selling the above. If you have any further enquiries about Foie Gras on our menu I will be happy to answer.

Kind regards

Mark Davies
General Manager
Hotel du Vin Birmingham
Church Street
Birmingham
B3 2NR
 

Friday, July 11, 2008 HOTEL DU VIN- FOIE GRAS FREE
Hotel Du Vin has taken foie gras off the menu. The general manager Mark Davies who was rushing into his taxi to go on holiday didn't look too pleased when a group of activists turned up outside of his hotel and bistro, he claimed that he has removed foie gras after our victory at OPUS restaurant which is situated just around the corner from Hotel Du Vin.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008 - Turners Restaurant
We did a ten minute demonstration outside of Turners restaurant expressing our disgust against their support of the foie gras industry; an industry which has been banned from production in the UK. Turners responded in an intimidatory manner with hollow threats calling the police on us twice. Then deciding that they would remocve this delicacy of despair from their menu stating that they would not sell it on their menu in the future.

The Bucklemaker Restaurant Demo
As approaching the Bucklemaker we were met by their owner who told us that he had been on the phone to Turners restaurant. He told us that he had heard about our campaign and had decided to remove the delicacy as he didn't want the bad publicity.  After all we are very bad for business. We have since noticed that they still have it advertised for sale on their website so watch this space if it transpires we have been lied to or deliberately deceived then their restaurant will left on this website for all their potential customers to see and our campaign re-started outside their premises

14th May 2008 - OPUS Restaurant remove Foie Grass from their menu
Well done to Opus Restaurant for removing foie gras from their menu. Hopefully other Birmingham restaurants will follow suite and recognize foie gras for the extremely cruel and unnecessary dish it is.   
 

An email received today read as follows:

"CONGRATULATIONS"

We have removed from our menu!

Opus Restaurant
54 Cornwall Street
Birmingham
B3 2DE
0121 200 2323

Irene Allan"

Birmingham Animal Rights Collective have been holding peaceful, legal protests outside Opus Restaurant for approximately two months, after the management at Opus refused to consider removing foie gras from the menu. Opus seemed to be trying to ignore the protests, hoping they would go away, perhaps they didn't seem to realize that this is an important cause and that there is no justification for the cruelty that is funded by the sale of foie gras

The initial push with the campaign takes an educational angle, the methods by which the so called "delicacy" is produced are shown and explained with hope that restaurateurs will remove it from the menu because of the cruel production methods involved.

The British Government banned Foie Gras production in the UK as the methods contravened existing animal welfare laws, yet some restaurants still import and serve it.

The campaign will continue to name and shame all those still supporting the extreme animal cruelty behind this so called "delicacy".


25th April 2008 Foie Gras off the Menu at a 4th Birmingham Restaurant
Le Bistrot Romance takes the decision to remove the controversial, animal cruel dish known as Foie Gras off their menu, and the campaign to make Birmingham a Foie Gras Free Zone builds speed. Le Bistrot Romance is the fourth restaurant in Birmingham to cease the sale of Foie Gras, after just one demonstration held on the 23rd April 2008 - Foie Gras had been crossed off their menu with a notice stating: "To all customers, as of 24th April 2008 we will no longer be serving Foie Gras".

We are glad that Le Bistrot Romance has chosen to stop serving this torturous delicacy, and we urge any other restaurants still serving it to follow suit.  This combined with previous victories at Purnell's, Simpson's and Chez Jules is a great result and a flying start to the campaign.
 

26th March 2008 Purnells Restuarant
Following our prescience at Purnell’s the manager presented us with this letter:
From the 22nd March 2008 Purnell’s restaurant has stopped selling foie gras and it will not be shown on its menus again.
Glyn Purnell

14th March 2008 Simpsons Restuarant
We held regular demonstrations outside of Simpsons restaurant and after two weeks they removed foie gras from their menu. This was after constant confrontation from the manager who didn't know the law all too well and just thought that obviously a protest is illegal and off course the police could just move us on. WRONG. We maintained a lawful protest and continued to inform their customers about the disgusting facts about foie gras; obtaining brilliant support from the public.

They removed foie gras from their menus after we showed them DVD footage (on the 22nd) of the production of foie gras, they vowed never to serve it on their menu again. One of the chefs watched the footage and was disgusted while another refused to watch it. .Thanks to everyone who supported us and came on regular protests/wrote letters of complaint and leafleted! 

 

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Should anyone notice foie gras back on any of the above restaurant menus please let us know and we will be back as well, the same applies to all the other restaurants supporting animal cruelty in the Birmingham area.  WE WILL BE WATCHING YOUR MENUS AND WEBSITES

The campaign will continue to name and shame all those still supporting the extreme animal cruelty behind this so called "delicacy".

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Friday 23rd May - Green Garden Cafe http://www.greengardencafe.co.uk/

To encourage a climate-friendly and non-corporate approach to catering a new social enterprise is to launch in Coventry on Friday 23rd May.

Coventry celebrates National Vegetarian Week with the launch of The Green Garden Cafe, a social enterprise incorporating support and training for young and disadvantaged people, with a strong emphasis on education for a healthy lifestyle.

Promoting home grown, locally sourced and home made animal-free foods, the Green Garden Cafe will be offering pure vegetarian (ie vegan) catering for all parts of the local community, at indoor and outdoor events throughout the West Midlands.

Launch Event: 11am-4pm at The Foyer, Lower Holyhead Road, Coventry CV13AX (opposite Tin Angel Pub) with free vegan food samples and advice & support from Coventry Vegetarians and Vegans and young people from the Foyer will be helping around the event.

All welcome - come along to offer your support or to discuss your requirements for catering or training.

http://www.greengardencafe.co.uk/


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For further information, or if you would like to help us make Birmingham a Foie Gras Free Zone, please feel free to contact us using the contact link above.

You may Wish to Write to the Restaurants
(click on their links for contact information)
 

Please do not be abusive should you decide to contact restaurants selling foie gras, just air your views in a civilised manner. The aim of the Birmingham Animal Rights Collective is to ban the sale and importation of foie gras in this country in a legal and civilised manner, we do not wish to lower ourselves to their level.
 

DISCLAIMER: The information on this website is for the purpose of legal protest and information only. It should not be used to commit any criminal acts or harassment. The BARC does not encourage any illegal activities