On 17th January 2015, up to 50,000 people joined the fifth annual “We are fed up!” demonstration in Berlin to protest against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), industrial livestock farming and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The march was timed to coincide with the International Green Week, a large agriculture fair that took place in Berlin from 16th to 25th January 2015. One out of many impressive moments was the procession of 80 tractors driven by small scale farmers as an opening for the march.
300 young activists from BUNDjugend/YFoE Germany were also part of that huge event. With costumes, loud voices, banners and a lot of fun they called for an ecological, sustainable and fair agricultural system. Dressed up cows, pigs and chickens were demanding the abolishment of factory farming and plants like corn, tomatoes and peas declared that they don’t want monocultures.
Before the demonstration started, the disguised BUNDjugend activists did an eye-catching action where they chased the TTIP-monster away from their imaginary field. With pitchforks and other agricultural tools they ran after the cardboard box symbolising TTIP.
Check out more pictures on our gallery.
Around the demonstration, BUNDjugend organised a whole weekend for their activists to network, exchange and learn from each other. The schedule was full of workshops about TTIP, climate justice or education for sustainable development, as well as some time for suggestions from participants in open space sessions. Everyone enjoyed the delicious vegan food prepared by a dedicated cooking team and the cosy atmosphere in the school hosting the young activists for the weekend. We are already looking forward to next year’s demonstration in January 2016.