'I like bacon too much' - Nottingham undecided over pro-vegan billboard

A big billboard has been put up by the side of a busy road in the city - but not everyone in Nottingham is planning to change their habits and go vegan after seeing it. The poster aims to "reveal the truth" about free range chickens and has appeared on Lower Parliament Street on Wednesday, May 8.

It is part of a two-week campaign by Animal Justice Project happening across several major cities. The real-life image featured comes from inside a free range egg farm, aiming to give an accurate representation of the environment that some of the chickens live in.

Teddy Digioia-Davis, 22, is a former vegetarian, who was passing-by on Wednesday morning. She says she agrees with the billboard’s message that “cage-free isn’t cruelty free.”

She believes that “a lot of companies label stuff as organic and free range just to sell more, but its not.” She said the billboard would make her consider going vegan.

Despite the campaign's efforts to make people “choose vegan”, others aren’t as easily swayed. Penny Tolley, 38, from Keyworth said the billboard caught her attention as someone who makes sure to buy free-range food. However, when asked if it would make her go vegan, she responded with “I like bacon too much.”

Another onlooker, Noel Tongue, 51, from Ilkeston said that he does feel bad “if animals are very poorly treated” but said that “seeing something like that would make me think, but that’s as far as I would go.”

Tom Hudson, 17, from Sandiacre thought free-range farms were “a lot more fair” but quickly changed his mind when he understood the billboard’s message. Although he now finds the free-range label “quite deceptive” he admitted that he could never be vegan.

Tom is like most people who know very little about how their eggs are produced or the suffering of hens, revealed in a YouGov poll commissioned by the Animal Justice Project.

Dead and decaying birds were reportedly found in the Animal Justice Project’s investigation into free-range egg farms, raising concerns about the reliability of welfare labels that push the billboard campaign.

Their campaign exposes 'what is hidden from British consumers', with their main message being that “there is no such thing as an ethical egg”. Around 296,000 people in Nottingham are expected to see the billboard over the next two weeks.

Aryton Cooper, campaigns manager at Animal Justice Project said Nottingham is full of “conscientious individuals who champion ethic values” which makes it a good city to resonate with when exposing the “stark reality” of welfare labels. “We encourage everyone to take a simple step towards ending their support of the egg industry.”