Parkrun sponsors controversy

TheMoneySpider

What does everyone think about this? I saw all the outcry when they announced the Happy Egg Company as a sponsor and then was a bit surprised at their slightly gruff response. Some of the things people were saying about Happy Egg were a little but concerning etc



Then they announced Persil and everyone was accusing them of lining their own pockets and bringing up all sorts of stuff about the parent company. Just felt like a bit of a feeding frenzy at that point.


I we understand mean organisations that basically give away their product need funding, surely Parkrun are the good guys.

Stoke

I didn't realise there was a controversy, but I found this piece written by a completely agenda-free vegan. I'm super cereal.

https://www.plantbasednews.org/post/opinion-parkruns-happy-egg-co-exploits-animals-planet

Honestly, as bad as caged hens are, the reason they remain a 'thing' is because people on low wages are cutting costs literally everywhere; people who have seen their shopping bills go up but their wages stay the same. They are desperate and caged hens are the cheapest and so they continue to buy them. I grew up in Stoke-on-Trent, a very working class area and I've seen the lengths in-which people will go to cut costs just so they can maintain any semblance of a normal life. By normal, I don't mean a trip to Disneyland every year, I mean just being able to eat food, drink, perhaps have basic technology like a cheap Internet package, an old computer, a cheap mobile phone and a TV.... perhaps the odd trip to the cinema at the weekend. You go into ALDI and while a box of 12 free range eggs are about £2, a plastic tub of 15 caged eggs is just £1.19. No, 80p isn't a lot of money, but if you buy eggs regularly then it will add up and some people are absolutely desperate to cut costs because they have no other choice. It's not necessarily a moral choice, it's a financial one.

I do find it really funny when I see these Change.org petitions that tend to follow something along the lines of : "BAN SUPERMARKET x FROM USING CAGED HENS" by Jenny and Giles from Bath. Jenny, a lawyer, speaking from her 6 bedroom house said "it's an absolute disgrace that caged hens still exist, especially when there are so many Artisan food shops in town these days". Giles who is the Managing Director of a chain of dentists and met his wife at Oxford University said "Growing up, we often used to keep chickens by the stables and I'd go out, feed them once or twice a week, so to think these poor hens are suffering is outrageous".

Yes, caged hens need to be banned eventually, and the meat industry in general needs a shakeup. It is despicably cruel and despite the outcry of various politicians and high profile speakers, it remains insubordinate. The reality is though, the reason cheap animal products exist is because there's a market for it, mostly from the lowest paid and most vulnerable in our society..... who we can't help but continually take a !!!! on, year on year.

TheMoneySpider

I think you raise a very good point about people who are suffering real deprivation but trying to keep their family fed and living a positive life. It's not like Parkrun are now sponsored by Turkey Twizzlers or Ye Olde Oak hotdogs.


Parkrun is a free community event available to all...hugely positive and engaging. Overall is a less-than-perfect-but-not-as-bad-as-most company sponsoring them, helping keep it free and enabling them to widen their reach is a fair price to pay?

TheMoneySpider

Quite a good podcast about this :


http://withmenow.libsyn.com/with-me-now-egg-gate-and-pshcbe

Stoke

TheMoneySpider wrote: »

Quite a good podcast about this :


http://withmenow.libsyn.com/with-me-now-egg-gate-and-pshcbe

I'll have a listen now

TheMoneySpider

Another interesting insight here from the Parkrun CEO