A giant pig has appeared on top of Tesco stores, Barclays HQ and DEFRA and a number of other locations across the UK as part of a campaign designed to expose the companies and the government’s links to the meat industry.
The virtual pig can be seen via an augmented reality app created by artists and campaigners including Greenpeace and is designed to bring to light the ills of the meat industry. It is a direct jibe at Barclays Bank, which finances the world’s biggest meat company JBS, and Tesco, who continues to use it as a supplier.
Created by artist Naho Matsuda with small collective A Drift Of US, and supported by Greenpeace as part of the NGO’s Bad Taste initiative, SOW AR is free to download via Apple Store or Google Play. The digital sculpture can be seen sometimes sleeping, sometimes huffing, and sometimes squealing atop the buildings.
“SOW is a female breeding pig, she’s monstrous and beautiful at the same time. But similar to the industrial meat industry, SOW is only visible if you choose to look,” said artist Naho Matsuda.
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“We hope people will travel to see SOW, to the places we’ve identified as key players in the violent and exploitative supply chain of industrial meat and especially pork production -such as Tesco and Barclays,” she continued.
The project comes as new analysis revealed that emissions from the world’s largest meat and dairy firms – with global poultry consumption set to increase by 15%, pork by 11%, and beef by 10% by 2032. Users of the app will also be able to access in-depth content about the industrial pork supply chain.
Greenpeace UK campaigner Daniela Montalto added: “Stepping climate and nature breakdown demands transformative changes to our food system. Only by cutting our meat production and consumption will we free up enough cropland to feed people first, reduce livestock emissions and create more space for nature.”
“Industrial meat companies, UK banks financing them, and supermarkets like Tesco whose supply chains are driving the destruction of critical ecosystems, must be government-regulated, forcing them to align with international goals for climate and nature protection”.
