It’s for the tofu.
Via Berkeleyside:
Reminiscent of the “smoking kills” labels on packs of cigarettes, a sign denouncing the killing of animals now hangs, counterintuitively, in the window of a North Berkeley butcher shop.
The owners of The Local Butcher Shop on Cedar Street agreed, under duress, to put the sign up in exchange for a promise by animal-rights activists to stop holding weekly demonstrations in front of the store.
The Bay Area chapter of the national non-profit Direct Action Everywhere has protested — sometimes half-naked and covered in fake blood — while butchery classes are in session every Sunday since April. The group, which is also known as DXE, says it will only hold two more protests if the new sign, which says, “Attention: Animals’ lives are their right. Killing them is violent and unjust, no matter how it’s done,” stays up for the next year.
Monica Rocchino, who owns The Local Butcher Shop with her husband and former Chez Panisse chef Aaron Rocchino, said she considers the deal extortion.
The couple first met with the activists in May to try to come up with a situation that would work for both parties. At first, said Rocchino, Direct Action Everywhere members said they would not stop protesting until Berkeley was meat-free and The Local Butcher Shop was out of business, but they all agreed to consider a compromise. The activists came back a couple weeks ago with other options, including putting the sign up in the window. The owners were able to negotiate the size and placement and the 15″ by 15″ sign now hangs in a corner, fairly easy to miss.
“The most palatable option to us was to put that sign up” instead of facing more demonstrations, she said. “The protests impacted the neighbors and local businesses more than it impacted us…so it felt like the most respectful thing to do.”
HT: Wirecutter