Get creative with costumes

7 July 2009

Newcastle Gateshead Friends of the Earth and their feathered friend

Before we started we were worried about the dreaded question - "how will you feed the animals without Brazilian soy?"

We were also concerned about being accused of trying to stop people eating meat. But nobody quizzed us in any detail. The stall was a great success and we will definitely do another.

Cracking costumes

Top tip: Costumes only cost about £25 to hire. I think it's money really well spent. People feel less threatened if you are wearing a silly outfit and it helps initiate conversations.

The chicken costume was ideal because loads of people want their photo taken with the chicken.

And it wasn't just kids - we even got a hen party!

After that they can hardly not listen to your patter and sign your stuff.

The cow ears were also a success - and cheap to make. Once people stop and stare you are halfway there!

The sandwich boards were great although they took a long time to put together.

Putting the pop-up animals on a washing line was also popular.

Keep it simple

Because the Food Chain Campaign message is quite complex we stuck to simple messages.

I mainly said "Do you know what your chickens eat? They eat crops grown where there used to be Amazonian rainforest."

We told people they could ask their MP to support sustainable farming by signing a postcard.

Everybody was happy to sign because they thought they were saving the rainforest or protecting indigenous people.

People were really happy to sign the postcards