About Poland
Corporate Infiltration of the Animal Sector Being Met with Resistance
Polish agriculture is still largely based on small family farms. The average size of family farms in Poland is 7.5 ha UAA (Utilised Agricultural Area), although regional differences are significant. The smallest family farms are located in southern Poland, their average size being 3.3 ha UAA. The largest farms (over 20 ha UAA) can be found in north-western Poland. The largest agricultural holdings that cover a total area of several thousand hectares were created on the basis of state-owned farms.1 Nowadays, they are either private, public or corporate.
From 1990 to 2003, the total number of farms decreased steadily, mostly affecting medium-sized farms. During the same period, the number of both the smallest and the largest farms was on the rise. In 2003, the interest in agriculture was renewed due to the prospect of receiving EU-agricultural subsidies after joining the Union in May 2004. Currently, the largest group of Polish farms are those under 5 hectares.
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Polish Organizations
Zwiazek Zawodowy Rolnictwa Sambroona
(Farmers’ Union “Self-Defence”)
The farmers’ union Sambroona initiated an anti-Smithfield campaign in 2000, supporting the Animal Welfare Institute with a Poland-wide distribution of 8.000 videotapes featuring a Trojan pig documentary. A second anti-Smithfield film has been released by this farmers’ union. Sambroona continues the resistance against the Smithfield corporation in Warsaw and in other rural areas of Poland.
Contact: samoobrona@samoobrona.org.pl
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About The Meatrix
The Meatrix is a product of the first-ever Free Range Flash Activism Grant. In February 2003, Free Range Graphics, a cutting-edge design company, invited hundreds of non-profit organizations to apply for a grant that included production of a free Flash movie. After carefully reviewing more than 50 applications, the grant was awarded to GRACE’s Sustainable Table Program.
Sustainable Table works to educate consumers about the problems with factory farming and to promote sustainable food. The Meatrix was originally produced as a way to promote the Eat Well Guide, Sustainable Table’s online directory of sustainable farms, stores and restaurants in the US and Canada that sell meat, poultry, dairy and eggs from small, sustainable family farmers. But only days after release, it became evident that The Meatrix was also an excellent educational tool about factory farming. The film broke all records for online advocacy and was seen by millions of people in the first few months alone.
In 2005, Sustainable Table realized another movie was needed. The dairy industry has been moving more and more toward an industrialized system of production, to the detriment of people, the animals and the environment, so The Meatrix II: Revolting was created. The movie looks at the horrors of the dairy industry, while the accompanying web site offers consumers sustainable solutions to these problems.
