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Actor and river conservationist James Murray has called on the CEO of Nando’s to commit to protecting UK rivers from pollution. He, along with a number of other celebrities, has accused farms supplying Nando’s of contributing to pollution of the River Wye. Nando’s has denied that its chicken has links to pollution of the river.
Murray recently appeared in a video published on YouTube by the charity River Action UK. The short clip shows Murray wearing a full suit and tie while standing in the middle of a river, where the conservationist addresses Nando’s CEO Mark Standish.
“Mark, your chicken is killing our rivers,” says Murray. “The industrial chicken farmers you buy your supplies from for your restaurants has [sic] literally polluted the River Wye to death.”
Nando’s responds
In a statement to Plant Based News, Nando’s denied polluting the River Wye. It also said that it was open to meeting with River Action to discuss its water policy.
“We care passionately about the environment and having a positive impact,” a spokesperson said. “We have a water policy in place for all our chicken suppliers. We will meet with River Action and we are happy to discuss with them how this might be further improved. We are not polluting the River Wye, and our supplier has assured us that no manure is spread, stored or otherwise disposed of on any of the chicken farms we source from. We will be conducting an independent third-party audit to provide further assurances.”
Murray told BBC Radio Gloucestershire that he had seen proof that Nando’s suppliers are polluting the River Wye, causing algae blooms and suffocating aquatic life there. According to the Environment Agency, agriculture and rural land management are responsible for about 40 percent of water pollution in the UK.
An open letter signed by Murray and other high-profile celebrities, artists, environmentalists, and campaign groups calls on Nando’s to “design and implement a sector-leading commitment to protecting Britain’s rivers.”
Signatories include Chris Packham, George Monbiot, Joanna Lumley, and many others, who ask for proof from Nando’s that it is not contributing to Wye pollution.
Read more: Factory Farms Cost UK Taxpayers Over 1.2 Billion Pounds Per Year, Says New Report
River Wye pollution
Tens of millions of chickens are factory-farmed along the banks of the River Wye. This causes extensive pollution and has brought one of the UK’s longest and most famous waterways to the brink of ecological collapse, as reported by River Action.
One of Nando’s key chicken suppliers, Avara Foods, is named in an ongoing lawsuit over alleged Wye pollution. As reported by the BBC, an Avara spokesperson previously said: “No manure is stored, spread or otherwise disposed on poultry farms that supply us, making accusations of ‘pollution’ hard to justify without evidence.”
In the BBC Gloucestershire interview, Murray said that Nando’s has an opportunity to “re-shape the whole supply chain” if it chooses to swap Avara Foods for another supplier.
“They’re an obvious restaurant chain to go for because we also believe that they might turn around and actually start becoming part of the solution rather than the problem,” he said.
Read more: Scientists Observe Factory Farm Pollution From Space
