You can currently see SOW in these six locations
Barclays Tower, Canary Wharf
Barclays is the bank of choice for one of the world’s most destructive companies in the food sector – the biggest global meat corporation, JBS. Barclays provides billions of pounds worth of loans and underwriting services to JBS and is the world’s largest creditor. JBS is planning to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange, which would give the company access to more money to expand while handing over almost complete control to the notoriously corrupt Batista family.
How to get there
2 Churchill Pl, London E14 5RB
SOW appears on top of Barclays Bank.
A 5 min walk from Canary Wharf station to the building’s entrance on Churchill Pl.
Best viewpoint is from the entrance of Billingsgate Fish Market or the bridge on Trafalgar Way (7 min walk from the building's entrance).
Coordinates: 51.506682, -0.011107
What three words: ///sparks.curving.behind
© Naho Matsuda
Tesco Bold Street, Liverpool
Tesco, Morning Lane Hackney
Tesco is the biggest seller of industrially produced meat and dairy in the UK. Tesco acknowledges a reduction in meat and dairy is necessary to meet its climate targets - yet it has set no targets for such reduction, deflecting responsibility to its customers. Tesco’s reported operating profits for 2022/23 were £2.6 billion.
Despite promising to phase out products from deforestation for over a decade, its supply chain is still riddled with soya and it still buys from suppliers owned by Brazilian meat giant JBS – a company notorious for driving forest destruction in the Amazon, as well as other climate critical ecosystems in South America. After failing to deliver on its promise to phase out deforestation by 2020, Tesco says it will know where its soya comes from by 2025. A new study revealed that cattle producers that potentially sell to JBS cover 9.7 million hectares of land exposed to deforestation risk. That includes acres that have been deforested between 2008 and 2021 and also lands under risk of deforestation until 2025. This makes JBS’ supply chain the meatpacker most-exposed to deforestation risk in Brazil’s Amazon region, where pasture lands, for livestock grazing, cover 90% of deforested areas.
How to get there
Tesco Express, Liverpool, Bold St
93-97 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4HF
SOW appears on top of Tesco Express. This Tesco Express is on Bold Street in the city centre, a 4 min walk from Liverpool Central station.
Best viewpoint is from across the road on the corner of Colquitt Street
Coordinates: 53.402251309649586, -2.9765796651147536
What three words: ///glare.fortunate.dash
Tesco Superstore, Hackney
SOW appears on top of Tesco Superstore in Hackney. The Tesco Superstore is a 4 min walk from Hackney Central station.
Best viewpoint is the car park's entrance from Morning Lane. Stand in one of the pedestrian lanes. If you go along the building down Morning Ln to the back gate, you can see the back of SOW.
Coordinates: 51.54670297977392, -0.05456874896330405
What three words: ///leaves.trying.look
© Naho Matsuda
© Naho Matsuda
DEFRA, Westminster
The UK government has failed to ban imports of products linked to deforestation and degradation of forests and vital ecosystems. The Environment Act 2021, which bans imports of products linked to illegal deforestation hasn’t come into force yet. Billions of pounds from UK finance are allowed to bankroll nature destruction abroad. Ignoring the recommendations of its own experts, the Government also failed to adopt measures to reduce meat and dairy production and consumption in its Food Strategy published in June 2022. While over 10 million tonnes of food go to waste annually, the government has scrapped plans for mandatory food waste reporting and it maintains rules in place that prevent the feeding of livestock on food waste - unnecessarily maintaining the dependency on soya and animal feed imports.
How to get there
SOW is on the top of 2 Marsham St, the building with the coloured glass roof, that houses the headquarters of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Best viewpoint is the corner of Marsham St and Romney Street next to the Italian restaurant. Point towards the two flag poles, at the corner of the roof of this building.
Coordinates: 51.495309458212446, -0.12905054534109478
What three words: ///clues.yoga.later
© Naho Matsuda
Danish Crown Factory Rochdale
The biggest pork producer in Europe, Danish Crown, is opening up its first (since the sale of Tulip to JBS’ Pilgrim Pride in 2019) new processing facility in Rochdale in the Greater Manchester area, which will be solely supplied with Danish pork, to offer a lower price point than British producers. In 2021, Danish Crown was forced to drop ‘climate-controlled pig’ label [after a greenwashing row in Denmark after Greenpeace Denmark complained to consumers Ombusdman, accusing the company of greenwashing and misleading marketing]. In June 2021, three Denmark-based non-profit organisations filed Denmark’s first climate lawsuit against Danish Crown, accusing the company of spreading false claims about the climate impact of meat. A new investigation revealed in November 2023 that a report about the climate footprint of pork was changed at Danish Crown’s request, before it was published by Aarhus University in October 2019. The lawsuit continues.
How to get there
SOW appears in front of the Danish Crown bacon factory. There are several buses going from Rochdale town centre into the Business Park.
Best viewpoint is when you walk a minute up James Kearns Ave from John Milne Ave. Face the camera towards the junction of these two roads.
We suggest that you go with a friend, as this area is a little bit remote.
Coordinates: 53.59959900851329, -2.1305912679252264
What three words: ///gosh.sheep.spit
© Naho Matsuda
Cargill Tower, Seaforth, Liverpool Docks
The UK imports around 3 million tonnes of soya each year to feed chickens, pigs and dairy cows. Two thirds of UK soya imports come from countries in South America, where its expansion drives deforestation and human rights abuses. Liverpool docks is the main gateway for soya entering the UK via Cargill, a major industrial supplier of commodities for animal feed. The largest US privately held company and biggest importer of soya into the UK, Cargill reached its highest revenue ever in its 158-year history in 2022 at about $177 billion. A recent investigation linked chicken and pork products sold in Tesco stores and fed on Cargill’s soy to the recent, illegal fires and deforestation of 400 hectares of Brazilian Amazon rainforest, equivalent to 560 Wembley football pitches, and the loss of more than 220,000 trees.
How to get there
SOW appears on the highest tower in the distance. The soy processing plants are at the Docks in Seaforth, a 40 min bus ride from Liverpool centre.
Best viewpoint is through the fence, on the pedestrian path of Crosby Rd, opposite Crosby Hand Car Wash.
We suggest that you go with a friend, as this area is a bit remote. The port is closed to the public, it is not possible to get closer to the tower.
Coordinates: 53.461403838387874, -3.0134631525275197
What three words: ///uses.moving.barks
© Naho Matsuda / Greenpeace