This document brings together the best tips from the last 5 years’ climate hunger strike in UK, Germany, US, Australia and around the world, also drawing on more historical examples and those from other campaigns.

There is an essential difference between a Fast and a Hunger strike.

A Hunger Strike is usually a protest of last resort to pressurise for change , possibly with political demand. With the condition that the strike will be maintained until the demand is met.

A Fast is usually done for health and / or spiritual reasons, but in the context of a hunger strike, a faster is someone who goes without food, to show solidarity to the hunger striker(s) and helps to garner support for the hunger strikers and their demand 

With both hunger striking and fasting, the person goes without food, whilst still consuming water and possibly tea and vitamins and minerals.

Risks to Consider

We recognise that society promotes distorted body ideals. Prolonged fasting can trigger negative thoughts about the body. If you have a history of self-starvation or an eating disorder, we strongly advise against participating.

• Those in their early-20s and younger, generally are less able to tolerate the mental stress of hunger striking beyond a week, with blood sugar levels possibly fluctuating wildly with a corresponding significant effect on emotions and an impact on mental health.
• Anyone with diabetes, other metabolic disorders, kidney / liver disease, carry high risks.
• Starting from a low BMI, ie being skinny.
• It’s very important, that after a 10+ day fast ends, that the hunger striker has check-ins from supporters. Some hunger strikers went through very dark patches after ending their HS.
• The biggest risk, of longer term hunger strikers, is when ending the strike and going back onto food. A strict refeeding protocol needs to be adhered to, during the first week after resuming eating.

Preparation.

• Support team – It’s crucial that the hunger strikers are supported by a committed team, helping with everything from engaging with the media, writing articles, speaking to politicians and helping with logistics, to name a few. During the fast the hunger strikers will be less physically and mentally able to do these things, and it’ll be important that they minimise the amount of energy and mental effort they expend.
• The media is central to the success of most hunger strikes, with it being important that a key media person handles most media enquiries and engagement with social media and news outlets
• Publicity – the media will want to understand the stories behind each hunger striker, as it’s that with which the media will most readily identify
• Pre-launch videos and other media content to be prepared -Get photo doc and film doco of the HS journey before and during the strike. During the strike it will also be important to produce short video clips detailing the challenges and developments of the strikers, with personal diaries being a powerful way to connect with the audience.
• Anyone who wants to participate in the hunger strike will need to agree to and sign the Conditions of Participation form
• If more than one hunger striker participates in the strike, then before the strike begins, it’s important that all strikers know how long everyone will be going without food.
• There’s a moral duty of care to ensure that everyone who wants to go on a hunger strike is in a good state of mind. Ideally with their wellbeing and mental state being assessed.
• Though it may be difficult to find medical professionals to agree to assess the state of those who want to hunger strike.

Physical Prep

• Get a medical checkup.
• Build up fat reserves – ideally 3+ weeks before the start of the HS, start doubling up on daily calories, and then taper to normal daily calories, a couple days before the start of the fast.

During the Fast

• Take a multivitamin / mineral supplement.

(The most important nutrients being vitamin B1, sodium, potassium, phosphorus and magnesium).

• Whilst sitting for most of the day, try and remain mobile, recommend walking at least 500 metres a day – to help maintain a sense of self-determinism and to help keep spirits up Also, if one is particularly inactive during the fast, then weight loss from muscle wastage (through underuse) can significantly increase weight loss. 
• Depending on the time of year, and possibly for security reasons, it may not be realistic to remain on-site 24/7. The striker’s immune system is compromised during the fast- so very much recommended to only stay on site for a limited number of hours each day, something like 6-10 hours, plus the hunger striker’s body is less able to generate heat to stay warm.
• Build a daily routine, and don’t remain too passive.
• Biggest risk to health is when the body mass loss is > 16% of normal body weight, or going without food for more than 40 days, and beyond that stage there may be potentially significant and irreversible impacts on health.
• During the fast, the hunger striker may become dizzy or feel faint, when standing up or getting out of bed. This may start after the first couple of weeks of going without food. And it’s important that the hunger strikers are encouraged to not stand up quickly and they need to be made aware that they may need to stabilise themselves, when standing up or getting out of bed, as they may faint.

Ending the Fast

• The biggest risk of any longer term (10 days +) hunger strike, is the refeeding syndrome – as it can have very severe effects or worse. There must be a slow reintroduction of food: 
  • First day after ending HS: 330 calories
  • Second day: 660 calories
  • Third day: 1000 calories
  • Fourth day: 1350 calories
  • Etc
• And avoid high carb foods during refeeding. Peanut butter is one of the best foods during that time.
• Here’s a link to medical information on fasting, refeeding and refeeding syndrome: https://cchcs.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/60/CG/HSFR-CG-Summary.pdf
• After a long term hunger strike, it can take quite a while (many months) for memory and concentration to return to normal. And during that time one’s mental health may be significantly affected, making it very important the hunger striker has support from friends or family and from their key support crew.

A Solo Hunger Strike:

• A single hunger striker’s story and relatability with the media is generally viewed as far more powerful than a group of hunger strikers, as it is easier for the media to identify with the story of an individual rather than a group.
• It’s the same approach that Bobby Sands and the nine other Irish hunger strikers adopted in 1981, where only one started the HS, followed every two weeks by another striker.
• If many hunger strikers were to start, and one of the strikers were to bail out early, then it’d significantly undermine its political pressure and the other strikers would find it increasingly difficult to carry on.

The Hunger Striker’s Story

• Guillermo is a father of three, and he did the younger strike out of desperation to protect the futures of his three children. And Angus is an uncle of six.
  The public and media are far more likely to identify with a story where someone is taking desperate measures to protect the lives of those they love. The fact that Guillermo is a father, made his story more powerful than Angus’ story.
• Taking this drastic step because it’s the hunger striker’s duty. Stress the vitalness of taking this drastic step to save peoples lives.
  These types of stories are key in getting the media, public and politicians on board.

Target and Demand

• Needs to be tailored to give max impact and chance of a win – the demand needs to be a reasonable demand. For both Guillermo and Angus’ hunger strike, the demands were eminently reasonable. Asking for any changes to the economy / government policy, is highly unlikely to be successful.
• The hunger strike is more likely to have its demand met, if all of the pressure of the demand is placed on a single politician / individual, as it becomes far more difficult for the target to demand to evade the pressure of the hunger striker(s)/
• During both Guillermo’s and Angus’ HS, leading scientists signed a joint, open letter in support of the HS demands. Those letters were powerful public statements that legitimised the hunger strikers’ demands. Here’s an example of one of the open letters: https://angusro.github.io/Scientists%20Letter%20of%20Support%20for%20Angus%20Rose.pdf

Support

• Support is key. It’s so important for the hunger striker to know that day-to-day tasks are being sorted out by others, getting things to the site every day etc.
• For both Guillermo’s and Angus’ HS, support ended up being from unexpected places. And in both cases the target of the demand (a politician) never agreed to the demand, but instead others, out of desperation to save the hunger striker’s life, did whatever they could to get the demand met.
• It’s important that supporters have support from one another, to share burden and decision making with others. As the strikers’ health and possibly lives could depend on the decisions being made.
• The hunger striker interacting with the public is not only really important for spreading the message, but also helps to keep their mind distracted but it also helps to keep spirits up.
• If the hunger striker(s) are able to regularly engage with the public, during the strike, then they are far more likely to maintain a sense of purpose, compared to if the hunger striker(s) were to be more isolated – and prone to ruminating.
• Whilst supporting the hunger striker, the striker shouldn’t get the sense that they are being pampered – as they may be left without a sense of powerlessness and lack of self-determinism.
• It’s important that longer term hunger strikers have medical check-up, a couple of times a week. Possibly covering things like blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar.
• If a supporter agrees to support the hunger strikers, for the duration of the strike, then there needs to be a get-out clause. Ideally there would be a Conditions of Supporters form, 

Visibility

• ‘Visibility’ is central to the effectiveness / success of a HS.
• Hyper-visibility, both for Angus’s and Guillermo’s HS, meant they sat right outside key parliamentary buildings, occupying a very public space and close to the seat of political power. This position helped give the target of the demand a sense that they could not escape accountability. 

• Also need visibility in the press, build rapport with journalists.
• Reduce the perceived psychological distance between politicians and the hunger striker, by the hunger striker appearing like a typical member of the public – so avoiding the typical XR-type signage, clothing etc. Making the striker far more relatable to the media, public and politicians.
• Clear simple messaging – Angus sometimes sat with a very large sign directly facing one of the main gates, outside the Houses of Parliament – making it difficult for politicians to avoid the message.

During the HS

• Link to personalising the Hunger Striker(s) – emphasise family connections e.g. Guillermo as a dad, Angus as an Uncle, 
• Think creatively about ways to build these personal stories.

Location – where to be based?

• Ideally outside parliament buildings or possible other targets
• To camp 24-7 – then ensure others manage the camp have good weather proofing to save energy of those on HS etc.
• If travelling in – get a base as near to the visible place as possible to save time and energy 
• Think about transport logistics to minimise energy

Hospital Admission

• A key moment of drama and attention- if it comes to this, use it.