The global meat industry is preparing to undermine a major scientific study on diet due to be published next week, campaigners have warned.
Analysis of leaked audio recordings – as well as the identification of a group of online ‘misinfluencers’ – have been uncovered by environmental non-profit Changing Markets Foundation.
The organisation said it feared the group would attack the upcoming new Eat-Lancet 2 study with a misinformation or disinformation push around the time of its publication on 3 October.
The same group was said to have used social media to spread misinformation, conspiracy theories and personal attacks against the study’s scientific authors after its first iteration was published in 2019.
A radical change
Changing Markets said the previous campaign had “notable real-world impacts”, citing a March 2019 decision by the World Health Organization to withdraw its sponsorship of an event promoting the report. The move followed pressure from the Italian government, which, according to the campaign group, “reflected narratives from the online backlash”.
By 2024, the Eat-Lancet report had chalked up more than 600 policy citations, with Changing Markets describing it as “one of the most influential academic studies ever released”.
The report warned only a radical switch in diets – away from meat and dairy and towards plant-based foods – could avert a global public health crisis and potentially catastrophic environmental damage.
However, the report’s potential to “lead to regulation and societal change” which could pose a serious threat to the interests of ’Big Meat and Dairy’ triggered a significant online backlash, said Changing Markets, against both the report’s findings and the Eat-Lancet Commission itself.
The onslaught of attacks marked “a pivotal moment in food systems and diet becoming entangled in the so-called culture wars”, it added.
Research into the backlash revealed the hashtag #Yes2Meat had reached 26 million people on Twitter, more than the 25 million reached by those promoting the research.
The negative campaign was effective in swaying ‘undecided’ users, with critical posts shared six times more frequently than supportive ones.
The online battleground
A PR agency working for meat, chemical and tobacco firms, Red Flag, celebrated the “orchestrated” backlash in 2019 as a “remarkable success”, claims Changing Markets, indicating that the actions could become a ”template” for further attacks, starting with the publication of Eat-Lancet 2 next week.
“Our research shows more clearly than ever that the meat industry is increasingly fighting science and progress with misinformation and dark online forces,” said Nusa Urbancic, Changing Markets CEO. “With the web becoming lawless and AI tools rising, online misinfluencers we identified are more powerful today than ever before.”
Leaked audio recordings obtained by Changing Markets from The Societal Role of Meat & Livestock conference in Denver last October – which was sponsored and attended by representatives from the global meat sector – suggested next week’s “major scientific update” to the Eat-Lancet study would once again come under attack.
Speakers at the conference, also known as Cow Town, agreed there was an “urgent” need for a global communications and lobbying campaign against the report “using all contemporary channels”.
One industry consultant was heard urging delegates to recognise that “truth is a relative concept”, while another delegate openly badmouthed researchers, describing them as “annoying” people you wouldn’t want to eat dinner with, Changing Markets said.
The value of online influencers was recognised repeatedly, it added.
“We’ll be watching closely next week for signs of another backlash,” added Urbancic. “At this critical moment, the scientific community and policymakers must be aware of those working overtime to slow progress to better health and environmental protection. This is a fight we cannot lose.
“We can all resist them better if we understand who they are and what they are doing, hence our investigation.”
Red Flag was approached for comment.
No comments yet