Truth, Lies and Culture Wars: Social Listening Analysis of Meat and Dairy Persuasion Narratives

The report analyzes over 285 million social media posts from June 2022 to July 2023 to identify trends in meat and dairy misinformation. It categorizes misinformation into 'disparage' narratives targeting alternatives and 'enhance' narratives promoting animal products. The study finds that a small number of 'misinfluencers' drive significant engagement, often linking food systems to far-right conspiracy theories like 'The Great Reset'. These narratives are shown to undermine scientific consensus and hinder government efforts to reduce agricultural emissions in countries such as Ireland and the Netherlands.

• Animal agriculture has a significant global environmental footprint, accounting for over half (57%) of the estimated 37% of all global greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production and 32% of the world's methane emissions. It utilizes over 80% of global land while providing only 18% of calories and 37% of total protein.
• If the livestock sector continues to grow at its current 'business as usual' rate without dietary shifts, it will account for 49% of the global emissions budget for 1.5°C by 2030.
• Analysis of 285 million digital posts identified approximately 948,000 conversations containing misinformation, which is split into two primary categories: 'disparage' narratives (78%), which attack meat and dairy alternatives, and 'enhance' narratives (22%), which promote animal products through 'health-washing' and 'greenwashing'.
• A small group of 50 accounts is responsible for 50% of the engagement with this misinformation. These 'misinfluencers' include self-described wellness experts and far-right political or media figures who use conspiracy theories, such as 'The Great Reset', to undermine scientific consensus on reducing meat and dairy consumption.
• Social media misinformation has tangible impacts on policy, such as the use of a non-peer-reviewed UC Davis study to challenge the Irish government's goal to reduce farming emissions by 25% by 2030, and the influence of far-right movements on nitrogen policy debates in the Netherlands.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2023). Truth, Lies and Culture Wars: Social Listening Analysis of Meat and Dairy Persuasion Narratives. https://changingmarkets.org/report/truth-lies-and-culture-wars-social-listening-analysis-of-meat-and-dairy-persuasion-narratives/

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Truth, Lies and Culture Wars: Social Listening Analysis of Meat and Dairy Persuasion Narratives. 2023. https://changingmarkets.org/report/truth-lies-and-culture-wars-social-listening-analysis-of-meat-and-dairy-persuasion-narratives/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Truth, Lies and Culture Wars: Social Listening Analysis of Meat and Dairy Persuasion Narratives |date=29 November 2023 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/report/truth-lies-and-culture-wars-social-listening-analysis-of-meat-and-dairy-persuasion-narratives/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2023truth, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Truth, Lies and Culture Wars: Social Listening Analysis of Meat and Dairy Persuasion Narratives}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2023}, month = nov, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/report/truth-lies-and-culture-wars-social-listening-analysis-of-meat-and-dairy-persuasion-narratives/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }