Meat vs EAT-Lancet: The dynamics of an industry-orchestrated online backlash

The report exposes a tightly coordinated network of scientists, doctors, and journalists who used hashtags like #Yes2Meat and #ClimateFoodFacts to discredit the EAT-Lancet report. It details the role of the PR agency Red Flag and industry-funded entities like the UC Davis CLEAR Center in orchestrating these campaigns. The document also analyzes subsequent industry gatherings, such as the Dublin Declaration and the Denver Summit, as efforts to maintain the meat industry's 'social license to operate' through biased scientific narratives and identity-driven influencer campaigns ahead of the EAT-Lancet 2.0 update.

• A coordinated network of 33 'mis-influencers' was central to the EAT-Lancet backlash, with the top 100 accounts responsible for nearly 50% of posts and over 90% of total engagement on Twitter.
• The #Yes2Meat hashtag served as a primary rallying point for the opposition, reaching 26 million people on Twitter and successfully swaying 'undecided' users, with critical posts shared six times more frequently than supportive ones.
• The PR agency Red Flag, likely acting for the Animal Agriculture Alliance (AAA), coordinated the #ClimateFoodFacts campaign to pre-emptively discredit the EAT-Lancet report by briefing 'experts' and using paid posts to reach 780,000 people on Facebook and Twitter.
• Frank Mitloehner and the UC Davis CLEAR Center used the 'success' of the EAT-Lancet backlash to fundraise from industry sources, receiving at least $3.7 million between 2018 and 2023 from entities including IFEEDER, the National Pork Board, and Burger King.
• The 2024 Denver summit, while presented as a scientific conference, was identified as a public relations exercise intended to 'plan an ‘urgent’ communications drive' to maintain the meat industry's 'social license to operate'.
• Frédéric Leroy, a central figure in the mis-influencer network, promoted the 'Nourishment Table' as an alternative to official dietary guidelines, framing the EAT-Lancet report as 'plant-based interventionism'.
• The meat industry is leveraging 'culture war' narratives, including the 'manosphere' and conspiracy theories like the 'Great Reset', to frame plant-based diets as elite-driven attacks on masculinity and personal freedom.

APA

Changing Markets Foundation (2025). Meat vs EAT-Lancet: The dynamics of an industry-orchestrated online backlash. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Meat-vs-EAT-lancet-Final.pdf

Chicago

Changing Markets Foundation. Meat vs EAT-Lancet: The dynamics of an industry-orchestrated online backlash. 2025. https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Meat-vs-EAT-lancet-Final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Changing Markets Foundation |title=Meat vs EAT-Lancet: The dynamics of an industry-orchestrated online backlash |date=September 2025 |url=https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Meat-vs-EAT-lancet-Final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{changingmarketsfoundation2025meat, author = {{Changing Markets Foundation}}, title = {{Meat vs EAT-Lancet: The dynamics of an industry-orchestrated online backlash}}, institution = {Changing Markets Foundation}, year = {2025}, month = sep, url = {https://changingmarkets.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Meat-vs-EAT-lancet-Final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }