A new report by the Freedom Food Alliance exposes a misinformation campaign by the animal agriculture industry aimed at demonizing vegan food.
Robbie Rocky
LOS ANGELES, June 10, 2024 — The marked increase in veganism over the past few decades has prompted a response of highly orchestrated misinformation campaigns by the animal agriculture industry aimed at thwarting the plant-based movement. A new 100-plus page report warns: “Despite growing scientific consensus highlighting the environmental and public health imperative, the industry and its allies are waging a multi-million dollar effort to slow the transition from animal-based foods to plant-based foods.”
Industry campaigns have been highly successful in demonizing alternative proteins, especially veggie burgers and plant-based chicken substitutes, using propaganda, disinformation and misinformation. They denounce vegan meat alternatives as “processed” or “ultra-processed” and ignore the fact that processed meat has been declared carcinogenic by the World Health Organization. The Cancer Council states, “The World Health Organization classifies processed meats such as ham, bacon, salami and frankfurters as Group 1 carcinogens (known carcinogens), meaning there is strong evidence that processed meats cause cancer. Eating processed meat increases the risk of bowel and stomach cancer. Red meats such as beef, lamb and pork are classified as Group 2A carcinogens, meaning they probably cause cancer.” Nevertheless, the hoax gained significant traction and negatively impacted the plant-based food industry, as many mainstream reporters and social media heavyweights uncritically accepted the unfairly alarmist warnings about processed plant-based foods.
The vegan cavalry has arrived!
Now, the vegan movement is finally fighting back with the formation of the Freedom Food Alliance, a group whose mission is to expose misinformation about veganism and vegan food. Led by renowned digital media expert Robbie Lockey, the new group is based in the UK and has just released an in-depth report exposing the meat industry’s propaganda machine. Jane Velez Mitchell of UnchainedTV interviewed Lockey and you can watch the full conversation here.
Debunking misinformation
Freedom Food Alliance Foundation Report
Robbie Rockey is a digital media professional and food transparency campaigner with over 20 years of experience in user experience design, web development, and video production. Rockey is the founder and CEO of the Freedom Food Alliance, as well as the co-founder and former director of Plant Based News. Rockey is also a strategic advisor and media ambassador for the Plant Based Treaty, the groundbreaking international treaty that puts the food system at the core of fighting the climate crisis. Rockey shares his motivation for founding the new group.
“Over the past decade, I have become increasingly concerned about the amount of misleading information I see through social media, mainstream media and outdoor media advertising. The industry is increasingly using digital advertising and mainstream media to promote specific narratives, primarily false narratives, about plant-based diets, plant-based meat, vegan lifestyles, vegan activism and activists themselves. They are using every trick in the book to try to resist a global people’s movement.”
The new Freedom Food Alliance report is titled, “Denial, Distraction, and Deception: Understanding Animal Agriculture’s Disinformation Strategies and Exploring Solutions.” Rocky summarises it as follows:
“This report is an in-depth investigative report known as our Foundation Report, which we did in collaboration with a brilliant scientist, Nicholas Carter. He’s the lead author of the project, an environmental scientist, and now works at the Game Changers Institute. And what he’s really focused on in this report is exposing some of the biggest players in these misinformation and disinformation campaigns, helping people understand how insidious it is and how it’s affecting all of society.”
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“We have the truth on our side, we have the science and the nutritional data, and we really can’t give up.” –Robbie Lockey, Freedom Food Alliance
Confuse consumers
Freedom Food Alliance website
The report accuses the livestock industry of using the same tactics used by the tobacco industry to sow confusion around the scientific evidence of health risks. The meat industry funds associations, trade groups, lobbyists, academics, social media influencers, and, with the complicity of the US government, wages a massive advertising campaign. Rockey further explains:
“At the end of the day, the focus is on discrediting, derailing, distracting and denying. What’s really key is to create as much confusion as possible. Because when people are confused about what to eat and what they should buy, they stick to what they know, the culture they grew up in. And most people on the planet today grew up in cultures that consumed meat and animal products. So when they consume media and see these conflicting messages, what do they do at the grocery store? They stick to what they know: milk, cheese, meat, eggs, etc.”
Watch the full conversation about the misinformation campaign on animal agriculture now.
On being honest when talking about plant-based meat, Rocky said:
“When people ask me, ‘Is this vegan burger healthy?’ I often answer, ‘Compared to what? Compared to a bean burger or a beef burger?’ Compared to a beef burger, it is definitely healthier. There are many benefits to this product, it’s lower in saturated fat and higher in fiber. Compared to a bean burger, no, it’s not as healthy. A bean burger has no saturated fat, is much higher in fiber and is probably better for you. But we want to give consumers good choices when it comes to plant-based products and we want plant-based companies to innovate.”
