How to Respond to UK’s Meat ‘Propaganda’ Campaign
Yes, we can make their lies backfire.
Whether you live in the UK or not, this article deals with an issue that affects us all. The rise of diet misinformation is a pressing threat to our climate, environment, public health, and the world’s most vulnerable. This article cuts through the lies and shows how we can fight back.
You may have heard about it: dozens of expert organizations, representing over a million health professionals, have expressed outrage over the misleading UK campaign “Let’s Eat Balanced.”
This campaign encourages increased consumption of meat and dairy, ignoring overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It’s a glaring example of how profit-driven interests can fuel anti-science messaging and mislead the public.
In this article, I won’t rehash the details already covered elsewhere but will provide an overview of key aspects — and highlight effective ways to respond. Fortunately, there is something we all can do!
Why the outrage?
The Let’s Eat Balanced campaign has been criticized and thoroughly debunked by experts for failing on multiple fronts:
The campaign …
… falsely suggests animal products are essential for health. Expert organizations, including the world's largest body of nutrition and dietetics practitioners, have officially confirmed that we don't need animal products to be healthy. Quite the opposite: overwhelming scientific consensus shows that plant-based diets offer a vast array of health benefits.
… ignores the health risks of animal product consumption. The campaign overlooks links to serious diseases and conditions and disregards established scientific guidance to limit dairy and meat intake. Excess consumption of animal products is leading to 42,000 deaths annually in the UK alone. Studies show that a worldwide shift to plant-based diets would save hundreds of billions in healthcare costs and millions of lives every year. Despite failing to mention health risks of animal products, the initiators of the campaign privately acknowledged these risks in a creative brief to their advertising agency.
… overlooks the ethical, social, and environmental impacts of animal farming. Animal agriculture isn’t only the largest act of systemic violence in human history and the world's leading cause of dying oceans, excessive land use, and rainforest destruction but also heavily contributes to climate change, soil degradation, biodiversity loss, water and air pollution, antibiotic resistance, pandemic risk, and world hunger. Promoting increased consumption of animal products, despite the immense destruction and cruelty caused, is shockingly irresponsible and out of touch with reality.
… blatantly violates the UK government’s own goals. The campaign is run by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), a public body that citizens should expect to align with government priorities. However, experts say the AHDB is “solely promoting the interests of the animal farming sector” and that the Let’s Eat Balanced campaign “flies in the face of the government’s own public health and sustainability goals.” The 2021 independent National Food Strategy, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and the UK’s Climate Change Committee all stress the urgent need for a reduction in meat and dairy consumption to achieve climate targets. Without this, methane emissions from cows alone will prevent us from limiting global warming to safe levels.
Bottom line: “Let’s Eat Balanced” is a reckless manipulation campaign
The campaign egregiously disregards scientific consensus and has rightly been labeled “dangerous propaganda.” So fundamentally inconsistent with the government’s stated goals and established evidence on healthy, sustainable diets, it has prompted public figures and over 40 expert organizations to issue open letters calling for an immediate end to the campaign.
A danger to us all
Even if some may view this campaign as a favor — perhaps a welcome invitation to indulge in more animal products or to soothe their conscience — it’s important to recognize that nobody benefits from an uninformed debate.
Misinformation is an existential threat to us all. For the second consecutive year, the World Economic Forum ranks the spread of false information as the greatest short-term risk to humanity, even surpassing extreme weather events, armed conflicts, and cyber warfare.
Misinformation spread by the meat and dairy industries is designed to protect profits, not your well-being. The Let’s Eat Balanced campaign has been approved by a UK minister who himself owns a beef farm.
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Disseminating false information to the masses is not a minor offense; it is one of the most unforgivable abuses of power and influence, especially when it involves crucial issues like health and environmental protection.
Campaigns like Let’s Eat Balanced do not serve the public interest in the slightest. They are a direct and brazen attack on sustainability efforts and informed consumer choice — and it’s time we treat them as such.
How to fight back
We can’t rely on greedy, irresponsible actors to admit their mistakes or fix the damage they’ve caused. Once misinformation spreads, it’s incredibly difficult to undo. The only way to stop these bad actors and discourage future deception is to make their lies costly. And that starts with us.
1) Hit them where it hurts
The first step is to stop supporting the industries that thrive on deception. Don’t reward their lies — keep meat, dairy, and eggs off your plate. Of course, this is just one of many compelling reasons to avoid animal products, but let their shameless manipulation be the turning point for your commitment to a better world. Together, we can make their misinformation backfire. Don’t underestimate the effectiveness of consumer boycotts. The animal agriculture industry has resources and influence we can’t match, but we hold the power to deny them what they care about most: money.
2) Call out their lies
We must call out these manipulative campaigns for what they are: attempts to mislead the public for profit. Share the truth about the corruption and dishonesty of the animal agriculture industry. Let others know how these deceptive practices exploit consumers and harm animals, humanity, and the planet. Share this message, speak out, and demand accountability.
3) Inspire others to take action
We can’t stop at individual action. Inspire those around you to make ethical, informed choices and help them understand the urgency of this issue. For example, sharing content like this letter and watching award-winning documentaries like Dominion can open eyes to the realities of animal agriculture. I’ll soon share more concrete ways to get involved and make a difference — stay tuned! The more we spread the word, the stronger our collective impact will be.
Get creative! Use your own skills, ideas, and connections to help fight the biggest immediate threat to humanity: misinformation. Every dollar we spend, every meal we choose, and every voice that speaks up counts in this fight.
I hadn’t heard of this campaign and just looked it up to find that it’s in its fifth year and this year they’re really trying to target Gen Z. And younger people today have shown to be less able to discern propaganda when they see it. I’ve always thought that a good rule of thumb is that if it’s something backed by corporate interests then we should naturally be more skeptical.
Thanks for sharing this.
Such an important topic! Thanks for breaking this down so clearly. Countering these campaigns with facts and actionable steps is vital . . . especially when the stakes for the environment and public health are so high. Great work!