The meat industry is borrowing tactics from Big Oil to obfuscate the truth about climate change – By Brian Kateman (Salon) / Nov 11, 2022
Big Meat is using astroturfed research to obfuscate the effect of meat on the planet. Why are we letting them?
This week, the New York Times published findings from Unearthed, the investigative arm of Greenpeace U.K., regarding the funding of The CLEAR Center, a major research center for environmentalism and sustainability. The center is located at the University of California, Davis and headed by Dr. Frank Mitloehner. According to the report, it receives the majority of its funding from organizations directly connected to the agriculture industry.
Worse, CLEAR was conceived by a trade group — IFeeder, the nonprofit extension of the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA). IFeeder is “a livestock industry group that represents major agricultural companies like Cargill and Tyson,” according to the Times. In addition to members of the AFIA, its advisory board has included Cargill and the North American Meat Institute, two more groups that represent the meat industry’s interests.
The Times article, as well as several environmental researchers quoted within it, point out that CLEAR’s research can’t possibly be free from bias given the industry that backs it. When Dr. Mitloehner makes assertions contrary to the general scientific consensus — for instance, when he tweeted that “‘cut meat, save the planet’ messaging is just that. A distraction from the real issue” — it’s hard to believe that his statements are free from the industry’s influence.
The Times article has sparked ire from members of the media and the public, many of whom find The CLEAR Center, and Dr. Mitloehner’s actions, deceitful and irresponsible. But the fact that the research center receives industry funding is hardly a bombshell. Indeed, Dr. Mitloehner has been fairly transparent about the center’s funding, identifying IFeeder of his own initiative, though he’s not legally obligated to.
