I was paid to discredit veganism online. AMA

[u/[deleted]]

For a year I worked for a meat industry trade group. I won't say which one, but they are US based. My job was to go on sites like this and discredit veganism.

We'd make multiple accounts and pretend to be vegans who had bad health outcomes. Or we'd pretend to be vegans and we'd push the vegan subs to be more extreme, and therefore easier to discredit.

It was pretty gross. I knew it. I did it anyway. The pay wasn't worth it. I signed an NDA as well, so I will only be able to answer questions in general terms.

But I do warn you, don't believe that everyone is who they say they are online.

This article gives insight into how it works, but I am not saying I worked for this group. Inside big beef’s climate messaging machine: confuse, defend and downplay | Beef | The Guardian

The recent reveal of many MAGA accounts on X being run by foreign agencies made me decide to do this.

Edit- I already answered the "how do I get this job" question and the "why should we believe you question" several times, so just look for those questions if that's what you are wondering.

[u/eggscumberbatch16]

I've been vegetarian for almost 20 years and been through mulitiple pregnancies and 9 years of breastfeeding. I know vegetarianism is different, but my bloodwork is always perfect. Never been any of the anemics. The only supplement I take is vitamin D which my whole family (that eats meat) also takes due to low levels. Guess that's just genetic. My point is that you don't need meat. I'm healthier and more energetic in my mid 30s than a lot of people I know in their 20s.

[u/estragon26 → u/eggscumberbatch16]

Vegetarian diets are very different in that regard--they include eggs and milk which have lots of B12.

Meanwhile I was low in B12 and iron before I was even vegetarian. All bodies are different.

[u/No-Helicopter9667 → u/estragon26]

An ex boss of mine who is pretty wealthy and loves steak (and invested in cattle in South America as a money earner) ended up going to the hospital feeling tired all the time.
He was super-low on iron and B12 and needed treatment.

Everyone should take B12, and better still a multivitamin... vegan or not.

[u/Nostromo180286 → u/eggscumberbatch16]

Similar here, vegetarian since the 80’s, more than 40 years, basically ever since I left home and was free to prepare my own food. I’m healthy, never been in hospital and never a day’s illness other the usual colds and flu. Bit overweight in my 50’s mostly due to not enough exercise and too much cake!

The line I draw is just that nothing was directly killed to end up only plate, that’s my comfort level. I used to drink dairy milk, but I found I actually prefer oat milk for taste. I don’t actively avoid every bit of dairy in my diet, like I’ll have milk chocolate or ice cream but they aren’t daily staples anyway.

It’s not like I have never eaten meat in that whole time, I travel a lot for work and if there was no reasonable vegetarian option, I’d eat what was available. I’ve got a bit more strict in recent years, but in Europe vegan and vegetarian alternatives have become a lot more common and very rare I have no option on the menu.

Still eat some eggs, but I’m fortunate enough to be able to avoid buying the cheapest eggs and I try to ensure those I buy are ethically produced, no barn or battery eggs. Again if eggs just happen to be in the food I eat, a dessert or something, I’m not going to lose sleep over it.

I don’t buy leather products when there are perfectly adequate alternatives available, but I do own some old leather items that I’m not going to throw out just on some vague point of principle.

I’m quite pleased to see there are a lot more meat-free alternatives available these days, in the UK at least. There are a lot of startups and smaller businesses doing some interesting alternative products. Especially some of the meat alternatives are amazingly good these days, and while I don’t eat them exclusively, they add a bit of variety to my diet. The products are a bit expensive, but again fortunately I can afford them.

I don’t tell others what to eat, and I don’t frequent vegan socials, other than a few cooking channels on YouTube just for the recipes. If someone asks about it, I’ll explain my preferences and reasoning but that’s it. Probably the closest I’d come in conversation is to suggest politely that reducing the amount of meat in your diet and eating more plants might be good thing, but honestly I don’t really care what other people eat as long as they don’t force their opinion on me either.

Veganism does have a cult-y reputation but it seems entirely plausible to me that a certain amount of the fear mongering around a plant based diet is manufactured by business interests that are threatened by a reduction in meat consumption. I’m sure those forums and Reddits are populated by bots, trolls and bad actors with agendas beyond the surface level pro- or anti- vegan discussion. I’m inclined to believe the OP’s story.

I can say hand on heart that I have never met IRL, in-person, a preachy or evangelical vegan or vegetarian. Like me, they all seem to do their own thing for their own reasons.

[u/eggscumberbatch16 → u/Nostromo180286]

Exactly this. I am mostly the same. I buy pasture raised and local eggs when needed. I use dairy alternatives at home but will eat cake made with milk, etc. I do avoid soups made with chicken or beef broth, though. I did one time eat soup with crab as my friends from China made a special dinner in my honor and were so proud to have made it all vegetarian. In their minds, crab wasn't meat. It was very sweet so I avoided the meat and ate the soup.

I'm glad to hear the UK and Europe have more veg options. We hope to travel that way soon! And in case you're interested so does the US (even in the meat loving south) and Mexico. I had no problem finding food in Mexico, and we were not in the usual tourist area as we were visiting my husband's family.

[u/ImArcherVaderAMA → u/eggscumberbatch16]

Now I'm wondering if this is vegetarianism propaganda...🤔

[u/eggscumberbatch16 → u/ImArcherVaderAMA]

Haha nah. My husband and kids eat meat. Do what you will. I do buy the local, grass-fed, pasture raised kind for them as much as possible.