Alice Littlewood: Food myths often trump facts on social media

Farming has gained more media traction in recent years. Unfortunately, with publicity comes misinformation and fake news.

We’ve all read social media clickbait titles designed to attract attention and generate views but, increasingly, I see claims that frame British farmers and the industry in an unfairly bad light.

Sadly, such viral content has no obligation to be true.

See also: Alice Littlewood: Farmers need to show what they’re fighting for 

About the author

Alice Littlewood

Alice Littlewood is an 18-year-old student, living on the family arable farm in Nottinghamshire. She is studying A-levels in chemistry, biology and economics. She is a member of Tuxford Young Farmers’ Club.

Read more articles by Alice Littlewood

In fact, the more outrageous the statement, the more attention it receives, so there is no wonder that we hear more false claims than facts.

The media capitalises on “emotional content” and, when “clicks” are profit, the more outrageous the title, the bigger the margin.

A common one I see on my feed is “pesticides are making all of your food toxic”.

I saw a short video on TikTok that called for consumers to “wake up” to the lies being spread by the government and that the “farmers are poisoning us”.

More worryingly, this specific post had 680,000 views, 35,000 likes and more than 6,500 shares.

For somebody uneducated in the topic, this would be worrying. Being told your food is poisoned would be scary if you had no reason to question it.

People within the industry understand the strict regulations we face to ensure food safety.

Every product is rigorously tested by multiple organisations and ultimately approved by Defra, the World Health Organisation and other nationally and internationally reputable regulators.

Without this knowledge, though, consumers can be confused and even fearful of food.

Farmers face criticism online as a result of people’s misconceptions of the industry that have been fuelled by these false claims. Social media can unfortunately become an echo chamber. 

It is good that there is far more media visibility around food production, but the stakes of misinformation are higher when it’s an industry relevant to the entire population.

We eat three times a day. Inciting fear and confusion can only cause detriment to people’s faith in their food, and harm to their farmers.

If our society wants safe and sustainable food production, we must prioritise evidence over viral claims, and support honest conversations about farming practices and attitudes.