The ‘Dublin Declaration of Scientists’m on the Societal Role of Livestock’, launched at the Irish government agricultural agency Teagasc in October last year and signed by over 1,000 scientists, and was covered by newspapers including the Telegraph and the New York Post, is a short document that argues for the nutritional, environmental and social benefits of meat-eating. It says that livestock is “too precious to society to become the victim of simplification, reductionism or zealotry”.

But hundreds of pages of emails, meeting minutes and other documents obtained through freedom of information requests reveal that the Declaration was written, released and promoted by agribusiness consultants, and has been used by trade groups and lobbyists to oppose green policies in Europe.