False Claims About WEF Calling For 'Controlled Demolition' of Food System Viral

The original article does not mention about a controlled demolition but lists sustainable measure related to food.

Fact-check: A misleading claim is going viral on social media stating that the WEF has called for "controlled demolition" of the global food system.

(Photo: The Quint)

A screenshot of an article is going viral which claims that the World Economic Forum (WEF) is calling for a "controlled demolition" of the global food system which aims at "reinvention" of how people consume food, especially meat.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: The original article by WEF does not mention anything about a complete "controlled demolition".

• Instead, it lists sustainable measure related to food consumption amid the problem of climate change and overpopulation.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a relevant keyword search using the headline seen in the viral photo and this led us to a report shared by The People's Voice, an American website, notorious for posting fake or misleading information.

• The article credits its information to WEF's report shared on 13 June 2024 titled, "Feeding the future: why Renovation and Reinvention are key to saving our food system".

• We read this article and concluded that it does not directly point out at the "controlled demolition" of the global food system, as claimed.

The report was shared on WEF on 13 June 2024.

(Source: WEF/Screenshot)

What did the report really say?: It mentions the importance of various sustainable practices related to food consumption amid the escalating problem of climate change and overpopulation.

• It also mentions how industries should adopt solar and wind as their sources of power and how consumers can shift modes of consumption through energy cooperatives and electric vehicle use.

• It further explains how the food transition should also welcome a transformation through renovation and reinvention.

• Here are the few points mentioned by the WEF: renovate recipes and packaging, and reinvent the system by introduction of alternative proteins via sustainable replacements.

• Another point also mentions how reinvention can include promotion of fresh food markets and direct-to-consumer distribution channels like the farm-to-fork models.

• It nowhere mentions about the eradication of consuming meat.

Conclusion: A misleading claim is going viral on social media stating that the WEF has called for "controlled demolition" of the global food system.

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