FOOD & WATER WATCH

ZRUNV WR HQVXUH WKH IRRG ZDWHU DQG VK ZH

consume is safe, accessible and sustainably
produced. So that we can all enjoy and trust
in what we eat and drink, we help people take
charge of where their food comes from; keep
FOHDQ DRUGDEOH SXEOLF WDS ZDWHU RZLQJ
freely to our homes; protect the environmental
quality of oceans; work to ensure that the
government does its job protecting citizens
and educate about the importance of keeping
the global commons our shared resources
under public control. We envision a world where
DOO SHRSOH KDYH DFFHVV WR HQRXJK DRUGDEOH
healthy and wholesome food and clean water
to meet their basic needs a world in which
governments are accountable to their citizens
and manage essential resources sustainably.
NATIONAL OFFICE

1616 P St. NW, Suite 300

Washington, DC 20036
tel: (202) 683-2500 fax: (202) 683-2501

foodandwaterwatch.org

table of contents

A Message From Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director ........................ 2

Board of Directors and Directors .............................................................. 3

Organizing: The Key to Protecting Our Food and Water ....................... 3

Programmatic Activities and Campaigns

Food Program .......................................................................................... 5
Water Program ...................................................................................... 11
Common Resources Program ................................................................ 14
Food & Water Justice.............................................................................. 16
Global Advocacy and Movement Building ............................................ 17
Food & Water Europe ............................................................................ 19

Financials .....................................................................................................22

Over Half a Million Strong in 2013

A Message From Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director
In 2013, we reached a milestone with over half a

in fossil fuel use from fracked gas to stopping

secret trade deals. We need massive numbers of
people who want clean, safe and wholesome food
WRVWHSXSDQGJHWLQYROYHGLQORFDOHRUWVWRPDNH
the labeling of genetically engineered food the
ODZ:HQHHGPDVVLYHQXPEHUVRISHRSOHWRJKW
big agribusinesses and the oil and gas industry.
We need massive numbers of people to stand
for local control of their water supplies as big
multinational corporations like Nestl and Veolia
seek to control our diminishing supplies of clean
water. And we need massive numbers of people
to lobby the Environmental Protection Agency and
our food safety agencies to make sure that they are
SURWHFWLQJSHRSOHQRWFRUSRUDWHSURWV

million people having signed up to take action with

Food & Water Watch. There is a rising consciousness
that things wont change unless we have the people
power to make it happen. Food & Water Watch is
only as strong as our membership, and were on
target to reach a million members by 2015.
Its citizens like our members, engaged in changing
policy in their communities and beyond, who are
helping us win victories for our food and water
every day. And I had the pleasure to meet many of
these members while I was touring for my book,
Foodopoly: The Battle for the Future of Food and
Farming in America. I was on the road over threequarters of this year talking about Foodopoly, and
I was always met with so much hospitality in the
bookstores and cafs and other places I spoke.

It is these massive numbers of people that are the

foundation for all of our work here in Washington,
'&DQGLQRFHVDFURVVWKHFRXQWU\2XU
FRPPLWWHGVWDRIRUJDQL]HUVSROLF\H[SHUWV
lobbyists, researchers, communications and
RXWUHDFKSURIHVVLRQDOVDQGRSHUDWLRQVVWDNHHS
the trains running, but our members are the fuel for
the movement. Were on track to essentially double
our supporters over the next two years, and the
victories you are about to read about are just the tip
of the iceberg.

It was especially palpable in the small towns I

visited. In Athens, Ohio, I went to a local bakery to
JHWDFXSRIFRHHDQGWKHEDULVWDWROGPHWKDW
shed been instructed that if I came in, I was to be
DRUGHGHYHU\WKLQJRQWKHKRXVH(YHU\ZKHUH
went, I felt as if I could move right in and be part
of a wonderful community of activists and caring
people.
In towns big or small, I also met many people who
had never heard of Food & Water Watch, but whod
heard about Foodopoly and wanted to learn more
about changing the food system. I was thrilled to
meet so many people who were interested in our
work and wanted to be involved.

We are making true change and we welcome you

to be a part of that change.

And we need all the help we can get. We need

PDVVLYHQXPEHUVRISHRSOHWRLQXHQFHRXUHOHFWHG
RFLDOVRQFULWLFDOLVVXHVIURPSUHYHQWLQJLQFUHDVHV

Wenonah Hauter
Executive Director
Food & Water Watch

Organizing:
The Key to Protecting
Our Food and Water

FOOD & WATER WATCH

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Maude Barlow
CHAIR

Rudolf Amenga-Etego

One of the things that sets Food & Water Watch

apart is our commitment to organizing to
working in communities and with community-based
organizations to build the real power necessary
to make meaningful changes in peoples lives. The
VLJQLFDQWFULVHVIDFHGE\RXUFRXQWU\DQGRXU
planet from global warming, water pollution, and
corporate control of our democracy, to monopoly
control of our food system stem from a power
imbalance between people and large corporate
interests. As organizers, we work to rectify that
imbalance.

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Elizabeth Peredo Beltrn

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Wenonah Hauter
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Dennis Keeney
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

Kelsie Sue Kerr

SECRETARY

Mary Ricci
TREASURER

Lisa Schubert
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

Building on the Midwest Academy organizing model

DQGZRUNLQJRXWRIRFHVLQVWDWHVZHZRUN
RQLVVXHVWKDWZLOOPDNHDUHDOGLHUHQFHLQSHRSOHV
lives. We give our supporters, members, activists
and allies a sense of their own power, and ultimately
change the relations of power for the better.

DIRECTORS

Wenonah Hauter
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Sarah Alexander
DEPUTY ORGANIZING DIRECTOR

Lane Brooks

By any measure victories on policy issues,

growth in the number of supporters and
activists, development and expansion of coalition
relationships, and the training and experience of our
VWDZDVDVXFFHVV

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Scott Edwards
FOOD & WATER JUSTICE PROJECT CO-DIRECTOR

Mitch Jones
COMMON RESOURCES PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Doug Lakey

Even in challenging political and economic times,

RXUWHDPZRUNLQJLQWKHHOGDQGLQFRQMXQFWLRQ
with our policy and communications specialists
in Washington, D.C. and with allied organizations
across the country was able to achieve some
VLJQLFDQWYLFWRULHVDWWKHVWDWHOHYHO

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Patty Lovera

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
AND FOOD PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Michele Merkel
FOOD & WATER JUSTICE PROJECT CO-DIRECTOR

Darcey OCallaghan
INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR

In addition to working on state and local initiatives,

KDYLQJDVWURQJHOGSURJUDPDOORZVXVWRSXW
pressure on key federal decision makers, organize
national sign-on letters and build a national
program in a way that would not otherwise be
possible.

Darcey Rakestraw
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Mark Schlosberg
ORGANIZING DIRECTOR

Emily Wurth
WATER PROGRAM DIRECTOR

These victories would not have happened without

the work of our engaged membership and strong
coalition partners. One important measure of our
power as an organization has been the growth of
our activist list to over half a million members.

and last year our supporters sent over 1.7 million

PHVVDJHV%XWWKH\DOVRWDNHDFWLRQRLQHLQWKHLU
communities: making phone calls, organizing others
to make phone calls to decision makers, organizing
OPVFUHHQLQJVGHOLYHULQJSHWLWLRQVWRGHFLVLRQ
makers, organizing rallies and giving community
presentations. Some of our members become
involved at even higher levels, coordinating local

7KLVLVWUHPHQGRXVJURZWKWKDWUHHFWVRXU
growing reach. Our members take action by
sending messages to decision makers online,

Among the policy successes:

We passed legislation to require the labeling of genetically engineered foods in Connecticut and
Maine bills that were ultimately signed into law. These bills were the rst in the country to require such
labeling, and although they both contain trigger clauses that delay their implementation until similar legislation
is passed in other states, we also launched labeling campaigns in a wide range of states including New York,
New Jersey, Illinois, Florida and Pennsylvania aimed at making labeling a reality in the years to come.
We took a lead role at the state level working with state-based allies in beating back legislation
that would have protected factory farms. In New Mexico, we stopped a bill that would have made it nearly
impossible for rural residents and communities to protect themselves from factory farm pollution and threats
to their heath and quality of life. In Missouri, we stopped legislation that would have taken away local control
regarding factory farms. And we helped defeat ag gag bills in Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska legislation that
would have criminalized whistleblowing activities that take place on factory farms.
We continued to beat back efforts to privatize water systems, scoring victories in Allentown,
Pennsylvania; St. Louis, Missouri; and Fort Worth, Texas.
We continued to hold the line against fracking in New York, ramping up pressure on Governor Cuomo
and, with our New Yorkers Against Fracking coalition partners, making this one of the most signicant issues in
New York State.
We made major gains at the local level in the ght against fracking by coordinating with local
groups and citizens to pass ballot measures stopping fracking in the Colorado cities of Broomeld, Fort
Collins, Boulder and Lafayette (where oil and gas companies spent a combined $900,000 to try to defeat the
bills). We supported successful local efforts to pass a citywide ordinance in Dallas, Texas; we passed a ban on
fracking waste in Baltimore, Maryland; and we passed a ban on fracking in Erie County, New York. We also
helped pass other measures against fracking in Ohio, California, New Mexico, Illinois, Michigan, New York,
New Jersey, North Carolina and Florida. And, through the Global Frackdown, we built a strong and growing
movement to ban fracking across the country and around the world.
We continued to train a future generation of organizers and activists through our Take Back the Tap
program. We were active on over 40 campuses, training campus coordinators who lead campaigns across the
country to stop bottled water sales on campus and make tap water more accessible. Among the highlights were
successfully working to stop the sale of bottled water on campus at Plymouth University in New Hampshire;
Lane Benton Community College in Eugene, Oregon; and Western Washington University and Evergreen State
University in Washington. [check with Katy] Campus coordinators also made tap water more accessible on
several campuses through the installation of water lling stations.

groups of Food & Water Watch supporters as we

seek to build power in key communities.
2QHRIRXUPDMRULQLWLDWLYHVLVDQHRUWWRPRYHPRUH
RIRXURQOLQHVXSSRUWHUVLQWRWDNLQJDFWLRQRLQH
We do this through coordination between messages
sent to our online supporters, personal interaction
with our community-based organizers, and national
WUDLQLQJVWRPDNHRLQHDFWLRQHDVLHU:HFRQWLQXHG
to expand this program in 2013.
In addition to working to develop Food & Water
Watch volunteers and activists, our organizing
team devotes considerable time to building up and
supporting community- based organizations and
coalitions. To make real change in these challenging
times, we need to marshal the collective resources of
various organizations and interests that are working
toward the same goals that we are. We will never be
able to take on the big oil and gas companies or the
big food monopolies or the fundamental problems in
our democratic system alone we will need strong
DOOLHVJKWLQJDORQJVLGHXV

Programmatic Activities
and Campaigns

Most of the victories listed above were not achieved

solely by Food & Water Watch, but by working with
other organizations and building strong coalitions
groups of groups that play a critical role in our
PRYHPHQW:HVSHQGVLJQLFDQWWLPHSURYLGLQJ
trainings for community-based organizations,
UHDFKLQJRXWDQGVXSSRUWLQJHRUWVRIRXUVWDWH
and local allies, and providing the infrastructure and
initiative for coalition development.

FOOD PROGRAM
Food & Water Watchs Food Program combines
policy research, strategic communications,
lobbying and grassroots organizing to advocate
for policies that will result in sustainable and
secure food systems that provide healthy food for
consumers and an economically viable living for
family farmers and rural communities.

Food & Water Watch has played a critical role in

launching and supporting the leading anti-fracking
coalitions New Yorkers Against Fracking, Californians
Against Fracking, Marylanders Against Fracking,
and Protect Our Colorado. We work with strong
networks of organizations in other states across the
country, including Oregon, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, North Carolina and Illinois, among others. Its
through these networks that we are able to achieve
together more than any one organization can
achieve individually.

Factory Farms
In 2013, after years of pressure from Food &
Water Watch and other public health advocates,
WKH)RRGDQG'UXJ$GPLQLVWUDWLRQQDOO\
withdrew approvals for the use of most types
of arsenic in chicken feed. This issue is a great
example of how our strategy of combining strong

research, policy and regulatory expertise and

litigation with grassroots organizing works over
time to achieve the changes we need. The FDAs
move on arsenic in chicken feed followed our
VXFFHVVIXOHRUWWRSDVVDEDQRQWKLVSUDFWLFHLQ
the Maryland legislature in 2012, and key research
by our coalition partners in the public health
community documenting the threat that it posed
to public health.
In addition to working to demand regulation of the
meat industry and factory farms at the federal level,
we worked at the state level across the country.
In Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, New Mexico, Indiana,
Missouri and elsewhere, we worked to block bad
bills in state legislatures that would make it harder
for neighbors of factory farms to take legal action
when they were harmed by these facilities, or that
would make it illegal to even take a picture of a
factory farm.

Saving Antibiotics
In September, the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) provided data on antibioticresistant infections and reported that over 2 million
Americans experience an antibiotic-resistant
infection each year, and at least 23,000 people
die from them. This provided a great platform
for discussing our national campaign to ban the
abuse of antibiotics on factory farms, which use an
estimated 80 percent of the antibiotics sold in the
United States.

medicine. But the FDAs new strategy is inadequate

because it does not cover all of the ways that
antibiotics are misused and create resistance.
Because we still need a ban on the nontherapeutic
use of medically important antibiotics by factory
farms, our work to build pressure on Congress to
pass legislation is as important as ever.

Agriculture and Food

Policy in the Farm Bill

In 2013, we launched campaigns in Iowa, Colorado

DQG3HQQV\OYDQLDVSHFLFDOO\WDUJHWLQJVHQDWRUV
on key Congressional committees to ask them to
become leaders on the issue of ending the overuse
of antibiotics by factory farms.

Throughout 2013, we worked to block damaging

industry-driven proposals in the Farm Bill, including
attempts to cut food stamps, weaken contract
fairness provisions for farmers and ranchers, gut
country of origin labeling requirements, and derail
a new food safety inspection program for imported
VK:HDOVRSXVKHGKDUGIRUPRUHVXSSRUWDQG
research for organic agriculture and beginning
IDUPHUV2XUHRUWVHYHQWXDOO\SDLGRZKHQWKH
)DUP%LOOZDVQDOO\QLVKHGLQHDUO\

At the end of the year, the FDA released voluntary

guidelines for drug companies and livestock
producers. The FDAs new guidance requests that
pharmaceutical companies change the labels on
medications used in feed to state legal use of the

Country of Origin Labeling

swim upstream, as they appealed decisions made

by lower courts that maintained this important
labeling program.

In May, we successfully pressured the Department

of Agriculture (USDA) to strengthen the rules
for country of origin labels for meat. This was
in response to a challenge at the World Trade
Organization (WTO), where Canada and Mexico
challenged the U.S. Country of Origin Labeling rule
(COOL) as a barrier to trade. We worked hard with
our farm group allies to make sure that the meat
and grocery industries didnt convince the USDA to
use this as an opening to get rid of COOL entirely. In
May, we were rewarded when the USDA released an
updated COOL regulation that addressed the WTO
concerns by making the labels more accurate for
consumers.

Food Safety
For two years, weve led the charge to stop the
Filthy Chicken Rule. This proposal from the USDA
would allow poultry companies to inspect their
own product, while running lines at up to 175 birds
per minute. We have mobilized media attention,
Congressional scrutiny and public comments
to oppose this change that would take USDA
LQVSHFWRUVRWKHVODXJKWHUOLQHDQGOHWFRPSDQLHV
police themselves, all while putting worker safety
and animal welfare at risk. This year, we worked
closely with several worker justice and occupational
safety groups to expose the risk that this change
would pose to workers in chicken plants.

But the meat industry didnt stop there. After

the new rules were issued, it sued the federal
government, claiming that the new regulations
violated their First Amendment rights. We
contributed as an intervenor in the case, explaining
the critical information that accurate COOL labels
provide to consumers. By the end of 2013, the
meat industrys legal challenge continued to

In addition to meat and poultry inspection, we

focused on the food safety rules for other foods.
In 2013, after years of debate and an intense
HRUWE\DFWLYLVWVWKH86'$ZLWKGUHZWKH
controversial industry-sponsored Leafy Greens

Breaking Up
the Foodopoly
In December, we released a report and
online tool that vividly illustrate the impact
that increasing consolidation of our food
supply into fewer hands has on consumers.
The report, Grocery Goliaths, includes our
analysis of which companies control the
market for 100 food products, and reveals
that consumers dont really have as many
choices at the grocery store as they think.
Along with the report, we launched an
updated Foodopoly website that included
infographics illustrating the level of control
in different sections of the store and an
online quiz to test consumers knowledge
about who makes the brands they buy.
7

Marketing Agreement, which would have created

a food safety regime controlled by big produce
growers that would have been unworkable for
small farmers.

does not work, and that we should not follow in

their footsteps here in the United States.
In the fall, the USDA announced that it was giving
the green light to China to export processed poultry
to the United States. This report cleared the way
for China to process poultry that is sent to Chinese
facilities from approved sources such as the
United States, Canada or Chile. We have managed
to block this proposal for several years, and the
announcement that we could soon be importing
processed poultry products from China products
that wouldnt have to be labeled with a country of
origin sparked widespread media coverage that
was overwhelmingly negative. We will continue to
generate public opposition to this idea, to try to
discourage these imports.

In July, the FDA took some long-overdue action

on an issue that we have pressured them on for
several years: inadequate standards for arsenic in
apple juice. Wed lobbied the FDA for years to set
stricter standards for arsenic levels in apple juice,
DQGWKH\QDOO\UHOHDVHGQHZVWDQGDUGVLQ
Increasingly, food safety challenges are coming
from foods that are imported. In 2013, we
worked to make sure that the USDA and the FDA
acknowledge the special risks that can be presented
from imported food. For example, we discovered
repeated fecal contamination problems in products
imported from Australia and New Zealand and
exposed these problems to the press. Australia
recently privatized its meat inspection program, and
we continue to monitor problems in countries using
such programs to illustrate that turning over meat
inspection to the companies to police themselves

After months of pressure from Food & Water Watch,

in October 2013 the FDA released a long-overdue
update about the pet deaths and illnesses that
have been linked to chicken jerky treats produced
LQ&KLQD7KH)'$QDOO\WRRNDFWLRQRQWKLVLVVXH
which has been linked to over 3,000 reported
illnesses and over 500 deaths in dogs.

Genetically Engineered Food

In 2013, we released several new reports
GRFXPHQWLQJWKHPDQ\QHJDWLYHHHFWVRI
genetically engineered foods (GMOs) and why they
are not worth the risk to public health and the
environment. Superweeds: How Biotech Companies
Bolster the Pesticide Industry explains the connection
between the rapid proliferation of GMO crops
DQGDOLDWHGSHVWLFLGHVDQGWKHULVHRIKHUELFLGH
resistant superweeds that have led to the steadily
increasing use of more dangerous herbicides.
:HDOVRUHOHDVHGDQHZFRUSRUDWHSUROHRQ
Monsanto. The report shows that the chemical
DQG*02VHHGFRPSDQ\VSRZHUDQGLQXHQFH
DHFWVQRWRQO\WKH86DJULFXOWXUDOLQGXVWU\EXW
also political campaigns, regulatory processes and
the structure of agriculture systems all over the

world. A third report outlines the extent to which

the U.S. government promotes biotech crops in its
foreign policy. We also released a popular factsheet
that lists all of the seed companies, including
some producers of vegetable seed, that are now
controlled by Monsanto.

Labeling GMO Food

The grassroots movement to demand labeling of
GMO foods grew in 2013, and Food & Water Watch
was involved all over the country to help push this
issue forward. We worked hard in Connecticut,
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Illinois
and California to build strong coalitions to push
for labeling. In 2013, both Connecticut and Maine
passed the rst-ever statewide legislation that would
require foods with GM products to be labeled. But
these bills included trigger clauses that delay them
from going into effect until surrounding states also
require labeling. This increases the pressure on other
Northeastern states to pass labeling as well, and we
will be involved in the ght to achieve this.

In 2013, we also opposed the USDAs push for

approval of new GMO crops. We worked to
provide critical comments and public opposition to
2,4-D-tolerant corn and soy and dicamba-tolerant
soy and cotton, as well as the reduced-bruising
potato and a non-browning apple.
We also helped successfully pressure Congress to
remove the Monsanto Protection Act rider from
the House version of the appropriations bill. This
rider ended up in the previous years budget for the
USDA and removes judicial oversight of the agencys
environmental review process for genetically
PRGLHGFURSV

In Washington State, we worked on the ground to

help the effort to pass a ballot initiative requiring
labeling of GMOs. Unfortunately, the largest
corporate agribusiness interests were able to buy
the election, and won by the slimmest of margins:
just three percentage points. The opposition spent a
record amount of money, and there was a very low
voter turnout. Despite this loss, we have signicantly
increased activism on this issue and made GMOs
a topic of conversation among constituencies not
usually exposed to the issue assets that can be
built upon as we move forward.

And 2013 was yet another year in which we held

RWKHDSSURYDORIWKHUVWJHQHWLFDOO\HQJLQHHUHG
food animal, the transgenic salmon, which has been
under consideration by the FDA since 2010. We
submitted nearly 200,000 public comments to the
FDA in April, urging them to reject this controversial,
unnecessary new GMO animal.

Protecting the Integrity

of the Organic Standards
In April, after we worked with allies to generate
public pressure on the National Organic Standards
Board, it voted not to continue to allow the use of
the antibiotic tetracycline on organic apple and pear
trees.

Triclosan
In December, as a result of pressure from Food
& Water Watch and our allies, the FDA released
a proposed rule requiring companies that
manufacture the antibacterial additive triclosan
WRSURYHWKDWWKHFKHPLFDOLVPRUHHHFWLYHWKDQ

soap and water. While this was a long-overdue

development, the proposed rule will not take
HHFWIRUDORQJWLPH5DWKHUWKDQOHDYLQJLWXSWR
corporations that manufacture this unnecessary
additive to soaps and other antibacterial products,
the FDA should make companies prove that
triclosan and similar products are safe before they
go on the market.

2XUHRUWVFXOPLQDWHGLQWKH$XJXVWOLQJ
of a complaint against the EPA for abandoning its
2011 308 CAFO information-gathering rule. During
the remainder of 2013, we fought to ensure that
the administrative record that the EPA relied on
to promulgate the rule includes all the documents
that should be before the court, and we intervened
in the Farm Bureaus case to make sure that this
information on industrial polluters was kept public.

Legal Advocacy to Regulate

Factory Farm Pollution

CAFO litigation in 2013 also saw a major, but

hopefully temporary, setback in the scope of Clean
Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction over these factory farm
facilities. Food & Water Watch was one of several
organizations to intervene in a West Virginia case
to try to protect the EPAs ability to require CWA
permits for CAFO production areas. Despite intense
EULHQJRIWKHLVVXHGXULQJQRWVXUSULVLQJO\
the district court judge ruled in favor of industry
and made CAFOs virtually immune from CWA
protections. We spent the remainder of 2013
preparing for the appeal of this lower court ruling
and to be in court in 2014 to have it overturned.

Our legal arm, Food & Water Justice, has focused

much of its attention in this past year on industrial
agriculture and, in particular, factory farms. In 2013,
WKHUHZDVDXUU\RIUXOHPDNLQJOLWLJDWLRQDQG
industry attempts to further insulate itself from any
reasonable form of regulation or transparency.
After the EPA withdrew a rule that would amass
baseline data on factory farm pollution in 2012,
we were forced to develop legal action to require
the agency to reinstate the rule. Food & Water
-XVWLFHVWDVSHQWPXFKRIWKHVXPPHUDQGIDOO
RIFRRUGLQDWLQJWKHHRUWVRIHQYLURQPHQWDO
organizations that similarly wanted to challenge
WKH(3$2QHRIWKHUVWVWHSVZDVWRJDWKHUDOO
the materials that the agency relied on to pull the
rule, through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
request. These documents were shared with many
of the environmental organizations that were then
considering whether to join a legal action against
the EPA.
After industrys predictable response to the
DJHQF\VGLVFORVXUHRIFRQQHGDQLPDOIHHGLQJ
operation (CAFO) data, the EPA asked all
environmental groups to return the data so that
it could redact information like the names and
addresses of CAFO operators. All groups agreed to
do so except Food & Water Watch, which refused on
the grounds that business names and addresses of
industrial facilities like CAFOs are not subject to any
privacy protection exemptions from FOIA.

10

WATER PROGRAM

Poultry Fair Share Act

Food & Water Watchs Water Program works to

protect our essential water resources so that
HYHU\RQHKDVDFFHVVWRVDIHDRUGDEOHGULQNLQJ
water. The program works to reduce the sale
and consumption of bottled water through our
campaign called Take Back the Tap, as bottled
water is far more expensive than tap water and
creates mountains of plastic waste. We work with
community organizations across the country to
prevent the privatization of public water and sewer
utilities. We also work to safeguard our precious
water resources from contamination and misuse by
oil and gas industry fracking.

Our big push during the second half of 2013 was

to draft and build support for legislative efforts to
make poultry integrators in Maryland at least partly
accountable for the pollution from their chickens. To
do this, we launched the Poultry Fair Share Campaign
to educate the public and decision makers on this
issue and to generate support for efforts to force
the industry integrators to take on, for the rst time,
the nancial burdens of waste disposal from their
chicken-growing enterprises.
As part of this campaign, we drafted legislation, the
Poultry Fair Share Act (PFSA), which requires poultry
companies to pay a $.05 per bird fee for any chicken
placed on a contract farm in the state. This would
add a new revenue stream to the Bay Restoration
Fund, an existing fund that covers the costs of
Chesapeake Bay clean-up measures. While everyone
in the state, from households to municipalities, pays
into the fund though annual fees and taxes, the
chicken companies do not contribute to the fund,
even though they are one of the biggest sources
of pollution. The new revenue stream, roughly $15
million, generated by the PFSA would pay for cover
crops, a practice that prevents the run-off of farm
pollutants into our waterways.

Take Back the Tap

One of the most important ways that we tackle
bottled water is through the Take Back the Tap
campus campaign, which trains students in
organizing, outreach and education on bottled
water. We have worked with an average of 50
campuses each semester, training student leaders
in how to organize campaigns to reduce the use
of bottled water and to promote tap water on
campus. In some locations, student groups have
been successful in banning the sale of bottled water
on campus, while in other locations, students work
WRLQFUHDVHWKHDYDLODELOLW\RIWDSZDWHUUHOOLQJ
stations, to increase access to reusable water on
campus and to pass resolutions to prevent student
fees from being used for the provision of bottled
water.
QVSULQJRIZHLQLWLDWHGWKHUVWHYHU7DS
a-palooza campus contest using the Tap Buddy
mobile app that we developed in 2012. The contest
encouraged college students to compete to get the
most students to pledge to choose tap water over
bottled water on campus. The competition collected
over 4,000 student pledges, representing nearly
900,000 water bottles that will not enter the waste
stream. Dartmouth College won the competition
DQGUHFHLYHGDZDWHUOOLQJVWDWLRQIRUWKHLUFDPSXV
11

In 2013, in addition to our national campaign, we

worked on expanding state campaigns in New York,
New Jersey, Colorado and California.

QDQHRUWWREXLOGRQWKHVXFFHVVHVRIVWXGHQW
campaigns across the country, we pulled together
an online map of municipalities or campuses that
had successful bottled water campaigns. This map
is a useful tool for our student leaders to be able to
show the widespread support for similar initiatives
across the country, and to advocate for change on
their campus.

NATIONAL CAMPAIGN
In 2013, we worked in collaboration with our allies in
Americans Against Fracking on a highly successful
call to President Obama and the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) to ban drilling and fracking
on federal lands. The industry pays very little
for these oil and gas leases in some of the most
sensitive ecosystems in the country. The campaign
received widespread support from hundreds
of organizations, and we were able to generate
more than 650,000 comments to the BLM calling
for a ban on fracking on public lands. Food &
Water Watch alone submitted just under 100,000
comments from our online supporters to the BLM.
Together with other organizations that called for
stronger regulations for fracking on federal lands,
we delivered more than 1 million comments, the
greatest show of opposition to fracking to date.

Campaign to Ban Fracking

Food & Water Watch is leading a national campaign
to stop hydraulic fracturing (also known as
fracking). This practice involves drilling through
hard rock formations like shale to obtain previously
inaccessible supplies of oil and natural gas, then
injecting millions of gallons of water mixed with
sand and chemicals to break apart the rock and
release the oil and gas.
Fracking comes with serious threats to the
environment, public health, agriculture and the
economy. These threats are not just localized to
the immediate vicinity of areas being fracked, since
WKHHHFWVRQZDWHUDLUDJULFXOWXUHDQGWKHFOLPDWH
reach far beyond the immediate drilling site as
toxic waters leach into groundwater systems and
methane gas and industrial processes pollute the
air. A growing body of evidence shows that fracking
cannot be done safely and must be banned.

Our national work also focused on holding the EPA

accountable on fracking. In June 2013, the agency
dropped a critical investigation into drinking water
contamination and fracking in Pavillion, Wyoming,
under pressure from the industry. We then worked
with allies in Americans Against Fracking and the

12

Cruz, California; and Middlesex County, New

Jersey. We developed a map to track all of the
measures against fracking.

Stop the Frack Attack Network to deliver more than

250,000 petitions at an event in front of the White
House with community members from Pavillion and
RWKHUDHFWHGFRPPXQLWLHV

STATE CAMPAIGNS

In September, we released a major data-driven

analysis in a report entitled The Social Costs of
Fracking: A Pennsylvania Case Study. The report
IRXQGWKDWRQFHIUDFNLQJEHJDQLQWUDF
accidents, social disorder arrests and sexually
transmitted infections worsened in rural counties
with fracked natural gas wells, and the trends were
especially pronounced in the rural counties in
Pennsylvania with the highest density of fracked
wells.

New York
7KDQNVWRRXUHRUWVDQGWKRVHRIRXUDOOLHVWR
date we have kept the dangerous and destructive
method of fracking from threatening New Yorks
food and water supplies. As a result of the pressure
from the coalition we helped form, New Yorkers
Against Fracking, the Cuomo administration
announced that it would not be able to complete
the proposed fracking regulations by the deadline
at the end of February 2013. Further, in March
the New York State Assembly passed a two-year
moratorium on fracking in the state. Passage of
this legislation shows the power of the grassroots
movement against fracking.

Food & Water Watch has helped to pass

numerous local bans and moratoriums on
fracking across the country. These include
SDVVDJHRIPHDVXUHVLQ(ULH&RXQW\%XDOR
New York; Dallas, Texas (de facto ban); Santa

Colorado
In Colorado, we worked with four communities
that successfully passed ballot measures against
fracking in November 2013. We worked with local
JURXSVLQ%RXOGHU)RUW&ROOLQVDQG%URRPHOGWR
SDVVYH\HDUPRUDWRULXPVRQIUDFNLQJDQGZLWK
groups in the city of Lafayette to ban fracking. The
oil and gas industry spent nearly $900,000 to defeat
the measures, outspending the community 30-to-1.
We helped to train the local leaders, mobilize our
members, draft talking points, raise money and
provide legal assistance.

The Social Costs of

These democratic bans were subjected to a furious

DVVDXOWE\ERWKLQGXVWU\DQGJRYHUQPHQWDOHRUWV
including massive public relations campaigns
DQGFRXUWOLQJVFKDOOHQJLQJWKHOHJDOLW\RIWKH
bans. Our legal arm, Food & Water Justice, was
DOVRLQYROYHGLQRXUORFDOIUDFNLQJEDQHRUWVLQ
Colorado litigation that continued throughout
WKH\HDUb2XU&RORUDGRHRUWVDOVRVDZWKH
drafting of a Constitutional Amendment to provide
unchallengeable local control of gas and oil
operations by the states towns and cities so that

A PENNSYLVANIA CASE STUDY

13

media outreach and organizing. Research shows

that private water systems charge higher rates and
deliver lower-quality service to residents. In 2013,
ZHZRUNHGZLWKORFDOFRPPXQLWLHVWRVWRSHRUWVWR
privatize water systems in Allentown, Pennsylvania;
Fort Worth, Texas; St. Louis, Missouri; and Bethel,
Connecticut.
We also helped to block a proposed long-term
contract between Fryeburg Water Company and
Nestl Waters/Poland Springs that would have
threatened community groundwater resources in
Maine. Nestl and the Fryeburg Water Co. wanted
to enter into a 25 to 45 year contract that would
compromise Maines water resources for future
JHQHUDWLRQVZKLOHFODLPLQJWKDWLWZLOOEHQHWWKH
public at large and that it will somehow generate
substantial revenue.

COMMON RESOURCES PROGRAM

other communities do not have to face courtroom

battles to protect their citizens and homes from
the negative impacts of irresponsible fracking. In
WKHSURFHVVWRQDOL]HWKH$PHQGPHQWODQJXDJH
WKHLQGXVWU\PDQDJHGWRZLHOGLWVbSROLWLFDObSRZHUWR
have the wording changed. As a result, we withdrew
the bill and will seek to reintroduce it in the coming
\HDUb

Food & Water Watchs Common Resources

Program works to promote environmental policies
that protect our most essential resources while
seeking real reductions to harmful pollution
not accounting gimmicks designed to give the
appearance of reductions. It also works to prevent
bad trade deals that would undermine our federal,
state and local public and environmental health
laws. Given the threats posed by two trade deals
under negotiation, the Common Resources Program
focused its work in 2013 on stopping these deals.

California
As oil companies gear up to frack for oil in a huge
area of California, we helped form the new coalition
Californians Against Fracking to pressure Governor
Jerry Brown to ban fracking in the state. The
coalition has more than 150 member organizations
working to hold Governor Brown accountable.
Hundreds of activists delivered petitions signed by
more than 100,000 people calling for a ban.

Free Trade Fast Track

The year 2013 saw a growing push to pass Fast
Track trade-promotion authority in Congress. Fast
Track would allow the president to negotiate trade
deals without consulting Congress and to bring
completed deals to Congress for a yes or no vote,
prohibiting it from amending the deals. Two trade
deals are currently being negotiated that could
WKUHDWHQRXUDELOLW\WRHHFWLYHO\RUJDQL]HDQG
advocate on all the issues that we work on, from
food safety to fracking.

Maintaining Public Control

of Water Resources
We work closely with communities across the
country to maintain public control of water and
sewer systems using a combination of research,
14

7KH7UDQV3DFLF3DUWQHUVKLS733LVEHLQJ

negotiated by 12 countries including the United
States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Australia, New
Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan and
Brunei. It will limit food GMO labeling and allow
the import of goods that do not meet U.S. safety
standards. We know that farmed seafood in South
Asia is raised with chemicals and antibiotics not
allowed in the United States, and already these
products are shipped here. Around 90 percent of
the seafood sold in the United States is imported,
DQGWKHPDMRULW\RIWKHLPSRUWHGFDWVKDQGVKULPS
comes from countries in the TPP.
This situation will only be worse under this deal,
which would lower food safety standards. It will also
XQGHUPLQHHRUWVWREXLOGORFDOIRRGV\VWHPVE\
prohibiting public institutions such as schools,
hospitals and nursing homes from establishing
Buy Local rules for purchasing foods. The TPP
will also include a provision that will allow foreign
corporations to sue state and local governments
in international trade tribunals if they believe that
state and local laws and regulations violate their
trade rights under the agreement. Once adopted,
the TPP would allow any country in the world to
join, making it a global trade agreement.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

(TTIP) is being negotiated between the United States
DQGWKH(XURSHDQ8QLRQ(8/LNHWKH7UDQV3DFLF
Partnership, the TTIP would weaken food safety
standards, not only in the United States but also
in the EU. The EU has targeted several important
U.S. food safety measures for weakening under
the negotiations. For instance, the EU is seeking to
overturn the U.S. ban on the import of cattle and
cattle products from the EU due to concerns about
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, commonly
known as mad cow disease. Additionally, the TTIP
could facilitate the privatization of water and
wastewater treatment systems. Trade liberalization
threatens the ability of local communities to control
their water utilities, demand local control of water
VHUYLFHVUHVLVWSULYDWL]DWLRQHRUWVIURPIRUHLJQ
water companies and restore public control of
water services.
The key to stopping these deals is to defeat the
HRUWVWRSDVV)DVW7UDFNLQ&RQJUHVV7RWKDW
end, Food & Water Watch has been active both
in Congress and across the country educating
our supporters and members of Congress about
the dangers posed by these trade deals. On the
research side, we published four new fact sheets on
these trade deals to educate our supporters as well
as Congress.
Additionally, Food & Water Watch was active in
Washington, D.C. educating members of Congress
about the trade deals and the need to defeat Fast
7UDFNLQFOXGLQJE\KRVWLQJD&DSLWRO+LOOEULHQJ
on the impacts of the TPP and the potential risks
that it poses to our nations seafood industry and
seafood safety. Throughout the summer and fall,
we met with both Republican and Democratic
RFHVLQFOXGLQJ5HS0LNH7KRPSVRQ'&$5HS
Alan Nunnelee (R-MS), Rep. Rick Crawford (R-AR),
Rep. John Delaney (D-MD) and Rep. Tim Walz (DMN). In addition, we generated over 60,000 emails
from constituents to their members of Congress
asking them to oppose Fast Track. And thanks to

15

RXUOREE\LQJHRUWV5HS%HQ5D\/XMDQ'10DQG

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) signed a letter
to President Obama opposing fast tracking the TPP.

FOOD & WATER JUSTICE

Legal Advocacy to Stop Pollution Trading
Food & Water Watchs legal team, Food & Water
-XVWLFHFRQWLQXHVWREHYHU\DFWLYHLQJKWLQJ
RWKHLQFUHDVLQJWUHQGWRZDUGZDWHUSROOXWLRQ
trading, a fundamental shift away from the
successful Clean Water Act (CWA) source-by-source
approach to water quality protection that can only
bring negative impacts to our communities and
ZDWHUZD\VQZHOHGWKUHHVHSDUDWHODZVXLWV
challenging trading provisions.
7KHUVWODZVXLWDbFKDOOHQJHbWRWKHYHU\
concept of pollution trading, no matter how it is
XVHGRUDSSOLHGZDVOHGLQUHVSRQVHWRWKH
Chesapeake Bays latest cleanup plan that allowed
SROOXWHUVWREX\SROOXWLRQFUHGLWVIURPXQYHULHG
DJULFXOWXUDOVRXUFHVQDQWLFLSDWLRQRIWKHGLFXOW\
RIPDLQWDLQLQJIDFLDOFKDOOHQJHVZHDOVROHGWZR
narrower as applied legal challenges against
VSHFLFSRLQWVRXUFHIDFLOLWLHVWKDWZHUHORRNLQJWR
evade their permit limits by purchasing credits from
RWKHUVRXUFHVb

SHUPLWOLPLWVDWVRPHRILWVFRDOUHGJHQHUDWLQJ
plants. We brought this case because NRG was
proposing to purchase nutrient credits from
agricultural operations to allow for these permit
violations. Prompted by our notice letter, the
0DU\ODQG'HSDUWPHQWRIWKH(QYLURQPHQWOHGVXLW
against NRG, and we have intervened in the case to
advocate against trading for pollutant credits. We
have been involved in all settlement discussions
and are committed to preventing trading from
being part of any remedy for NRGs violations.

Our West Virginia case involved a wastewater

WUHDWPHQWSODQWbWKDWWKHVWDWHSHUPLWWHGWR
discharge pollutants into the Bay watershed even
though the receiving stream was already impaired,
a practice that should be disallowed under the
CWA. The permit required the facility to purchase
nutrient credits from other polluters outside the
local waterway once it was ready to discharge. After
a hearing before the state administrative board, the
permit was remanded back to the issuing agency,
and, as 2013 came to a close, a new permit had not
yet been reissued.

While 2013 did not see the legality of water pollution

WUDGLQJFRPHUPO\EHIRUHDMXGJHZHFRQWLQXH
to monitor proposed trading schemes and bring
cases until eventually judges will be forced to rule
on whether the CWA, as currently written, allows
for point sources of pollution to buy their way out of
permit compliance.
In 2013, we were also very engaged in educating
legislators about the dangers of water pollution
WUDGLQJKROGLQJEULHQJVZLWKWKH&RQJUHVVLRQDO
SURJUHVVLYHFDXFXVDQGZLWKWKHVWDRILQGLYLGXDO
members of Congress, such as Senator Ben Cardin.

6LPLODUO\LQ0DU\ODQGZHOHGDGD\QRWLFH
letter against NRG Energy for violations of its CWA

16

GLOBAL ADVOCACY AND

MOVEMENT BUILDING

Water Pollution Trading Schemes

As multinational oil and gas companies continued

to expand fracking and drilling operations across
the globe, they were met in nearly every location by
strong opposition. Food & Water Watch supported
frontline communities by sharing the research and
strategies gained through years of experience in the
United States.

Food & Water Justice has been actively researching

ongoing water pollution trading schemes in the
country to identify opportunities to challenge the
legality of trading. Specically, in 2013 we led statelevel freedom of information (FOIA) requests in both
Pennsylvania and Ohio, two states where trading is
taking a rm hold. While our Pennsylvania request
was partially denied and is currently under appeal,
we are in the process of analyzing trading documents
from the state that were produced where the credit
aggregator Red Barn is engaged in a nutrient
trading scheme. Under this scheme, Red Barn not only
creates the waste management plans that generate
the credits, but also creates the certication of the
plan for the state Department of Environment and is
in charge of verifying that nutrient reductions have
indeed taken place, all the while proting from the
sale of these credits to polluters.

From Poland to Tunisia, and Mexico to Argentina,

organizers have built local and regional coalitions
that are making progress in the global march
against fracking.
The year 2013 was also marked by great strides
in our United Nations advocacy to promote
participatory democracy in natural resource policy,
as well as by the publication of Biotech Ambassadors:
How the U.S. State Department Promotes the Seed
Industrys Global Agenda.

We are also analyzing documents from the Ohio River

Basin, where the power plant industry, in collaboration
with the USDA and the EPA, is promoting another
multi-state trading effort. So far, documents reveal
that the Alpine Cheese Factory, which is held out by
proponents of trading as the poster child of success,
has been in constant violation of its permit limits,
even with the benet of trading. Our goal, with
both the Red Barn and Alpine Cheese examples, is
to create a report in the coming year to be used in
Maryland and elsewhere that looks critically at water
pollution trading as it is implemented on the ground
and to uncover all the inherent failures of this harmful
practice.

Global Fracking
In the past several years, fracking has spread like
ZLOGUHDFURVVWKHSODQHWWLVEHLQJSURSRVHG
in nearly every location where shale oil and gas
reserves are assessed. Many of the companies
doing the fracking (and the data and arguments
used for its promotion around the world) were
originally developed for use in U.S. communities.
Food & Water Watch has played an important
role in sharing our campaigning expertise with
communities around the world that are facing the
introduction of fracking.
This year, the Mexican Alliance Against Fracking
(Alianza Mexicana Contra el Fracking) formed to
counter the governments push for oil and gas
extraction. They began by conducting a series of
webinars and public events to raise awareness,
including co-hosting a forum in Congress about the
impacts of extracting shale gas. The Alliance has
quickly become the primary voice against fracking

17

In November, Food & Water Watch collaborated

with partners to organize Sustainable Energy for
All: Can a just solution include hydraulic fracturing?
This event, held in conjunction with the Fifth
Session of the UN Open Working Group on the
6XVWDLQDEOH'HYHORSPHQW*RDOVZDVWKHUVWHYHU
event held within the UN focused exclusively on
fracking. Our goal was to introduce the topic of
fracking in the context of the Secretary Generals
Sustainable Energy for All plan and to show how
the practice would, in fact, slow the move toward
sustainable energy production in developing
countries.

in Mexican media, while slowly building a following

on social media.
7KLV\HDUV*OREDO)UDFNGRZQRHUHGDQ
opportunity to engage with global communities
where shale reserves are being explored or where
IUDFNLQJKDVUHFHQWO\EHJXQ2XWUHDFKOHGWRUVW
time events in Mexico, Bolivia, Indonesia, India,
Senegal and Egypt.
As in previous years, people marched against
fracking in Argentina, where communities have
already passed several local bans but where
IUDFNLQJUHPDLQVDVLJQLFDQWWKUHDWQ$IULFD
actions were held in Tunisia, Egypt and Senegal,
and hundreds rallied in South Africa against plans
by Shell to frack in the Karoo. In India, where the
government is moving toward fracking, there was a
VFUHHQLQJRIWKHGRFXPHQWDUW\OP*DVODQGDQGD
related strategy session held in New Delhi. Likewise,
in Indonesia, water justice activists reacted to recent
fracking proposals by hosting a discussion about
fracking, and in Australia, activists rallied in Perth
and Geelong.

Food & Water Watch also contributed to the SDG

process by acting as an expert speaker on the
topic of water and sanitation. We are increasingly
seeing the over-withdrawal of aquifers inaccurately
framed as an urban vs. rural issue. Our goal is to
reframe this issue so that those who live within the
watershed are empowered to collectively determine
prioritization of use with a long-range view toward
protecting both recharge rates and the human right
to water, followed by water for the production of
local agriculture.

United Nations Advocacy

GMO Advocacy

Fracking is not a theme that has received much

attention at the United Nations, but the multi-year
process of developing Sustainable Development
Goals (SDG), as well as the Secretary Generals
Sustainable Energy for All platform, have created
timely opportunities for introducing the topic.

After a year of extensive research and the creation

of a massive database, we published a report in
the United States and Europe that uncovers the
systematic promotion of biotech agriculture by the
U.S. State Department in developing countries.

18

FOOD & WATER EUROPE

Previous researchers have used WikiLeaks to

uncover anecdotal examples of U.S. embassies
pushing biotech seeds, but our database was the
UVWWRFRYHUDOODYDLODEOHGDWDLQWKH&DEOHJDWH
database over 900 cables. The report received
VLJQLFDQWFRYHUDJHE\Reuters, The Guardian, Mother
Jones, 7KH+XQJWRQ3RVW, Le Monde, Russia Today,
Jamaican radio and many blogs. It was also tweeted
by WikiLeaks to hundreds of thousands of Twitter
followers. Colleagues in the global South, particularly
in sub-Saharan Africa and in Latin America, made
great use of the data that we provided in their
own national struggles to implement appropriate
regulation of genetic engineering.

2XWRIRXURFHLQ%UXVVHOV%HOJLXPRXU(XURSHDQ
program, Food & Water Europe, advocates for clean
water and safe food in the European Union.

Food
The Europe team worked on a variety of food
projects throughout 2013:

:HZURWHWRHYHU\VKHULHVDQGULYHUVWUXVW
LQ6FRWODQG to introduce them to the dangers of
JHQHWLFDOO\PRGLHGVDOPRQDQGWRXUJHWKHPWR
press the U.S. FDA not to approve the animal for
food.

:HZURWHWRDOO(XURSHDQDJULFXOWXUHDQG

Global Solidarity

HQYLURQPHQWPLQLVWHUV urging them to vote

against the GM maize crop Pioneer1507 in
order to prevent it from becoming the second
GM crop grown in the EU (that crop was not
voted through, and we await the Commissions
response).

In addition to advancing our global work to ght

fracking, promote the human right to water at the
United Nations, and uncover State Department efforts
to promote U.S. seed companies, 2013 saw the
continuation of our ongoing solidarity support for local
campaigns against water privatization, extractivism
and corporate inuence over natural resource policy.
For example, Food & Water Watch:

:HFRQWLQXHGWRSUHVVDOO8.VXSHUPDUNHWV
directly and via online activism, on their
abandonment of non-GM animal feed
requirements in meat, milk, dairy and egg
contracts and to label non-GM-fed products to
ensure true customer choice.

Partnered with CISPES (Committee In Solidarity

with the People of El Salvador) to block a proposed
law in El Salvador that would promote publicprivate partnerships in water and infrastructure.

$WWKHUHTXHVWRID0HPEHURIWKH6FRWWLVK

Joined an amicus brief for a lawsuit to stop

the Mirador open-pit mine in Ecuador that would
contaminate water and displace local communities.

3DUOLDPHQW063ZHKRVWHGDOPVFUHHQLQJ

both to inform MSPs of current developments
and to continue to drive a wedge between the
anti-GM Scottish Government and the vocally
pro-GM Whitehall authorities (who consistently
cast pro-GM votes at the EU level that undermine
us in key areas).

Helped draft and circulate an international

solidarity letter to stop a large, proposed
hydropower dam in San Jose del Tambo, Ecuador.
Supported a campaign against the privatization
of four hydropower plants in Albania. The sale,
proposed to solve budgetary shortfalls, was
backed by the International Finance Corporation.
Our research showing that privatization is a false
solution to municipal constraints was translated
into Albanian for use in a national campaign to
block the privatization.

:HFROODERUDWHGFORVHO\ZLWK86)RRG 
:DWHU:DWFKVWDWRJKWWKHUHOHDVHRI*0
mosquitoes by a U.K. company.

:HDUHSURPRWLQJ*0IRRGDVDQ
DFNQRZOHGJHGQRJRDUHD for the EU in the
ongoing TTIP/TAFTA talks, and well hold EU

19

Fracking

authorities to account for their many statements

in this area.

Food & Water Europe has played a prominent

role in coordinating the growing European antifracking movement by cooperating closely with
other environmental groups in Brussels and at the
national and regional levels. Throughout 2013, we
PRXQWHGDQ(8ZLGHOREE\LQJHRUWIRUDFKDQJH
in the EUs Environmental Impact Assessment
Directive, which would require a mandatory
risk assessment, baseline data collection and
consultation of local communities prior to any
drilling or fracking for unconventional fossil fuels
such as shale gas, coalbed methane or tight gas;
we managed to convince a comfortable majority
in the European Parliament to support such an
amendment. In subsequent negotiations about
the text between the Parliament and the Member
States, our amendment was unfortunately rejected,
as Member States like Poland and the U.K. were
able to block this proposal.

:HFRQWULEXWHGXVXDOO\KLJKO\FULWLFDO
VXEPLVVLRQVWRDZLGHYDULHW\RIRFLDO
consultations in the U.K., EU and United
States. We submitted comments to the FDA on
2,4-D-tolerant corn and soy and on GM salmon;
to the European Commission on sustainability of
the food system; and to the U.K. Government on
ELRGLYHUVLW\RVHWWLQJ

:HFRQWLQXHGWRGHHSHQDQGH[WHQGRXU
QHWZRUNof electronic activists and our social
media presence in many areas, and published
EU versions of Food & Water Watch reports
and papers. We continued to use blogs and
social media to press the U.K. Government and
other key players, like the National Farming
Union, on their pro-GM positions and the lack
of public support for them. We look forward
to continuing to build our political punch,
GHHSHQLQJRXUZRUNRQWKHQDQFLDOL]DWLRQRI
nature and collaborating with networks dealing
with international trade, food sovereignty and a
variety of related issues.

In 2013, we also stayed in frequent contact with

the departments of the European Commission
dealing with environmental policy and climate
change. Apart from frequently updating them about
WKHODWHVWQGLQJVRQWKHFOLPDWHHQYLURQPHQWDO
and public health impacts of fracking, we also
pushed our demand for strong rules that would
increase the transparency, accountability and
data-gathering of fracking activities in Europe. In
January 2014, the European Commission introduced
a set of recommendations that included our policy
recommendations. Unfortunately, again under
pressure from Member States, the Commission
failed to introduce binding new EU-wide legislation
to force Member States to strictly monitor this
industry.
Food & Water Europe also organized an event in
the European Parliament attended by 100-plus
people to question not only the environmental,
but also the economic sustainability of the fracking
industry in the United States as well as the limited

20

Food & Water Europe worked hard for this ECI as a

demand for Europe to commit to the human right
to water and sanitation. It is a clear signal from
citizens asking the European Commission to change
its mindset from a market-based approach with a
focus on competition to a rights-based approach
with a focus on participatory public service. It asks
for the aim to achieve universal and global access
to water and sanitation and to safeguard our water
resources for future generations.

contribution of shale gas to the EUs energy mix. By

tackling the ongoing hype about shale gas in terms
of jobs, energy security and foreign investment,
Food & Water Europe consistently advocated for
a European climate and energy policy based on
UHQHZDEOHVDQGHQHUJ\HFLHQF\9LDPDLOLQJOLVWV
and social media, we remain in frequent contact
with groups across Europe.

Water
The year 2013 has been one of great achievements
for the water justice movement in Europe, where
Food & Water Europe plays an important role.

As a result of the massive mobilization around the

Right to Water Initiative, water was excluded from a
new piece of European legislation, the Concessions
Directive, whose primary goal is to favor the insertion
of private corporations into public services.

Led by trade unions and joined by nongovernmental

and grassroots organizations, the movement was
DEOHWRFRPSOHWHWKHUVWVXFFHVVIXO(XURSHDQ
Citizens Initiative (ECI). The ECI is a tool introduced
recently to help citizens play a more active role in
European political processes. It can serve to put an
issue on the European agenda by collecting 1 million
VLJQDWXUHVIURPRYHUVHYHQGLHUHQW0HPEHU
States. The ECI demanding that European legislation
recognize the Human Right to Water was able to
deliver nearly 2 million signatures.

Food & Water Europe has closely followed the

situation in countries under the pressure of the
austerity agenda. As a result of the policies imposed
by the European Commission, the International
Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank
(which together form the Troika), countries like
Greece have been pushed to privatize their water
companies as a way to reduce their debts. Food &
Water Europe, together with allies, has mobilized to
denounce and try to block those privatizations.

21

FINANCIALS
)RRG :DWHU:DWFKWDNHVQRJRYHUQPHQWRUFRUSRUDWHIXQGLQJWe depend entirely on
generous individuals and visionary private foundations for the funds we need to do the research,
litigation, lobbying and grassroots organizing to challenge corporate control of our food and
water and to demand that government do its job to protect people and our most essential
resources. We would like to recognize and thank the following for their support:

Food & Water Watch individual members

Food & Water Partners monthly givers
Food & Water Leaders Circle members
Anonymous funders and supporters
11th Hour Project

McKnight Foundation

Bellwether Foundation

New Hampshire Charitable Foundation

Cloud Mountain Foundation

New World Foundation

Columbia Foundation

Park Foundation

Energy Foundation

Scheidel Foundation

Ettinger Foundation

Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation

Franklin Conklin Foundation

The Boulder County Community Foundation

+LJKHOG)RXQGDWLRQ

Tides Foundation

Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, Inc.

Town Creek Foundation

Longmont Community Foundation

EXPENSES

INCOME
Grants and Contributions

$13,102,108

Interest Income

($37,954)

Program Fees

$3,700

$4,425,692

Other

$842

TOTAL PROGRAM

$10,186,574

TOTAL INCOME



MANAGEMENT

$1,819,793

FUND RAISING

$1,460,893

PROGRAM

Food

$4,420,891

Water

$1,339,991

Common
Resources

TOTAL EXPENSES

ENDING NET ASSETS

as of December 31, 2013



22



foodandwaterwatch.org