food & water watch annual report 2011

7/29/2019 Food & Water Watch Annual Report 2011

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works to ensure the ood, water and fsh we

consume is sae, accessible and sustainably

produced. So that we can all enjoy and trust in

what we eat and drink, we help people take

charge o where their ood comes rom; keep

clean, aordable, public tap water owing

reely to our homes; protect the environmental

quality o oceans; work to ensure that the

government does its job protecting citizensand educate about the importance o keeping

the global commons our shared resources

under public control. We envision a world where

all people have access to enough aordable,

healthy and wholesome ood and clean water

to meet their basic needs a world in which

governments are accountable to their citizens

and manage essential resources sustainably.

FOOD&WATERWATCH


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F O O D & W AT E R W A T C H A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 11

A Message rom Wenonah Hauer, Execuive Direcor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Board o Direcors and Direcors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Programmaic Aciviies and Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Organizing: Efectively Reaching Our Constituents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Food Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Water Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Fish Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Financials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S


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Its not always easyo achieve change in Washingon,

and much o he change ha

does happen is characerized by

compromises and hal-measures.

Bu a Food & Waer Wach,

weve saked ou uncompromising posiions on our

mos essenial resources. A growing membership

base and our inancial independence rom corpo-rae and governmen ineress have helped us do

he vial work o keep indusry on is oes and o

keep he public ineres a he oreron o policy

decisions.

2011 was an exremely busy and producive year

or Food & Waer Wach as we expanded our reach

hrough he remendous growh o our acivis

base. We are very proud o he voluneer leader-

ship program ha we piloed his year, which willleverage our saf resources and help us implemen

srong campaigns o change he ood sysem and

proec waer resources. Here are jus a ew o our

organizaional successes in 2011:

We advocaed or and won increases in he

budges or ood saey a boh he U.S. Depar-

men o Agriculure (USDA) and he Food and

Drug Adminisraion (FDA).

We campaigned or large reailers o sop ac-

ceping geneically engineered (GE) swee corn,

resuling in Whole Foods, Trader Joes and

General Mills afirming ha hey will no sell he

produc.

Our work on Capiol Hill helped o derail he

secre Farm Bill process when he super commi-

ee collapsed a he end o he year.

We shined a media spoligh on a myriad o

criical ood issues including arsenic in apple

juice, which is helping spread our message and

reinorcing our argumens in avor o more ro-

bus ood saey programs.

We successully organized o ge Congress o

sop he approval o GE salmon.

We won a moraorium agains acory ish arm-

ing in Hawaii.

We doubled he number o college campuses

where we worked wih suden voluneers o

Take Back he Tap and reduce he use o botled

waer.

Our efors o sop hydraulic racuring, or rack-

ing, helped lead o a delay in he voe by he

Delaware River Basin Commission, which would

have allowed racking in he waershed ha pro-

vides waer or more han 15 million people.

Our sellar eam o organizers and policy proes-

sionals, ampliied by ciizen grassroos acion and

growing inancial suppor rom our members,

helped ensure hese many vicories, and were on

rack or many, many more in 2012. Well keep

ighing or wha we wan clean, sae and aford-able ood and waer no jus he bes we can ge.

Dr Frid,

A M E S S A G E F R O M W E N O N A H H A U T E R , E X E C U T I V E D I R E C T O R

Wenonah Hauer

Executive Director


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4Food & Water Watch foodandwaterwatch.org

2011 ANNUAL REPORT

Organizing: EfectivelyReaching Our Constituents

Local CoordinatorsIn 2011, we developed and implemened an acivis

leadership program our Local Coordinaor Program

and we now have Local Coordinaors in 50 locaions

hroughou he counry.

We believe widespread ciizen involvemen is criical or

holding governmens accounable o heir consiuens

and or creaing policies ha ensure sae, healhy ood

and clean waer. In order o reach our program goals, we

are building a large grassroos movemen.

To increase civic engagemen around criical ood and

waer issues, we use a communiy-organizing model

ha enails Food & Waer Wach saf ideniying,

culivaing and working wih a nework o rained

voluneer leaders who in urn work deeply in heir own

communiies o educae and engage people around ood

and waer issues. Our goal is o build acivis neworks

suppored in communiies ha are acively engaging wi

policymakers and involved in shaping ood and waer

policy decisions.

To efecively develop hese neworks, Food & Waer

Wach works direcly wih communiy leaders and

emerging aciviss, providing hem wih raining and

maerials, and hen works wih hem o develop and

implemen heir own communiy-based plans around

diferen waer and ood issues.

Online Activists

In odays world, organizing hrough social media and

oher online vehicles is a key componen o successul

advocacy campaigns. In our relaively shor exisence,

Food & Waer Wach has buil an acive email lis o mor

han 290,000 names. Using he web, Food & Waer Wac

is developing, culivaing and organizing virual volunee

acivis neworks. These neworks will be acivaed o

ake online acions, as well as provide communicaion

ools ha can enhance on-he-ground efors.

P R O G R A M M A T I C A C T I V I T I E S A N D C A M P A I G N S

FOOD & WATER WATCH

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Maude Barlow

CHAIR

Wenonah HauterEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Rudol Amenga-EtegoFINANCE COMMITTEE

Dennis KeeneyGOVERNANCE COMMITTEE

Kelsie Sue KerrFINANCE COMMITTEE

Elizabeth Peredo BeltrnFINANCE COMMITTEE

Mary RicciTREASURER

Sue RomeSECRETARY

Wenonah HauterEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Lane BrooksCHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Zach CorriganFISH PROGRAM INTERIM DIRECTOR

Doug LakeyDEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Patty LoveraASSISTANT DIRECTOR

AND FOOD PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Darcey OCallaghanINTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR

Darcey RakestrawCOMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Mark SchlosbergORGANIZING DIRECTOR

Emily WurthWATER PROGRAM DIRECTOR

DIRECTORS


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2011 ANNUAL REPORT

Our online acivis lis grew by more han 100,000 people

in 2011. Over he course o 2011, hese online supporers

ook nearly 1 million acions o pressure corporaions and

local, sae and naional legislaors on diferen ood and

waer issues.

Food ProgramOur Food Program works o improve ood saey and

ood labeling so ha consumers know wha heyre

buying. The program also works o promoe susainable

agriculure and curail acory arming. Our Food

Program organizers work across he counry o engage

he public in ood policy.

Protecting Small and Medium-Sized Farmers

In 2011, Food & Waer Wach pressured he Obamaadminisraion o inalize he GIPSA rule (named or he

Grain Inspecion Packers and Sockyards Adminisraion

o he USDA). The rule, which we call he air livesock

markeing rule, was required in he 2008 Farm Bill and

would proec small and medium-sized armers who

raise catle, hogs and chickens by requiring he USDA o

enorce a law called he Packers and Sockyards Ac. This

Ac has been on he books since 1921, bu he USDA has

never enorced is prohibiion on unair conracs and

discriminaory pracices agains armers and ranchers.

Aer a call-in day ha we organized o generae pressure

on he Whie House o implemen GIPSA, he domesic

policy saf in he Whie House indicaed ha hey had

received our message abou suppor or inalizing

he rule. Unorunaely, he mea indusry unleashed

a barrage o lobbying and media messaging ying he

proposed GIPSA rule in wih he overall discussion o

job killing regulaions, and a he end o 2011, heir

efors were largely successul. Aer more han a year

o bullying he Obama adminisraion and members o

Congress, he proposed rule was drasically sripped

down o jus a racion o he provisions ha were

originally proposed.

In addiion o he batles over he proposed livesock-

markeing rule, we coninued o build momenum o ge

more discussion o compeiion issues in he nex Farm

Bill.

Fighting Factory Farms

Groundwater in New Mexico

During he legislaive session, which ran rom mid-

January o mid-March, we worked wih our coaliionparners o successully deea hree bills ha sough o

allow he indusrialized dairy acory arms o pollue

New Mexicos groundwaer wihou resricions. This bill

would have undone he regulaions ha were passed las

year. Working in close coordinaion wih our coaliion

parners, we were able o coordinae phone calls, emails,

lobby visis and esimony o sop each o hese bills.

Stopping the Use o Arsenic

in Chicken Feed in Maryland

One o he pillars o he acory arm model is he

widespread and inensive use o anibioics, pesicides

and oher oxics in growing our ood and raising he

livesock we consume. In 2011, we ough one o hese

pillars by aking on he poulry indusry and is use

o arsenic in chicken eed in he sae o Maryland,

advocaing in suppor o a bill ha would have banned

he use o his poisonous chemical in chicken eed.

Animal Identifcation

In he all, we had o weigh in once again on a

proposal ha could prove oo burdensome or small

livesock producers. During he summer o 2011, he

USDA released a new version o a program o creae

ideniicaion and racking or livesock. We worked wih

a coaliion o small arm groups and submited 2,339

commens asking or proecion o small armers and

opposing he new animal ID rule.


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2011 ANNUAL REPORT

Food Saety

Keeping E. ColiOut o Ground Bee

While i will ake a commited movemen o organized

people and grassroos groups o ge he changes we

really wan, we are pleased ha every now and hen

we are able o win a vicory in his dificul poliical

environmen. Such was he case when, despie inense

lobbying rom he mea indusry, he USDA responded

o our pressure and published a noice in Sepember

ha will designae six addiional srains oE. colias

adulerans in ground bee. These six srains 026, 045,

0111, 0103, 0121 and 0145 have long been ideniied

by he Ceners or Disease Conrol (CDC) as causes or

oodborne illness oubreaks in he Unied Saes. The

new policy will ake efec on March 5, 2012.

Arsenic in Apple JuiceThis year, we called on he FDA o ake long overdue

acion on conaminaion o apple juice wih heavy meals

such as arsenic. We joined he Empire Sae Consumer

Projec (an organizaion dedicaed o reducing he use

o pesicides and oher chemicals oxic o human and

environmenal healh) in sending a leter o he agency

ha conained new daa revealing levels o arsenic

conaminaion in one juice sample ha were more

han ive imes higher han wha he Environmenal

Proecion Agency would allow in drinking waer.

Throughou he all, we coordinaed wih Consumers

Union on a large-scale projec o do independen esing

o apple and oher juices, which conirmed he resuls

ound by he Empire Sae Consumer Projec, and

provided even more oxicology conex or he dangers

o any amoun o arsenic exposure. Shorly aer ha

aricle was released, he FDA released daa i had never

made public beore, which clariied many o he agencys

previous saemens abou some ypes o arsenic being

harmless. ABC News, which had originally regurgiaed

he FDAs message ha arsenic was no a problem, did

a ollow-up sory in which heir medical corresponden

said he el berayed by he FDA.

Two-hirds o apple juice ha Americans consume

more han 400 million gallons annually comes rom

China. This new daa on apple juice comes on he heels

o a repor by Food & Waer Wach ha deailed Chinas

errible saey record or ood shipped o he Unied

Saes.

Genetically Engineered Crops

Walmart/GE Sweet Corn

Monsanos geneically engineered (GE) swee corn

variey lew hrough he approval process because

i combines wo geneically engineered rais ha

were approved in 2005 and 2008. The USDA does no

independen esing o GE crops, and he sacked

combinaion o hese rais or herbicide resisance and

pesicide producion has never been hrough a saey

evaluaion o any kind. These rais have never been

engineered ino a ood ha will be consumed direcly by

people, bu Monsano hoped ha armers would grow

he companys GE swee corn on 250,000 acres in 2012,

which is roughly 40 percen o he swee corn marke

and i wouldn have o be labeled in he supermarke.

We launched a new campaign his year o sop

Monsanos GE swee corn, and gahered over 82,432

emails o op U.S. ood reailers and processors, which

were delivered in conjuncion wih our coaliion

parners in he all. This was a record number o peiion

signaures or us, and we also had over 4,000 aciviss

sign up o gaher more. The campaign resuled in WholeFoods, Trader Joes and General Mills afirming ha hey

will no sell he produc. In 2012, well ocus on geting

Walmar o do he same.


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2011 ANNUAL REPORT

Just Label ItCampaignIn 2011, we paricipaed in heJust Label Itcampaign,

iniiaed in spring o 2011 by a group o organic

sakeholders, collecing 15,483 peiion signaures o

he FDA asking hem o label all geneically engineered

oods. In Ocober, our saf paricipaed in several

evens ha were organized as par o he New York oDC Righ-o-Know march or GE ood labeling. The

labeling issue will coninue o be a ocus o our work on

GE oods in 2012.

Organizing in the States

to Build the Food Movement

Fair Farm Bill Road Trip

For a long ime now, Americas ood policy has been

se up o benei big agribusinesses. Combined wihunchecked corporae mergers, his policy environmen

has wreaked havoc on amily armers, public healh and

rural communiies.The Farm Bill esablishes he policies

and governmen suppor or U.S. agriculure, nuriion

programs like ood samps, rural economic developmen

programs, agriculural research and much more. The bill

is divided ino secions (called iles) ha cover speciic

program areas and generally las or abou ive years.

The cenerpiece o our organizing efor on he Farm

Bill was our Fair Farm Bill Road Trip. While we cancompee wih he big agribusinesses in erms o lobbying

resources, we can compee i we can reach and engage

a wide consiuency o everyday people, armers and

all hose concerned abou our ood sysem. Thas why

in he summer, our organizers hi he road and made

sops in over 20 saes in jus over 30 days. During he

course o his rip we organized 66 evens, gahered over

2,000 peiion signaures, held 14 meeings wih eleced

oficials and rained over 50 aciviss.

Our organizers blogged rom he road, provided updaes

wih social media ools and creaed a weekly updae

ha wen ou o our online supporers. In addiion, we

ideniied several poenial new Local Coordinaors,

who hemselves organized 13 evens. The ac ha our

new Local Coordinaors were able o organize heir

own advocacy evens gives us a sense o wha we can

accomplish by developing an exensive communiy o

voluneer leaders working wih Food & Waer Wach.

Also his year, we generaed over 9,000 leters o

Congress asking hem o keep he Farm Bill processransparen and no pass a secre Farm Bill as par o

he super commitee budge process.

Farm Bill Highlights in Key States

N Yrk

We played a prominen role in New Yorks organizing

or a Fair Farm Bill, including boh public educaion and

coaliion leadership, as well as inluencing policymakers.

On he coaliion ron, we have been acive in he

Brooklyn Food Coaliion, he Food Sysem Nework oNew York Ciy, he Faih & Farm Bill Working Group and

a New York Ciy Farm Bill coaliion. The Faih & Farm

Bill Working Group held a public orum on he Farm

Bill in Ocober eauring Food & Waer Wach Execuive

Direcor Wenonah Hauer as a keynoe speaker.

Pvi

Wih he suppor o organizers rom Green Corps (an

organizaion ha provides ield suppor or criical

environmenal campaigns) in Philadelphia, Behlehem

and Harrisburg, we ramped up our ood campaign

in Pennsylvania. We presened a coaliion leter wih

over 100 parner organizaions and arms o Senaor

Bob Casey (D-PA) calling on him o suppor he

implemenaion o air poulry and livesock markeing

rules. We also generaed over 3,000 peiion signaures

and poscards rom Pennsylvanians. Senaor Caseys

saf reieraed his suppor or he air arm rules.


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2011 ANNUAL REPORT

Crd

In he all, we began building voluneer groups around

our Local Coordinaors in Denver and For Collins. As

par o his efor, we had members in boh locaions

deliver copies o he 700 signaures we had gahered

in suppor o he Livesock Markeing Fairness Ac o

Senaor Michael Bennes (D-CO) ofices and organizeda panel discussion and screening oFreshwih over 200

paricipans a he Auraria Campus in Denver. A he

even, we disribued copies o our maerials calling

upon Senaor Benne o suppor he Livesock Markeing

Fairness Ac and colleced signaures. In addiion, we

presened o a group o 60 individuals a he Peoples

Food Jusice summi in early November abou our work

on a Fair Farm Bill.

Nrh Dk

For Food Day on Ocober 24, we delivered 800 peiions

o Senaor John Hoevens (R-ND) ofice in suppor o he

Fair Farm Bill.

Cifri

Food & Waer Wach saf in Caliornia gave over wo

dozen Farm Bill presenaions in key meropolian areas

such as he San Francisco Bay Area, he Cenral Valley,

Los Angeles and San Diego. In he Cenral Valley, we

worked wih key parners o urge Represenaive Jim

Cosa (D-CA) o suppor Farm Bill programs in he 2012Farm Bill. We colleced signaures and made argeed

presenaions, including one a he Caliornia Sae

Susainabiliy conerence, and have educaed local arm

allies on he issues.

Work in he Bay Area his year included geting over

30 groups o sign on o a Farm Bill resoluion, which

Supervisor Eric Mar will inroduce in 2012. We helped

organize opposiion o he super commitee Farm Bill

process and atended a meeing wih Represenaive

Nancy Pelosis (D-CA) ofice, along wih several allies

rom he San Francisco Urban Agriculure Alliance. We

recruied wo new Local Coordinaors in he Eas Bay

who will ocus on he Farm Bill. Addiionally, our abling

a GreenFes in San Francisco generaed hundreds o

peiion signaures in suppor o a Fair Farm Bill and a

ban on GE salmon.

Water ProgramOur Waer Program works wih grassroos organizaions

o preven he privaizaion o public waer resources

hrough boh he purchase o local uiliies and he

botling and selling o a communiys waer. The program

also works o reduce he sale and consumpion o botled

waer, which is ar more expensive han ap waer and

creaes mounains o garbage. Our campaign agains

botled waer is called Take Back he Tap.

Decrease the Use o Bottled Water

Consumers are spending billions o dollars every year

on botled waer, eiher because hey live in areas

where indusrial and agriculural polluion have made

he drinking waer unsae, or because he botled

waer indusry has spen millions o dollars convincing

consumers ha botled waer is a healhier choice.

Many ciizens have given up on our public waer

sysems because hey erroneously believe ha botled

waer is saer. We worked exensively his year on he

naional, sae and local levels o increase awareness

and decrease use.

Florida

We coninued o work wih he local organizaion Friends

o he Wacissa o suppor hree bills ha efecively

regulae botled waer. One o he bills would ax botled

waer a he consumer level; anoher would place a ax


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2011 ANNUAL REPORT

on he botling company. We are mos acively working

o suppor he hird bill, which would ban issuing any

permi or waer exracions or botling.

Take Back the Tap Campus Campaigns

Our Take Back he Tap naional campaign and

campus campaign have played a large role in changinghe publics percepion o botled waer in areas where

drinking waer is perecly sae. Our work has pu he

botled waer indusry in a deensive posiion; in ac,

aer 20 years o rapid growh, he indusry saw declines

in botled waer sales or wo consecuive years in

2008 and 2009. The Beverage Markeing Corporaion,

which racks indusry rends, atribues his decline o

he economic recession as well as o a growing eco-

consciousness among consumers.

One o he mos imporan ways ha we are ackling hisissue is hrough he Take Back he Tap campus campaign,

which we use o rain sudens and assis wih oureach

and educaion abou waer issues. We worked wih 38

campuses in he all 2011 semeser, more han double he

number o campuses he previous all. O hose campuses,

21 were new Take Back he Tap campaigns or us.

Campaign to Stop Fracking

Food & Waer Wach is leading a naional campaign

o sop hydraulic racuring (also known as racking),

a relaively new mehod or drilling hrough hardrock

ormaions like shale o obain previously inaccessible

supplies o naural gas. Shale gas drilling comes wih

serious hreas o he environmen, public healh,

agriculure and he economy. These hreas are no jus

localized o he immediae viciniy o areas being racked

since he efecs on waer, air and agriculure reach

ar beyond he immediae drilling sie as oxic waers

leach ino groundwaer sysems and mehane gas and

indusrial processes pollue he air. In he areas ha havebeen racked, livesock are dying and geting sick. Also,

he waer needed or healhy crops is becoming pollued.

Because o he inense ineres in he issue, we

are developing voluneer leaders in our organizing

campaigns. In 2011, sae campaigns signiicanly

expanded in New York, New Jersey, Colorado and

Caliornia.

National Campaign

Our naional-level acions ocused on Presiden Obama,

since here is currenly no naional legislaion on

racking. In order o pu pressure on he Presiden, on

Sepember 13, 2011 we organized a naional call-in day.

We asked people across he counry o call he Whie

House and ask Presiden Obama o ban racking.

We decided o arge Presiden Obama wih his call-in

day or several reasons. Firs, he has included naural gas

rom shale in his naional energy plan and has spoken

publicly abou he promise o naural gas as a domesic

energy source. Furhermore, in May 2011, he asked

Energy Secreary Seven Chu o orm a subcommitee

asked wih wriing a repor o improve he saey o

shale gas drilling. However, he commitee was sacked

in avor o racking, wih six ou o he seven members

having direc ies o he oil and gas indusry, and is

repor ailed o make recommendaions ha address

he ull environmenal and public healh issues wih his

mehod o drilling.

Presiden Obama also has a sea on he Delaware River

Basin Commission, along wih he governors o New

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The

commission, which is charged wih managing he waer

PHOTO BY MEREDITH W. (CC-BY-SA) / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS


11/15


2011 ANNUAL REPORT

resources o he Delaware River, recenly developed

dra regulaions ha would open up he river basin o

racking. The river provides drinking waer o 15 million

Americans in hose saes, roughly 5 percen o he U.S.

populaion. We are working hard o sop he DRBC rom

approving racking. In he spring o 2011, Food & Waer

Wach delivered 14,000 commens rom our supporersagains racking in he river basin.

We worked closely wih our allied organizaions o

promoe he call-in day in Sepember, including Unied

or Acion, Working Families Pary in New York, Frack

Acion, Caskill Mounain Keeper and dozens o local

ani-racking organizaions across he counry. We se up

a dedicaed phone line so ha we were able o rack he

number o calls o Presiden Obama. Togeher wih our

allies we generaed an esimaed 10,000 calls in o he

Whie House.

Delaware River Basin Commission

Food & Waer Wach played a leadership role in working

o urn ou people o he planned Delaware River Basin

Commission meeing hrough educaional orums

and grassroos acions. In New Jersey, we coordinaed

a number o screenings o he movie Gaslandand

garnering signaories o hree leters o he governors

and Presiden Obama rom aih leaders and labor

organizaions o higher educaion aculy and suden

groups. We organized press evens ouside New York

Governor Andrew Cuomos Manhatan ofice and

New Jersey Governor Chris Chrisies ofice o deliver

hese and oher leters. Finally, we organized 18 buses

rom around he region o Trenon on November 21.

The meeing was originally scheduled or Ocober 21,

hen moved o November 21, and was inally delayedindeiniely. This delay is a resul o our organizing and

ha o our allies hrough he region. To mark he delay

o he meeing, we held a rally wih over 1,000 people

celebraing he DRBCs decision o pospone is voe in

Trenon.

Groundwater Protection

Nvd

A proposed projec by he Souhern Nevada Waer

Auhoriy (SNWA) would convey groundwaer in Nevadavia a 300-mile waer pipeline rom he norheasern

Lincoln and Whie Pine counies o Souhern Nevada

and he Las Vegas Valley. SNWA claims he pipeline is

needed o mee uure projeced waer demands and o

reduce Souhern Nevadas signiican dependency on

he Colorado River. However, Las Vegass recovery rom

he recession has been slower han many ciies, and he

exorbianly cosly pipeline could urher sress he ciys

ragile economy.

Because his plan is shorsighed and unsusainable,we coninue o push or an end o he pipeline projec

in our ongoing campaign in Nevada. There were several

public commen periods during he las quarer o

2011, which allowed or ongoing peiion-gahering in

opposiion o he $15 billion projec, and Food & Waer

Wach colleced 876 commens opposing he pipeline.

Two Local Coordinaors were recruied in he ciy o Las

Vegas o help organize opposiion o he projec. Anoher

voluneer submited a Spanish-language opinion-ediorial

o he local media o build opposiion wihin he Spanish-speaking communiy.

We hosed a press conerence in lae November wih

environmenal and business allies in he region, which

received signiican coverage rom media oules

hroughou he sae highlighing he opposiion o he

projec and calling on he Clark Couny Commissioners

o wihdraw heir suppor or i.PHOTO BY M. WANNER (CC-BY-SA) / WIKIMEDI A COMMONS


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2011 ANNUAL REPORT

N Mxic

Working wih sae allies, his year we passed he irs

ever groundwaer proecion rule regarding acory dairy

arms. The rule ensures ha new arms mus line heir

manure lagoons, and calls or he rouine monioring o

wells wihin close proximiy o arms. This will saeguard

he waer resources o he sae.

Fish ProgramOur Fish Program works o promoe clean, green and

sae seaood or consumers, while helping o proec he

environmen and suppor coasal communiies. Seaood

consumers ell us regularly ha hey are paying more

atenion o he ish hey ea, he value hey ge rom

ha ish, and wha i does or hem as well as or he

world around hem.

Genetically Engineered Salmon

The Food and Drug Adminisraion has been considering

he approval o he irs geneically engineered animal

or human consumpion, salmon ha would grow a

wice he normal rae. The approval process has no been

ransparen and has relied almos exclusively on esing

done by he company wishing o marke he GE salmon.

Even his limied amoun o esing shows poenial risks

o human healh and wild salmon populaions, ye heFDA seems poised o approve he produc.

The igh o sop his approval coninued hroughou

he year, and bills were inroduced in he House and

he Senae ha would ban geneically engineered ish,

as well as bills ha would preven he FDA rom using

unding o approve GE salmon, which we advocaed o

our members. We also generaed hundreds o commens

o decision-makers in Europe asking hem or a GE

salmon ban.

In Caliornia, we worked o convince Senaors Barbara

Boxer (D) and Diane Feinsein (D) o oppose GE salmon.

Following up on consiuen meeings wih Feinseins

and Boxers saf, email blass, abling, and hundreds

o phone calls, we achieved big wins when Senaor

Feinsein sepped up o co-sponsor boh S.229, which

requires labeling o GE salmon, and S.230, which calls or

a ban on he producion o he ish. Senaor Boxer also

suppors S.229, and we will coninue o push her o sign

on o he ban bill as well.

In addiion o he bills ha had been inroduced earlier

in he year, in Ocober, Senaor Mark Begich (D) o

Alaska inroduced a bill ha would block he inersaeshipmen o GE salmon and oher GE ish, which would

essenially end is commercializaion. We me wih many

Senae ofices in he all o educae hem abou his bill,

and in December, Senaor Jef Merkley (D) o Oregon

joined as a cosponsor. We coninued o work closely wih

Senaor Begichs ofice on his issue, and in December

he convened a subcommitee hearing on GE salmon ha

successully raised many concerns abou he poenial

risks o his new GE animal and he lawed regulaory

process being used o evaluae i.

Stopping Factory Fish Farms in Hawaii

Jus as mulinaional corporaions have orever changed

he way ood is grown on land o he derimen o public

healh, he environmen, local communiies and ood

qualiy isel, hey are poised o do he same a sea.

The idenical acory-arm model is being adoped or

aquaculure: growing ood as cheaply as possible using

oxic chemicals and oher harmul echniques, packaging

i in enormous bulk, and shipping i o disan grocerysores and resaurans all around he world.

Our work his year o sop he reckless expansion o

ofshore ish arms in Hawaii ocused on sopping Kona

Blue Waer Farms irs acory ish arming projec in

ederal waer, keeping aquaculure ou o sancuaries,

and winning a sae moraorium on he harmul pracice.


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2011 ANNUAL REPORT

In erms o he Kona Blue Waer Farms projec, o which

he Naional Marine Fisheries Service Paciic Island

Regional Ofice had issued an illegal ishing permi in

early July, we iled papers seeking he cases immediae

dismissal and judgmen in he organizaions avor. While

he case is sill currenly pending, our lawsui coninues

o atrac atenion around he counry, as we have been

invied o speak a he Public Ineres Environmenal Law

Conerence abou i his March.

Preventing Privatization o Ocean Resources

This year we coninued o have successes in our

campaign o sop cach share programs ha push

isheries oward indusrialized operaions, reduce jobs

and wages or capains and crews, and cause socio-

economic problems in coasal and ishing communiies,

as well as ecological harm o our oceans. A cachshare, also known as an individual ishing quoa, is a

ranserable voucher ha gives individuals or businesses

he abiliy o access a ixed percenage o he oal

auhorized cach o a paricular species.

In he las quarer, Represenaive Jon Runyan (R-NJ)

inroduced a bill we helped o dra, he Saving Fishing

Jobs Ac o 2011 or HR 2772. The bill prevens he

abuses o cach shares by requiring a reerendum beore

a cach share program is implemened, adding a saeyvalve, erminaing a new cach share program resuling

in a 15% or greaer loss in jobs in a year, and ensuring

ha ees recover all program coss. We aimed o gaher

cosponsors o he bill, and over he year i picked up nine

cosponsors. Moreover, because o our work, Senaors

Kelly Ayote (R) o New Hampshire and Scot Brown

(R) o Massachusets inroduced a companion bill in he

Senae. Momenum coninues o grow or he bills, and

Food & Waer Wach has been recognized as a leader on

hese efors.


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2011 ANNUAL REPORT

EXPENSES

Program

Food $3,738,267

Water $2,630,490

Fish $1,301,417

Total Program $7,670,174

Management $1,195,212

Fund Raising $ 564,307

TOTAL EXPENSE $9,429,693

INCOME

Grants and Contributions $11,447,977

Interest Income $9,021

Contract Fees $29,028

Other $11,575

TOTAL INCOME $11,497,601

ENDING NET ASSETSas of December 31, 2011

$5,621,061

F I N A N C I A L S

I rdr mii ur idpdc, Fd & Wr Wchd ccp crpr r gvrm cribui.

We are graeul o our 15,000 members in 2011 who provided generous supporwihou which our success would no be possible. Our supporers include he ollowing oundaions:

11h Hur Prjc, f h Schmid Fmi Fudi

B Fudi

Ci Fudi

Bb & Ei Gim Fmi Fudi

A cmp fud f h Mi Cmmui Fudi

Mrri Fmi Chrib Fudi

Prk Fudi

Tid Fudi

T Crk Fudi

Trig Cmmui Fudi

Wd Fudi


15/15

National Oce

1616 P St. NW, Suite 300

Washington, DC 20036

tel: (202) 683-2500

ax: (202) 683-2501

www.oodandwaterwatch.org

food & water watch annual report 2011

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