Next year marks the twentieth anniversary of Food & Water Watch’s founding, and many things have changed since then. Thanks to you, we’ve grown. We now have a nationwide presence that can respond to threats to our food, water, and climate across the country with speed and skill. 

Sadly, some of our challenges haven’t changed. Our planet is sending more warning signs about the climate crisis — the greatest threat to our food and water — with each passing year. Corporate greed continues to pollute the places we love and call home, damaging people’s health along the way, all in the name of profit. 

And as we look ahead to 2025, we face an incredible challenge: fighting against a dangerous and reckless Trump administration to protect our food, water, and climate.

While our fight for a livable future has never been more urgent, you’ve continuously shown up for communities and our planet when they needed you. You are remarkable!

You have made so much progress possible this year. Together, we pressured the Biden administration to pause all new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export approvals. Our efforts helped push the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finally begin regulating toxic PFAS forever chemicals in our water. And we produced a factory farm map tool that equips organizers, reporters, and you with the information you need to oppose factory farms.

These strides forward bring real relief to communities and lay the groundwork for future protections. They could not have happened without you. 

We have an uphill battle in 2025, but by working together, we can and must continue protecting the people and places we love.

Thank you for never giving up on our planet — and growing our movement into a force to be reckoned with! Read further to see what a difference you made in 2024.¹Information included in this article is from activities dated January 1 to November 15, 2024.

You are strengthening our Food & Water Watch community!

Amid such high stakes, we know the key to winning: people power. Not only do we need strength in numbers to protect our food, water, and climate; our community fortifies and inspires us to keep going despite challenges and setbacks. We need each other more than ever.

With you, our Food & Water Watch community is growing in size and power. Our bonds are strengthening, and our ability to create change is, too.

This year, together we:

• Grew our base of 2 million+ supporters
• Mobilized more than 2,500 volunteers
• Held 1,000+ organizing events and volunteer activities such as rallies, protests, volunteer meetings, phone banks, canvassing days, and more.

You are holding power to account!

This year has shown us once again how corporations influence our political system. But ultimately, our leaders work for us, and we need to remind them of it! Every year, Food & Water Watch holds those in power accountable to defending our health, food, water, and climate.

Our hard-hitting research, bold advocacy, and winning legal work is essential to these efforts — and your generosity makes all this possible.

This year, together we:

• Released 21 new research reports and fact sheets
• Achieved 10 legal wins and worked on 25+ more ongoing cases
• Held 250+ meetings with Congressional leaders to educate and push for policies

You help us empower more people with information to act!

Food & Water Watch exposes the truth behind industry lies and corporate cover-ups, and sharing vital information on how we can fight back. Because of your generosity, we can share our research, knowledge, and solutions nationwide without a paywall — helping concerned citizens become powerful advocates. 

Together, we’re empowering people to learn, act, and win a brighter future for everyone.

This year, together we:

• Attracted more than 861,000 visits to our website, foodandwaterwatch.org
• Earned about 5,800 media hits, including in The New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN
• Hosted 8 Livable Future LIVE events (our monthly educational series) and shared them with 2,326 FWW supporters who signed up to participate
• Sent 174,000+ digital petition signatures to decision makers

You spark incredible victories for our food, water, and climate!

All of this work translates to victories that move the needle on progress and deliver real benefits to communities on the ground. Together, we’re stopping polluting projects in their tracks; making energy, food, and water more affordable; protecting families from toxic chemicals; and so much more. 

Here are just a few wins you made possible this year! We can’t wait to build on them next year with you.

This year, together we:

• Forced the Biden administration to pause new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export approvals, including for the development of the Calcasieu Pass 2 (CP2) LNG export facility in Louisiana. 
  
  If built, CP2 would have an enormous impact on global climate pollution — about 20 times that of the recently approved Willow oil drilling project in Alaska.
  
  This pause came after months of intense pressure from Food & Water Watch and our allies, which included a letter signed by 170 scientists and another signed by more than 230 climate, environmental justice, public health, faith, and community organizations, both urging the Biden Administration to reject CP2. 
  

• Helped win the first-ever regulations on PFAS in drinking water. 
  
  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced final regulations that set enforceable limits on six PFAS — the toxic lab-made compounds known as “forever chemicals” — in drinking water. After decades of community organizing, we welcome this important first step in making drinking water safer for people across the country. This will save lives. Even better? The EPA has finalized rules to begin holding corporations accountable for PFAS cleanup.
  
  No amount of PFAS in water is safe, and these regulations address just six of thousands of these dangerous chemicals. Together, we’ll continue to press the EPA to regulate the entire class of PFAS in our drinking water. 
  

• Successfully pressured Governor Newsom to phase out fracking in California.
  
  After a three-year de facto ban, Governor Newsom’s California’s Geologic Energy Management Division released its plan to formally phase out fracking in California by prohibiting the state from issuing new fracking permits. This announcement comes after over a decade of advocacy from Food & Water Watch and allied groups across the state and country. Additionally, allowing fossil fuel drilling near homes and schools was removed from the ballot in California this past November! 
  

• Passed two major pieces of climate legislation in New York state that are both awaiting Governor Hochul’s signature. 
  
  The Climate Change Superfund Act will hold Big Oil responsible for paying the damages caused by climate-fueled disasters. The passage of this bill in both the New York State Assembly and Senate is a huge step forward for polluter accountability, as climate-supercharged natural disasters grow worse with every passing year.
  
  A ban on CO₂ fracking in New York State also passed after a company called “Southern Tier CO₂ to Clean Energy Solutions” planned to skirt the state’s existing fracking ban by using carbon dioxide (CO₂) instead of water. 
  

• Compelled the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to propose new water pollution control standards for slaughterhouses and rendering facilities.
  
  Following lawsuits from Food & Water Watch and our allies, the EPA’s new rules could prevent at least 100 million pounds per year of water pollution by strengthening or imposing standards on just a fraction of the country’s approximately 5,000 slaughterhouses and rendering facilities. This is a positive step towards cleaning up one of the nation’s dirtiest industries.

With You, We’re Moving Toward More Wins in 2025!

Grassroots organizing and connections are the beating heart of our movement toward a livable future. Thank you for joining this movement by supporting Food & Water Watch! We know we will only get stronger in the coming year.

2025 will be a tough one, there’s no doubt. With Donald Trump back in the White House and corporate-friendly extremists in all corners of government, we’re in for the fight of our lives. But thanks to you, we have the power to fight back.

We’ll be fighting in the courts, in the halls of Congress, and in communities across the country to beat back Trump’s agenda. At the same time, we’re gearing up for more state and local victories with real impacts on our communities. 

With you, we are fighting for what we love, building a stronger community, and making the change we need to ensure a livable future.