Farm to Fork Foundation is a left-of-center organization that creates communication strategies for organizations seeking to lobby governments to increase entitlement spending on food services. ¹ The organization also assists left-of-center environmentalist organizations with federal lobbying strategies. ² Farm to Fork Foundation is a project of the Windward Fund, a left-of-center environmentalist and conservationist grantmaking and project-sponsorship organization managed by Arabella Advisors, a left-of-center consulting company. ³

Finances

While the Farm to Fork Foundation is technically a project of the Windward Fund and receives its resources from that organization, multiple left-of-center organizations have earmarked their contributions to the Windward Fund for the Farm to Fork Foundation’s expenses. In 2017, the California Endowment made $100,000 in contributions⁴ and the Claneil Foundation made $25,000 in contributions to the Farm to Fork Foundation. ⁵

Advocacy

2019 Budget Deal

The Farm to Fork Foundation advocated for increasing the congressional non-defense discretionary spending caps for a variety of environmentalist and entitlement programs including agricultural research, farm credits, nutrition programs, water, and entitlement spending in the 2019 federal spending bill. ⁶

2018 Farm Bill

The Farm to Fork Foundation worked with a number of environmentalist organizations and successfully advocated for maintained funding for environmentalist programs and increased entitlement spending on government-controlled food programs in low-income neighborhoods though the 2018 Farm Bill.

The Farm to Fork Foundation advocated for increased entitlement spending and environmentalist positions in the 2018 Farm Bill in collaboration with the Environmental Working Group, Food Research and Action Center, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Food Policy Action, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. ⁷

In a letter thanking U.S. representatives and senators for their work on the 2018 Farm Bill, the Farm to Fork Foundation’s lobbying partner, the Environmental Working Group, issued a statement thanking a long list of Democratic legislators, listing only three Republicans among them. ⁸

Messaging Guide

In 2017, the Farm to Fork Foundation produced a nine-page manual with data and communication strategies to aid state and local organizations in advocating for increased government entitlement spending on food policies and services in low-income neighborhoods. ⁹

The manual instructs state and local organizations to urge the expansion of government-controlled food policies by “tap[pping] into a sense of pride and belief that our food system should be the best in the world” and “establishing” the activist organization’s policies as “the path to achieving that vision.” ¹⁰

The manual cautions readers to focus on key terminology from groups opposed to entitlement expansion and provides rebuttals to those positions. The manual highlights the opposition point that 78% of Republicans and 57% of Democrats believe that people should be personally responsible for what they eat and drink, without government intervention. The manual goes on to provide talking points to attempt to undermine this position. ¹¹

While produced under the Farm to Fork Foundation name, the manual was created by the Democratic-Party aligned political consulting and strategy firm Spitfire Strategies. ¹²

Leadership

As a project of the Windward Fund, the organization does not have a staff list. Lee Bodner is the current chairman of the Windward Fund. ¹³

1. “About us” Farm to Fork Initiative. https://www.farmtoforkinitiative.org/our-story
2. “Statements from Farm to Fork” Farm to Fork Initiative. https://www.farmtoforkinitiative.org/statements-from-farm-to-fork
3. “About us” Farm to Fork Initiative. https://www.farmtoforkinitiative.org/our-story
4. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 4, 2020. Part XV.
5. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax” Guidestar.org. Accessed November 4, 2020. Part XV.
6. “LETTER TO CONGRESS ON FEDERAL BUDGET NEGOTIATIONS” Farm to Fork Foundation. https://www.farmtoforkinitiative.org/statements-from-farm-to-fork
7. “STATEMENT ON FARM BILL” Farm to Fork Foundation. https://www.farmtoforkinitiative.org/statements-from-farm-to-fork
8. “EWG Applauds Farm Bill Drinking Water Reforms” Environmental Working Group. https://www.ewg.org/agmag/2018/12/ewg-applauds-farm-bill-drinking-water-reforms
9. “Good Food Movement Message Guide” Farm to Fork Foundation. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c0954707106998d83131394/t/5df7f8572b72246fbefab0b7/1576532062218/Good+Food+Movement+Message+Guide.pdf
10. “Good Food Movement Message Guide” Farm to Fork Foundation. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c0954707106998d83131394/t/5df7f8572b72246fbefab0b7/1576532062218/Good+Food+Movement+Message+Guide.pdf
11. “Good Food Movement Message Guide” Farm to Fork Foundation. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c0954707106998d83131394/t/5df7f8572b72246fbefab0b7/1576532062218/Good+Food+Movement+Message+Guide.pdf
12. “Good Food Movement Message Guide – Foreword” Farm to Fork Foundation. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c0954707106998d83131394/t/5df7f8572b72246fbefab0b7/1576532062218/Good+Food+Movement+Message+Guide.pdf
13. “Chairman – Lee Borden” Windward Fund. https://www.windwardfund.org/lee-bodner-full/