Food and Water Action (FWA) is the political action arm of the left-of-center environmentalist advocacy group Food and Water Watch (FWW). FWA mobilizes voters, endorses candidates for electoral office, lobbies lawmakers, and participates in a variety of political advocacy activities to embed the agenda of FWW in public policy. 1
FWW, FWA’s affiliate, takes a hardline approach to environmentalism. Its primary objectives are an immediate transition to 100 percent weather-dependent energy and compelling the Environmental Protection Agency to ban microplastics and so-called “factory farms.” 2 It equates opposition to its goals with social injustice. 3
Activities
Food and Water Action frames its candidate endorsements as a “progressive agenda” on the environment. 4 Its website listed 19 endorsed candidates for U.S. Congress, all of them running in the 2022 election cycle. 5 Some of these candidates, such as Laura Gillen (D-NY), ran again in the 2024 cycle. 6 However, FWA claims that 28 endorsed candidates “won their races.” It does not specify whether these were federal, state, or local races, and does not list the candidates who won. 7
According to Ballotpedia, FWA endorsed only four U.S. Congressional candidates in the 2024 election cycle. Three were Democrats and the fourth was a member of the far-left Working Families Party (WFP). Only one candidate won the general election. The rest either withdrew or lost their primaries. 8 During that election cycle, FWA also endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States. 5
FWA held a candidate forum, sponsored in partnership with numerous other left-of-center organizations opposed to fossil fuels, in January and February 2021 to showcase candidates running for mayor of New York City. 9
FWA claims that it “knocked on 65,000 doors and made more than a half million calls” and had “20,000 conversations with voters” in the 2024 elections. 7
Expenditures and Funding
Cause IQ’s profile indicates that in 2023, FWA spent $64,475 on political campaign activities. 10
Open Secrets reports that the Food and Water Action PAC, a super PAC, spent $132,730 in the 2024 election cycle entirely at the state and local levels. The PAC received $23,301 in contributions from individual donors above the Federal Election Commission reporting threshold of $200. 11
This is a significant decrease from 2022 expenditures which amounted to $223,890. 12 There was also a decline in the amount of contributions of $200 or more from individual donors, with $210,778 contributed in 2022. 12
FWA received $1,368,536 in grant and contribution support during FY 2022, constituting 95 percent of its income. Prominent funders were the Advocacy Action Fund, which provided a total of $600,000 in grant support to a ballot measure effort, and Tides Advocacy (The Advocacy Fund) awarded $50,000. 10
Leadership
Wenonah Hauter is the executive director of both Food and Water Action and Food and Water Watch. 13 She has occupied those positions since 2005. 14
A veteran of more than three decades in the environmental movement, Hauter was a senior organizer for the Union of Concerned Scientists from 1989 to 1995 and as environmental policy director for Citizen Action from 1996 to 1997. 15 She is the author of Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America; Frackopoly: The Battle for the Future of Energy and the Environment; and, with co-author Mark Worth, Zapped! Irradiation and the Death of Food. 16 17
References
- Food & Water Action. “Homepage.” Accessed January 16, 2025. https://www.foodandwateraction.org/
- Food & Water Watch. “Food & Water Watch,” Accessed January 17, 2025. https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/
- YES! Magazine. “Wenonah Hauter – YES! Magazine Solutions Journalism.” Accessed January 17, 2025. https://www.yesmagazine.org/authors/wenonah-hauter
- Insider NJ. “Food & Water Action Announces New Jersey Candidate Endorsements,” October 18, 2017. Accessed January 17, 2025. https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/food-water-action-announces-new-jersey-candidate-endorsements/
- Food & Water Action. “Endorsements.” Accessed January 18, 2025. https://www.foodandwateraction.org/endorsements/
- Laura Gillen for Congress. “Laura Gillen for Congress.” Accessed January 18, 2025. https://lauragillen.com/
- DiFelice, Mia. “How Food & Water Action Propelled Candidates to Victory in 2024.” Food & Water Action, December 12, 2024. Accessed January 18, 2025. https://www.foodandwateraction.org/democracy/electoral-victories-2024/
- Ballotpedia. “Endorsements by Food & Water Action.” Accessed January 18, 2025. https://ballotpedia.org/Endorsements_by_Food_%26_Water_Action
- Mobilize. “New York, NY: Climate & Jobs Mayoral Candidate Forum · Food & Water Action.” Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.mobilize.us/fwa/event/746578/
- “Food and Water Action Fund | Washington, DC | Cause IQ.” Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/food-and-water-action-fund,320160436/
- Open Secrets. “Food and Water Action PAC.” Accessed January 18, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/food-water-action-pac/C00801910/summary/2024
- Open Secrets. “Food and Water Action PAC.” Accessed January 18, 2025. https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/food-water-action-pac/C00801910/summary/2022
- “2023 Form 990 for Food and Water Action Fund | Cause IQ.” Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/view_990/320160436/da1dc19a970a09374c0032c2ad3da27d
- Roberts, Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford, Ash Ngu, Brandon. “Food & Water Watch – Form Form 990 for Period Ending Dec 2005 – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica, May 9, 2013. Accessed January 19, 2025. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/320160439/2006_10_EO%2F32-0160439_990_200512
- “Wenonah Hauter | HuffPost.” Accessed January 19, 2025. https://www.huffpost.com/author/wenonah-hauter
- Center for Humans & Nature. “Wenonah Hauter.” Accessed January 19, 2025. https://humansandnature.org/wenonah-hauter/
- Hauter, Wenonah, and Mark Worth.Worth. “Zapped! Irradiation and the Death of Food.” Washington, DC: Food & Water Watch Press, 2008. https://www.amazon.com/Zapped-Irradiation-Death-Wenonah-Hauter/dp/0980115701/ref=sr_1_1?crid=27VAPNKLA10VM&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.FZoFRCWO47Rozb79BFHmP4PX9a1l5__uwzhtZSbXZxGfibXBZSVEgh6wTf6HdMkt.-kYSDIrMiQJawEqGNGop_mzh3xJi_1tXBSSZOg8f4Rw&dib_tag=se&keywords=wenonah+hauter+zapped&qid=1737298901&sprefix=wenonah+hauter+zapped%2Caps%2C96&sr=8-1