Our Mission

Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainably produced. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping the global commons — our shared resources — under public control.

Our Vision

We envision a world where all people have access to enough affordable, 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.

Our Values

Independence. We are a public interest organization that remains independent of corporate and government influence. We are funded fully through our members, individual donors, and foundation grants. Democracy. We engage and mobilize citizens politically through on-the-ground organizing, educational campaigns and new media technologies. We believe political involvement is critical for holding governments accountable to their constituents and for creating policies that ensure safe food and clean water. Human Rights. There is enough food and water to meet everyone’s basic needs. Creating the political will to address access to affordable food and water is an important component of our work, particularly in our international program. We believe that water is a human right, not a commodity. Sustainability. We believe in a sustainable future — one that ensures access to essential resources for future generations while protecting the quality of our environment.

Our Work

Food & Water Watch is a non-profit organization that advocates for common sense policies that will result in healthy, safe food and access to safe and affordable drinking water. Everyone is dependent on shared resources like clean water, safe food and healthy oceans. It’s essential that these shared resources be regulated in the public interest rather than for private gain. Our staff, located in 15 offices in the United States, works with a range of constituencies to inform and hold policymakers accountable. Our international staff in Latin America and the European Union (where we are known as Food & Water Europe) work with coalition partners to track the global impact of U.S. corporations on public policy.

Our History

In Fall 2005, 12 members of the Energy and Environment Program at the non-profit organization Public Citizen left to create Food & Water Watch. Since then, with the support of our membership, individual donors and foundations, we have grown to more than 60 staff members. In the last five years, with the help of our generous supporters and committed activists, we have:

• Influenced Starbucks to discontinue using milk from cows treated with artificial growth hormones
• Helped dozens of communities organize across the country stop the corporate takeover of their publicly owned water systems
• Defended consumers’ right to know what they’re eating by fighting for mandatory country-of-origin labeling and ensured that technologies like food irradiation continue to be labeled
• Raised awareness nationwide about the environmental, health and equity problems with the bottled water industry. More than 10,000 people have taken our pledge to Take Back the Tap.

Learn more about our victories.

Our Staff

Our staff is comprised of dedicated organizers, policy researchers, communications experts and administrative staff with education in the liberal arts and sciences. We have experience developing political strategies, running on-the-ground campaigns, and speaking as experts to decision-makers and the media to meet our goals to protect consumers and people around the world from threats to our food and water. Read our staff bios.

Our Supporters

Food & Water Watch is supported by its membership, individual donors and foundations interested in carrying out a progressive agenda for food and water in the United States and abroad. We promote wholesome, safe food; clean, publicly controlled water; and abundant, fairly managed ocean resources for the benefit of all. We take no money from corporations or governments. Learn how you can become a supporter.

Our Issues

Food: We work to promote the practices and 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. Water: We advocate for public control of water resources and services, strong conservation measures and tough regulation of toxic emissions. The policies we promote will result in safe and affordable drinking water for everyone, rather than reliance on bottled water. Common Resources: We work to stop the financialization of nature and the privatization of our common resources, and fight to maintain the environmental quality of the ocean and its resources.  Learn more about our issues.

Contact Us at Our Washington Office

1616 P Street, NW Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 P 202.683.2500 F 202.683.2501 Email: [email protected]

Contact Us at Our Regional Offices