We’re Thankful!

By Wenonah Hauter, Food & Water Watch Executive Director

I’m writing this Thanksgiving message from my family’s small organic farm in Virginia. My husband is the farmer, and I see firsthand the hard work needed to operate an independent, sustainable farm — the days are long and sometimes hard, but the outcome makes all the work worthwhile. The same is true for the work Food & Water Watch is engaged in with you, because we are fighting for the kind of world we want — not just the best we can get.

This Thanksgiving, I’m incredibly thankful to you for being with us in our fight. At this time of year, food and water feel more precious than ever, and we couldn’t continue to fight for them without your help. Whether you’ve contacted your legislator, joined a campaign in your community, made a contribution toward a healthy future or simply urged your friends and family to care about their food, you’ve been a part of our success.

Here are just a few of the victories you’ve been a part of this year:

Fracking:

• Just last week, the Delaware River Basin Commission canceled its scheduled vote on fracking regulations that would have paved the way for extensive drilling in the northeast. This huge victory would not have been possible without the sustained grassroots effort to fight fracking from activists like you on the ground.
• Our supporters have worked in more than 100 communities to pass resolutions opposing fracking, and our work with the New Jersey Legislature led to the passage of a ban on fracking in their state.

Food:

• We’ve been helping to build the movement for fair food from the ground up — working with hundreds of supporters to plant the seeds necessary to move us toward a healthy food system that works for small farmers and all consumers.
• Our organizers hit the road this summer to connect the dots and start bringing all the local energy around good food together into an even more powerful movement, working in more than 20 states in 30 days.
• As a result of this grassroots effort, senators from New York and Colorado wrote letters to President Obama, advocating for a fair food system. We know that this fight is going to be long and hard, but we’re thankful for all the work that so many of you have and will continue to be a part of to fix our food system.

Water Privatization:

• At the end of August, the governor of Illinois signed a bill that we had been working hard to pass — giving communities in the state more control over their water.
• In addition to supporting community efforts across the country to keep private hands off of public water resources, we’ve also been working with college students to reject bottled water on their campuses. Humboldt State University in California became one of the first public universities to ban bottled water this fall.

Like the hard work that farmers put into their land, this work isn’t easy and the payoff isn’t immediate. We’re up against tremendously powerful special interests that want nothing more than for us to back down and let them have their way.

Looking back on this past year, I’m reminded of the change that we’re capable of achieving together. Thank you again for joining us and standing strong for a healthy future.

Thanks for everything!