Research

EU Version - Biotech Ambassadors: How the U.S. State Department Promotes the Seed Industry’s Global Agenda

Published on May 14, 2013 - Reports: Food & Water Watch closely examined five years of State Department diplomatic cables from 2005 to 2009 to provide the first comprehensive analysis of the strategy, tactics and U.S. foreign policy objectives to foist pro-agricultural biotechnology policies worldwide. Read the full report to learn more.

Monsanto: A Corporate Profile

Published on April 03, 2013 - Reports: You know who Monsanto is. Even if you don’t recognize the company name, you’ve come across some of its products: maybe you’ve used Roundup weed killer on your grass or garden, you’ve heard about the debate over treating cows with the artificial growth hormone rBGH, you’re worried about genetically modified organisms in your food, or you’ve learned about the U.S. military’s use of the toxic herbicide Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. These may not seem related, but they all are a major part of Monsanto’s legacy.

U.S. Energy Insecurity: Why Fracking for Oil and Natural Gas Is a False Solution

Published on November 14, 2012 - Reports: Promoters of modern drilling and fracking celebrate the industry’s newfound ability to extract oil and natural gas from shale and other tight rock formations, calling it an energy “revolution,” a “paradigm-shifter,” a “rebirth” and a “game changer.” One recent report claims that North America might soon become “the new Middle East,” a net exporter of oil and natural gas. In April 2012, ConocoPhillips’s CEO at the time called shale gas a “blessing.” But for whom is it really a blessing?

Factory-Fed Fish: How the Soy Industry Is Expanding Into the Sea

Published on July 02, 2012 - Reports: Europe Report: By supporting factory fish farming, the soy industry could not only help to expand an industry that degrades marine environments, threatens wild fish populations and damages coastal communities, it could also extend its own negative impacts. Already, industrial soy production has led to the prevalence of genetically modified crops on U .S. farmland and in consumer food-products, caused massive defor­estation in South America and displaced indigenous communities living in areas now used to grow soy.

Fracking: The New Global Water Crisis

Published on March 07, 2012 - Reports: Europe Report: Within the past decade, technological advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," have enabled the oil and gas industry to extract large quantities of oil and natural gas from shale formations in the United States. However, the practice has proven controversial. Pollution from modern drilling and fracking has caused wide­spread environmental and public health problems and created serious, long-term risks to under­ground water resources. In this report, Food & Water Europe reviews the risks and costs of shale development that have been demonstrated in the United States, including eco­nomic costs that run counter to industry-backed claims about the economic benefits of the practice.

Public-Public Partnerships: An Alternative Model to Leverage the Capacity of Municipal Water Utilities

Published on February 28, 2012 - Reports: Europe Report: Clean drinking water and wastewater treatment are basic services that societies and governments provide. Water is a necessity for life, and safe water and sanitation are crucial for public health. In July 2010, the United Nations declared access to clean water and sanitation to be a human right. But recognizing the human right to water does not explain how to deliver this right to households. Even with this commitment to enhance water delivery and safety, an estimated 884 million people worldwide lack access to safe water, and 2.6 billion lack access to improved sanitation.

Fishy Farms: The Government’s Push for Factory Farming in Our Oceans

Published on October 10, 2011 - Reports: Report (Europe): This report revisits the four U.S. taxpayer-supported factory fish farming experiments — in Hawaii, New Hampshire and Puerto Rico — that are described in Food & Water Watch’s previous reports, Seas of Doubt and the first edition of Fishy Farms. Because all of these research and demonstration projects have previously received government funding to advance the industry, we have traced the operations’ histories for lessons that can be drawn about the feasibility of ocean fish farming.

De-Coding Seafood Eco-Labels: How the European Commission Can Help Consumers Access Sustainable Seafood

Published on May 04, 2011 - Reports: This report proposes that in order to provide consumers with much-needed, unbiased and well-regulated information, the European Commission must develop and enforce strict criteria for interpreting the FAO guidelines on aquaculture and fisheries certification. Until that time, consumers can use our guidelines and recommendations for safer and more sus- tainable seafood choices at the end of this report.

Veolia Environnement: Profil de la plus grande entreprise de services d’eau au monde

Published on April 20, 2011 - Reports: Veolia Environnement est la plus grande entreprise de services d’eau au monde. Depuis son siège social à Paris, Veo- lia opère sous de nombreux noms, dans des dizaines de pays et à travers des centaines de filiales. Mais en dépit de sa présence internationale, le cœur de ses activités reste en France.

Veolia Environnement: A Profile of the World’s Largest Water Service Corporation

Published on April 20, 2011 - Reports: Veolia’s corporate profits plummeted in 2008 and remained languid through 2010. In the water division, the company has suffered major losses from municipalizations and has struggled to obtain new long-term privatizations. Despite its disappointing performance, the company continued many of the same strategies in 2011 that it had used over the preceding five years. It sought long-term, complex contracts to control entire municipal water and sewer systems. Such arrangements, however, seem to be increasingly rare for the company. For Veolia, complex deals were appealing because they involved less competition. The company and several of its peers have come under the scrutiny of anti-trust regulators in the European Union. Veolia has focused half of its new growth investments in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe, where it has the financial backing of multilateral lending institutions.

The Perils of the Global Soy Trade: Economic, Environmental and Social Impacts

Published on February 07, 2011 - Reports: Europe: Globalization has fundamentally changed agriculture across Europe. The idyllic image of small farms with sustainable agriculture has been replaced with agricultural cogs producing food-ingredient inputs for international industrial agri-businesses. The pork chops and chickens on European tables begin their lives far away on soybean plantations in Latin America, where the feed for European livestock is harvested.

Fishy Formula: Why the European Strategy Doesn't Add up to Sustainable Aquaculture

Published on June 08, 2010 - Reports: The European open water aquaculture industry is fraught with a variety of major problems including rampant disease outbreaks, pollution, escapes and depletion of wild fish populations used in feed.

United Water

Published on June 03, 2010 - Reports: Des débordements d’égout à Milwaukee, Wisconsin, à l'eau potable contaminée à Gloucester, dans l’état du Massachusetts, de sérieux problèmes ont affecté les municipalités à travers les Etats-Unis suite au transfert de la gestion de leur eau ou égouts vers United Water, succursale de Suez Environnement.


Unseen Hazards: from Nanotechnology to Nanotoxicity

Published on November 29, 2009 - Reports: The legacy of unregulated chemical and technological commercialization is, in some regards, one of man-made disasters. The track record of asbestos, DDT, PCBs and radiation—substances that were heralded as the technological breakthroughs that would change everything—should serve as a warning that we cannot continue to neglect the potential hazards associated with nanotechnology simply because it is the next big thing.

The Rush to Ethanol

Published on July 18, 2007 - Reports: Not all BioFuels are Equal - Rising oil prices, energy security, and global warming concerns have all contributed to the current hype over biofuels. This report reviews the most up to date scientific evidence and concludes that corn-based ethanol is not the silver bullet everyone is seeking. (Full Report)