You are at the heart of Food & Water Watch’s work to protect our food, water, and climate.

This list of recent accomplishments shows the incredible difference you’ve made in our work to build a livable future. Each milestone proves people power works!

We have an uphill battle in 2025, fighting against rampant corporate greed and the reckless Musk-Trump administration. But by working together, we will — we must — continue protecting the people and places we love.

Thank you for never giving up on our planet!

Victories to Celebrate 

Federal Judge Blocks Kroger-Albertsons Grocery Merger 

A U.S. District Judge blocked grocery giant Kroger’s plan to acquire Albertsons, a regional grocery chain. The Judge found that the move would limit competition in the grocery industry. This mega-merger would have led to higher food prices for consumers, lower income for farmers, and rising profits for the grocery giant. 

Food & Water Watch worked to prevent food sector mega-mergers by calling on the Biden Administration to enact a merger moratorium on food and agribusiness companies. We also supported the reintroduction of the Food & Agribusiness Merger Moratorium and Antitrust Review Act to block unfair and dangerous mega-mergers. 

In this case, we submitted extensive comments to strengthen the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) merger guidelines. The FTC used its final guidelines, including several of our recommendations, to block the Kroger-Albertsons merger.

FDA Bans Red Dye No. 3, Citing Cancer Risk

The FDA banned the use of Red Dye No. 3 from food and drinks in the United States by granting a 2022 petition by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Food & Water Watch, and 22 additional organizations and scientists. 

Scientists have found Red 3 causes cancer when ingested by animals. The dye has been banned in the European Union since 1914 and banned domestically in cosmetics and topical drugs since 1990. Food & Water Watch’s relentless advocacy work led to this huge win for consumer safety from harmful, cancer-causing chemicals.

New York State To Make Polluters Pay For Climate Impacts

On December 26, 2024, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Climate Change Superfund Act into law. The state is now the second in the nation to require fossil fuel companies to pay for climate damages. The law will raise $75 billion over 25 years from the oil and gas companies most responsible for the climate crisis, funding vital climate adaptation and resilience projects across the state.

With the support of Food & Water Watch’s powerful grassroots climate movement, New York will finally hold Big Oil corporations financially accountable for the climate damages they knowingly wrought. Food & Water Watch is working to pass similar bills in New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, and Maryland.

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Gloucester Township Voters Overwhelmingly Reject Controversial Sewer Privatization

Voters in Gloucester Township, New Jersey, rejected the sale of their sewer collection system to New Jersey American Water. NJ American is the state arm of the nation’s largest investor-owned water corporation. It spent more than $1 million trying to convince residents to approve the sale. 

Food & Water Watch, residents, union workers, and even the Girl Scouts came together to counter this corporate scheme. The people of Gloucester Township were concerned about massive rate increases after privatization, and rightly so. NJ America’s rates in the nearby borough of Haddonfield are nearly three times as much as the current township rate — further evidence that public water is more affordable.

Won a Strong Clean Water Act Permit for Factory Farms in Idaho

In December, the EPA finalized its Clean Water Act Permit for factory farms in Idaho, which it had revised to include strong water pollution monitoring requirements. Without proper monitoring, it’s impossible to know exactly how much factory farms are polluting. 

This final permit follows successful 9th Circuit litigation by Food & Water Watch’s legal team, which resulted in a high-impact court opinion establishing that Clean Water Act permits must have strong water pollution monitoring provisions to comply with the law. This permit will serve as a template for state permitting agencies across the country.

The California Climate Bond Passes with Overwhelming Margins

From extreme heat and wildfires to longer dry periods and sea level rise, California is on the front lines of climate change impacts. Yet again, in January, the state faced devastating wildfires, this time throughout Los Angeles. Close to 200,000 people were under evacuation orders, and over 50,000 acres were destroyed. 

Food & Water Watch and our allies successfully urged Californians to vote yes for the California Climate Bond, or Prop 4. Prop 4 will now provide $10 billion in funding to programs that mitigate the dangerous effects of climate change to build the state’s climate resiliency. With their vote, Californians have made it clear that we need bold investments to protect our land, air, and water and to mitigate any future climate disasters.

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Won a Coalition Lawsuit Defending the BLM’s Authority to Not Hold Lease Sales for Oil and Gas Development 

Under the Mineral Leasing Act, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages the leasing of federal lands for oil and gas extraction. Historically, sales were held every quarter. In 2021, a Biden executive order paused sales so that BLM could study the environmental impacts of fossil fuel development. The state of Wyoming called foul and filed a suit against BLM. Food & Water Watch sided with the BLM as defendant-intervenors in this suit. 

On New Year’s Eve, our coalition won the lawsuit. A federal judge ruled that BLM had exercised proper discretion in not holding lease sales.

The CO₂ Fracking Ban Bill is Signed Into Law in New York

Environmental, public health, and community leaders across New York are thrilled that Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill (A8866/S8357) that bans drilling and fracking for natural gas and oil using carbon dioxide (CO₂). This bill, which passed the legislature in March 2024 with bipartisan support, closes a loophole in the state’s existing water-based fracking ban. 

Now, the law also prohibits the fossil fuel industry fracking with CO₂, which poses the same harms to public health and the environment as fracking with water. Food & Water Watch and our allies worked relentlessly to win passage of the CO₂ fracking ban bill and successfully urged the Governor to sign it into law.

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AquaBounty Is Shutting Down Its Last Genetically Engineered Salmon Facility

AquaBounty Technologies announced in December that it would stop production of all genetically engineered (GE) salmon. Food & Water Watch has been calling out the danger of GE salmon since 2011. Research suggests that it may pose serious threats to the environment and public health, including harm to wild salmon populations. This announcement comes after years of litigation and public pressure to keep this product from going to market. 

Food & Water Watch was part of a litigation coalition that struck down the Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) deficient environmental review for the company’s planned operations and then kept the pressure on with legal comments, ultimately contributing to AquaBounty’s financial failure.

You Can Build on These Victories Toward a Brighter Future

By working together, we make great strides toward sustainable food, clean and affordable water, and a livable climate for all. Check out your top 10 victories of 2024 to see how your care and generosity made an impact last year. And let’s keep moving forward!