This year has been hard — and that’s an understatement. As we predicted, this second Trump administration is worse than the first; much, much worse. 

But incredible people like you have banded together and shown up in force to protect what we love — our neighbors, our communities, our country, our planet — even in the face of steep odds.

The Trump administration is destroying critical food, water, and climate programs at breakneck speed. It’s threatening our chance for a clean energy future by canceling wind and solar projects, some already under construction. It’s threatening our access to clean drinking water by gutting the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the main federal regulator and defender of clean water. And it’s threatening the health and lives of millions of people by cutting life-saving food assistance.

Your support powered our work to counter Trump’s dangerous actions and made a real difference. Read further to see how you joined with others across the country to strengthen our movement in 2025.

You’re strengthening our Food & Water Watch community!

The stakes for our food, water, and climate are higher than ever, which means people power is more important than ever. 

As more people get involved, together we can more effectively pressure elected officials and decision makers to stand up for people over corporate profits and choose democracy over authoritarianism. 

Our Food & Water Watch community is growing, and so is our ability to secure strong protections for the resources we all need to live and thrive.

This year, together we:

• Grew our base of 2.3 million+ supporters
• Activated nearly 4,000 volunteers
• Held 800+ organizing events and volunteer activities such as rallies, protests, volunteer meetings, phone banks, canvassing days, and more

You’re holding power to account!

This year, we’ve seen unprecedented levels of government and corporate corruption on shameless display. While Trump rolls out his dangerous and reckless policies, corporations have lined up to openly buy favors. 

With you, Food & Water Watch holds those in elected office accountable to us — the people they’re supposed to serve. The hard-hitting research, bold advocacy, and winning legal work that you power are key ingredients to these efforts.

This year, together we:

• Released 15 new research reports and fact sheets
• Won 11 legal victories and worked on 25+ more ongoing cases
• Held 250+ meetings with Congressional offices to educate and push for policies that protect our food, water, and climate

You’re empowering people with critical information!

Your support advances well-researched articles, educational programs, and outreach materials that dive deep into the issues you care about most. 

With you, we inform our volunteers, community groups, local leaders, journalists, and caring people like you who want to learn about practical ways to protect ourselves and our communities. This is a crucial starting point for fighting back against threats to our food, water, and climate. 

This year, together we:

• Attracted 1.5 million+ visits to our website, foodandwaterwatch.org
• Earned 6,000+ media hits, including in The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, and the BBC
• Hosted 10 Livable Future LIVE events (our monthly educational series) and shared them with more than 4,800+ supporters
• Sent 331,000+ digital petition signatures to decision makers

You’re powering victories for our food, water, and climate!

By growing our movement throughout the year, you powered many meaningful victories. This speaks volumes given the unprecedented political headwinds we’re facing. 

Your acts of generosity, resistance, and perseverance led to wins that bring real relief to our families, our communities, and our planet — relief that can be felt by all of us.

Here are just a few accomplishments you made possible this year. 

Together we:

1. Protected a key water safety rule for lead-free water

Intense nationwide grassroots pressure, led by Food & Water Watch, stopped a dangerous attempt by House Republicans to strip away the Lead Out of Water Rule, officially called Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI). This rule mandates the elimination of toxic lead service lines in most communities over the next decade.

This means that many cities and towns across the country that rely on federal funding to replace lead service lines can make their water safer for their communities. Every person deserves safe, lead-free water.

2. Drove support for the Climate Change Superfund Act in states coast to coast

Together, we’re working to pass Climate Change Superfund Acts in Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, and Maryland. Modeled after similar laws passed in New York and Vermont, these bills would ensure the fossil fuel industry, not taxpayers, foots the bill for infrastructure projects to help states become more resilient to flooding, severe storms, and other climate impacts.

You powered campaigns that drove over 60 New Jersey municipalities — and counting! — to support its version of the bill, and passed nearly 20 resolutions in California. 

3. Protected our oceans from industrial fish farming 

Food & Water Watch and a coalition of allies solidified a legal win from late last year when a federal judge invalidated a nationwide factory fish farming permit, which threatened to pave the way for dirty offshore aquaculture projects. 

This permit would have allowed for the construction of industrial fish farms in U.S. federal ocean waters to produce massive quantities of finfish such as salmon, trout, and bass — along with massive amounts of pollution. 

Fish farming threatens marine ecosystems as well as endangered whales, salmon, sea turtles, and many other imperiled species. It also threatens traditional fishing economies, Tribal Nations’ food security, and public health.

We can’t emphasize enough how incredible these achievements are, given the terrible political climate we’re facing. Thank you for stepping up when our movement needed you most.

For more victories that you powered, read the Top 10 Victories of 2025. 

*Information included in this article is from activities dated January 1 to November 15, 2025.

With You, We’re Organizing, Mobilizing, and Taking Action for Powerful Resistance in 2026!

While the country is in peril, the wins that you made possible made a real difference for our families, our communities, and our planet. Thank you!

Grassroots organizing, building community connections, and elevating each other’s voices are at the heart of our movement to secure a livable future. And your support breathes life into this critical work. 

This coming year will be challenging. Trump and his allies in Congress are planning even more ways to gut protections for our food, water, and climate. This means our work together is more important than ever. We can’t back down now.

Together, we’ll continue to fight for the world we all want to live in, where everyone has safe food, clean water, and a livable climate.