2025 was a difficult year, but we also had so much to celebrate. While Trump has attacked many of our most important freedoms and protections, we’ve continued to win important strides toward a livable future. Across the country, 4,000 passionate Food & Water Watch volunteers have been integral to these victories. And last month, we celebrated their work at our December virtual Livable Future LIVE event.

Together, we’ve held elected officials accountable to protect our communities over corporate bottom lines. We’ve not only supported each other through thick and thin — we’ve also become a force for the change we need to create a healthy and just future for all. 

At the December Livable Future LIVE, we heard from volunteers Katie Olsson in Michigan, Tania Finch in Florida, and Liz Ndoye in New Jersey about what it’s like to work on campaigns that protect our food, water, and climate.

Volunteers Are Protecting Our Water from Microplastics!

In 2020, we launched the Food & Water Volunteer Network to create more opportunities for volunteers to get involved in our work. The Network has also trained volunteers to become powerful organizers and supported them in taking leadership roles in our campaigns, from planning rallies to training other volunteers.

Our wins are only possible with the dedication and generosity of our volunteers. In November, we made a huge breakthrough in our campaign to push the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to monitor microplastics in our drinking water. 

After a year of advocacy, volunteers working across several states successfully pressured seven governors to petition the EPA to start monitoring. Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the EPA now has to comply or identify other, more concerning contaminants that require monitoring instead. 

“We were working really hard to get the governor’s attention, to schedule a meeting with someone from her staff and drive calls into her office,” remembered Katie, who led our efforts in Michigan. “I myself was calling every day. We tried to get letters to the editor written by us to all the major papers in Michigan. We got a bunch of signatures going around to farmers’ markets up and down the beach. And finally, it worked, and we got seven governors all at once!”

Volunteers Are Building a Movement for Affordable, Clean Energy in Florida!

Meanwhile, in Florida, volunteers are working tirelessly against rate hikes that threaten to make essential electricity unaffordable for residents. Tania joined our Florida team in April this year, a few months after utility Florida Power & Light requested approval for the largest rate hike in U.S. history.

“We called elected officials, and some of the volunteers and staff met with some of them,” Tania recalled. “We were trying to get them to sign onto letters to the Public Service Commission (PSC) and Governor DeSantis [the DeSantis-appointed PSC has the power to approve or deny utilities’ rate hike requests]. And finally, we were able to get around 29 elected officials on board.”

In November, the Public Service Commission approved a $7 billion rate hike for FP&L. While this was still a massive betrayal of Floridians, advocacy from passionate advocates like Tania cut the rate hike by almost $2 billion from FP&L’s original request and elevated affordable energy to the forefront of state politics. 

Now, our Florida team is heading into 2026 strong, prepared to push for affordable, clean energy and Public Service Commission reform legislation to ensure every Floridian can access essential power.

The Power of Joining the Food & Water Watch Community!

With Trump and his allies running roughshod over our shared resources, it’s more important than ever to take action together. But as Katie and Tania show, there are so many ways to get involved. 

“Anyone can volunteer,” emphasized Michelle Allen, our Volunteer Network Director. “No matter where you live, no matter how much or little time you have, and regardless of how you want to contribute to the work, there is a role for you to play.”

Our Executive Director, Wenonah Hauter, had something similar to say: “Whether you knocked on doors, wrote letters to the editor, called your elected officials, signed petitions, went to a hearing, supported us financially, or attended events like this one, you are playing an important role in growing our people power and building community.”

Liz Ndoye joined our New Jersey team during the first Trump administration. She’s since played a part in winning climate campaigns, including stopping two proposed fracked gas plants. Now, she’s working to block other dirty gas projects and pass the New Jersey Climate Superfund Act.

“I’ve found that Food & Water Watch has been, of the many volunteer groups that I’ve belonged to in my short life, the most effective. I keep coming back to working with Food & Water Watch because this organization wins,” said Liz.

“It gets you in a great group of people, too,” she continued. “Gets you surrounded by people who have similar values and concerns and motivations. I never feel alone, and I always feel motivated by the people in Food & Water Watch.”

Watch the Full Event

Check out the recording of “Stories From the Front Line: Building Community & Resistance” to learn more about:

• All our volunteer-powered victories from 2025, including defending school lunches from defunding in Congress and stopping the Cancer Gag Act in Iowa;
• Our campaigns fighting fracked gas projects in New Jersey, stopping electricity rate hikes in Florida, and pushing the EPA to monitor microplastics in our drinking water; and
• Other ways to power our work, like joining our peer-to-peer program and hosting Food & Water Watch house parties!

Resources Shared at the Event

• Read more about this exciting recent win: “Seven Governors Call on EPA to Monitor Microplastics in Drinking Water.”
• Katie mentioned the SPEED and PERMIT Acts as the next things she’s working on. Learn more about these dangerous bills.
• Progress would be impossible without the many activists volunteering their time and talents. Read “How Volunteers Power Victories for Our Food, Water, and Climate.”
• By supporting Food & Water Watch, you join a community winning important protections for our food, water, and climate. Hear from other supporters about why this work matters!
• Seven Governors have signed on. Now we have to make sure the EPA follows through. Sign this petition demanding the EPA monitor microplastics!
• Our first Livable Future LIVE of 2026 will be Wenonah’s Book of the Year: an Author Talk with Judith Enck, The Problem with Plastic, on January 21, 7-8 p.m. ET. RSVP here!
• Check out our peer-to-peer website to learn how you can host a Food & Water Watch party, dedicate a race or bike ride, fundraise in honor of someone you love, and more.
• Your generosity helps fight for a livable future for all. Donate to Food & Water Watch!