Honoring the Legacy of Tony Corbo
09.16.20
Tony Corbo was a fierce advocate for justice. As a senior lobbyist at Food & Water Watch, he focused especially on food safety, consumer safety and worker health. His work to fight recent efforts to allow poultry and swine slaughter plants to increase line speeds was just one of the latest examples of his effective advocacy. And his work to help ensure food processing workers were protected and treated with human dignity during the pandemic showed that his heart was always with the people who needed him.
With Tony’s passion came a great sense of humor. He had a contagious laugh that could be heard from down the hall (and farther). And he never hesitated to point out the ridiculousness of some of the policies he opposed; he challenged absurdity, without being mean-spirited. Once, after he got a set of heavily redacted documents from an agency in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, he immediately submitted a follow-on request seeking its budget for black ink (which the agency was required to answer).
Tony was also a dedicated resident of the Washington, D.C. region. In his (rare) freetime, he would passionately root for the Nationals as a season-ticket holder, garden, bee-keep, and volunteer at a local garden shop. In fact, because of his love for the D.C. area, should you like to honor Tony’s memory, donations can be made to WETA public television in Washington, D.C.
Tony was quick to strike up an engaging conversation about all of his interests; he could draw anybody in. Because of all of this, Tony was loved by many, even those who disagreed with him. To paraphrase one policy foe: while we had our disagreements, we also often knew he was right.
If you would like to send your condolences please email Dr. Alicia Williams at [email protected] with the subject line “Tony Corbo” or you can send a note to the Food & Water Watch office at:
Attn: Dr. Alicia Williams
1616 P St. NW
#400
Washington, DC 20036
It is hard to lose such a tireless advocate, especially one who was so full of life. We will honor Tony’s legacy by continuing his fight for justice at Food & Water Watch.
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