A MESSAGE FOR YOU “The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the next best time is now.” I’ve been thinking about this saying a lot this year. First, it’s our 20th anniversary! Two decades ago, Food & Water Watch planted our intention to protect our food, water, and climate, and thanks to your care and commitment, our mission has taken root and stands strong. Second, over the past twenty years, there have been many times that the challenges seemed too great to over- come, but collective action has made it possible to win the protections that people and the planet need. While the chaos and destruction Trump is wreaking seem daunting, I have hope because so many people are raising their hands to get involved. I know that with every person who joins our movement today — and plants their intention to protect our most precious resources — our chance to make the change we need grows. Inspiring people to take action is Food & Water Watch’s superpower. Since our founding, no matter who is in the White House, we fight against polluting industries — and win real protections for the people and places we love because of people like you, coming together as a collective to fight for a livable future. In these uncertain times, I want to thank you for your dedication to protecting what you love.
THE DEVASTATING TOLL OF FACTORY FARM WATER POLLUTION We shouldn’t have been back there. That should’ve been roped off. We didn’t know it would affect us back then. Nick Schutt grew up in rural Iowa. As a kid, he and his friends would ride bikes to creeks or agricul- tural dredge ditches and catch tadpoles. They’d play in abandoned fields and water wells, even drink from an old hand pump in one such field. This may be a familiar story for folks in rural communities, but it’s one Nick looks back on in horror. Alongside the minnows and tadpoles, he and his friends found empty, rusted-out chemical cans, including ones for a toxic herbicide.
Rise of factory farms = Rise in unsafe water
Over the course of his life, Nick has seen Iowa transform. Once full of small farms and thriving rural communities, the state is now overrun with industrial agriculture, its sprawling warehouses
Cover: Nick Schutt's family owns a farm about an hour north of Des Moines, Iowa. He's fighting to protect the health of his family and community from factory farm pollution. Photo by Julie Russell-Steuart.
Wenonah Hauter Founder and Executive Director
1 | SUMMER 2025
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