WINTER 2023 ISSUE Focus on Health and Environment MISSION Our food, water, and climate are under constant assault by corporations who put profit over the survival of humanity. They have seized control of the very institutions that were built to protect us. We mobilize people to reclaim their political power, hold our elected officials accountable, and resist corporate control — ensuring we all have the essential resources we need to thrive. This is a fight we must win because this planet is the only one we get.
Thank You For Fighting Like You Live Here!
FEELING ANXIOUS ABOUT THE CLIMATE CRISIS? YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
WINTER 2023 ISSUE Finding Community While Fighting for their Future
2023 at a Glance: You are strengthening our Food & Water Watch community!
Karen Fitzgerald Loves our Blue-green Planet
FINDING COMMUNITY WHILE FIGHTING FOR THEIR FUTURE Climate-change-fueled disasters are increasing in frequency and ferocity, and the weight of the crisis is growing heavier by the day. For many, this has led to feelings of anxiety and even nihilism. In the face of such a huge, complicated problem, with so many powerful forces working against solutions, it’s tempting to throw up our hands and wait for the world to burn.
A MESSAGE FOR YOU You and I have gone through incredible ups and downs this year. We banned gas hook-ups in new buildings in New York State, forced Easterday Dairy to cancel plans for a mega-dairy in Oregon, and defeated a proposed liquid natural gas plant in St. Joe, Florida. We also endured devastating floods in the northeast and record-high temperatures nationwide. Air quality alerts triggered by thick smoke from Canadian wildfires kept many of us indoors. And the deadly fires in Maui broke our hearts. Through thick and thin, I’m so grateful for you and our wonderful Food & Water Watch community. Our wins were that much sweeter because we celebrated them together, as we did at our Against All Odds benefit. And our pains were that much easier to bear because we processed them together. This issue of Livable Future NOW highlights what a vital role commu- nity plays in our fight for change. I’ve always believed that when we band together, we can overcome overwhelming hardships as well as accomplish remarkable things — this year proved that in spades. Thank you for your care and commitment!
Climate anxiety has become a daily part of life, and that may be especially true for many young people. They will be on this planet longer than any politician or CEO currently blocking action in the halls of power.
Wenonah Hauter Executive Director
Cover: Food & Water Watch volunteer Kaitlyn Quach at September's March to End Fossil Fuels in New York City. Photo by Ken Schles
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...community and care are central to [Vic’s] work — as an essential ingredient for radical change and solace when the weight of the problem grows too heavy.
As artist and youth activist Kaitlyn Quach once thought, “I’m just one person, I’m not rich, I’m not powerful. What could I possibly do against this? How much time do we even have left?” Channeling climate anxiety into action and finding community As the climate crisis reaches new heights, so has the climate movement. Young activists across the globe are bravely tapping into hope and turning their climate anxiety into climate action. And the commu- nity they have developed while fighting for their future has provided space for comfort when their worries become too much to bear alone.
Vic Barrett, a plaintiff in the landmark climate case Juliana v. The United States , has been a climate activ- ist for nearly half his life. He’s 24. For him, commu- nity and care are central to his work — as an essential
Above: Writer Mia DeFelice interviewed activist Vic Barrett earlier this year about how he combats climate anxiety. Read his interview at fwwat.ch/Vic . Right: Vic has a tattoo on his arm that says “370” — the parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere the year he was born. He says, “We were popped out onto an earth that was already unsustainable.” Photos by Ken Schles
ingredient for radical change and solace when the weight of the problem grows too heavy. He says, “The United States government is no joke, right? Feeling like one person looking at this massive institution can
Sharing stories as an act of community care Meanwhile, for Kaitlyn, activism has given their art a newfound purpose — to help people feel like there is hope, that amazing things are possible, even when you feel insignificant. They didn’t always feel this way. Thinking about the climate crisis used to paralyze them; then they read Greta Thun- berg’s No One is Too Small to Make a Difference . It inspired Kaitlyn to search for climate action opportunities, sign up for email alerts, go to rallies — and join Food & Water Watch. Their activism made them feel empowered — and they realized their own value in the process.
be hard sometimes. It taught me to lean into community — working with my neighbors, doing mutual aid, and paying attention to what feels close and tangible… I’ve met some of my closest friends doing this
“I’m just one person, I’m not rich, I’m not powerful. What could I possibly do against this? How much time do we even have left?”
Left: Activist and artist Kaitlyn Quach (flashing a thumbs up) at a picnic celebrating a climate victory with her fellow activists. Food & Water Watch writer Mia DeFelice recently sat down with them for a conversation about their activism journey. Read the interview at fwwat.ch/Kaitlyn .
work. And whether we were at a U.N. Climate Conference or an afterschool program, just having people to do it with is what keeps me doing the work, and spaces that hold a lot of love.”
Finding Community - continue on Page 3 >
FOOD & WATER WATCH / ACTION — LIVABLE FUTURE NOW | 2
>Finding Community - continued from Page 2
2023 at a Glance You are strengthening our Food & Water Watch community! Together, we...
Are pursuing 20+ active lawsuits
Engaged 2 million+ supporters
Kaitlyn has been open about their struggles with anxiety, recently sharing their anxiety-to-activism story in comic form on social media. They hope to reach people like them, people who can’t harden themselves to become “tough” in times of crisis and instead stay sensitive and gentle — qualities they now see as their superpower. They say, “I want to make people like me feel like we’re not broken. Or useless or ridiculous. These values (sensitivity and gentleness) are super important in sustaining community or caring about each other. I think that’s how we’re going to save the world, or at least help the world become better.” Kaitlyn shared their anxiety-to-activism story through this comic on social media. See it at fwwat.ch/KaitlynComic .
Helped people in need in the aftermath of the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Scan the QR Code to read more.
Welcomed nearly 1,800 attendees across eight Livable Future LIVE events
Do you have a story to share?
Released 20 new research reports and fact sheets
Scan this QR code to share how the climate crisis touches your life.
fwwat.ch/mystory
Created by Smashing Stocks from the Noun Project
3 | WINTER 2023
Mobilized nearly 1,850 volunteers
Held 190+ organizing events and volunteer activities — such as rallies, protests, volunteer meetings, phone banks, canvassing days, etc. Sent 413,000+ digital petition signatures and letters
Forced the notorious Easterday family to abandon its attempt to re-open a mega-dairy in Oregon. Scan the QR Code to read more.
Held nearly 215 meetings with Congressional offices to educate and push for policies
Earned 600+ media hits including in The New York Times, the Washington Post , and CNN
See More of Your Impact!
Scan this QR code to see the top 10 victories from this year that you made possible.
Protected the Hudson River from radioactive waste dumping in New York. Scan the QR Code to read more.
fwwat.ch/2023wins
FOOD & WATER WATCH / ACTION — LIVABLE FUTURE NOW | 4
DONOR SPOTLIGHT Karen Fitzgerald Loves our Blue-green Planet
Please introduce yourself to our readers. My name is Karen Fitzgerald, and I live in Kittery, Maine. I’ve been a public speaking coach and speechwriter for a number of years. What sparked your interest in environmental issues? I lived in Buffalo as a kid in the late 60s. It was a huge place for industry. There was a Mobil Oil refinery right on the river. One day my mom came home and said, “The Buffalo River has caught fire.” And I said, “Mom, how is that possible? Isn't water supposed to put out fire?” She had no answers. I hadn’t studied anything about environmentalism, but it troubled me. A few years later, I visited my grandmother near Lake Erie, not far from the Bethlehem Steel Company. We visited the beach where I used to play, and the stench was overwhelming. There were thousands of dead fish all along the shore. I had learned a little about the environment in junior college, so I was troubled. But I didn't know what to do about it. Jump to 2008, I went to the Water for Life conference at the Omega Institute and heard brilliant presentations about threats to our waterways. It woke me up! I learned about Food & Water Watch and became a member and a volunteer. What motivated you to make your first gift? It’s great that organizations have an intention, and it’s great to march to the governor’s office, it’s great to do all of that. But, I’m aware that organizations cannot function without funding. So, I’ve been donating every month for several years now. What do you hope to accomplish through your philanthropy? I love this planet, this blue-green planet. And we as human beings don't have the right to
Karen Fitzgerald on the rocky coast of Maine.
devastate it. I live in a little apartment in Maine, a second-floor apartment, so I'm in the trees, literally. I have the ocean on one end of my street and the river on the other. And I walk to the rocky coast of Maine every day. It's beauti- ful. And to think that we are not taking care of it is just… If you were talking to someone else about giving to and getting involved with Food & Water Watch/Food and Water Action, what would you tell them? We need people who are holding corpora- tions accountable. We need people to educate, advocate for legislation, and prevent pollution. People have no idea what's in our water and our food. Who's watching the corporations, and who's watching the government agencies? Food & Water Watch is. What gives you hope for the future? People are becoming more aware. Very environmentally-conscious people are paying attention to the government, to the environ- ment, and questioning how we keep it healthy. And there's a lot of us. I love this planet, this blue- green planet. And we as human beings don't have the right to devastate it.
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YOUR FOOD & WATER WATCH AT WORK
ACTION SHOT!
leaders promising to take climate action. Together, we demanded the Biden administration do more to curb climate change by ending our reliance on fossil fuels. Your generosity powered the organization and the incredible turnout at this march. You
Photo by Ken Schles
End Fossil Fuels . This march came ahead of the United Nations Climate Ambition Summit, a gathering of world
On September 17, tens of thou- sands of Food & Water Watch supporters and allies gathered in New York City for the March to
brought together activists of all stripes and showed how unifying our call to end fossil fuel use is. Thank you!
A Celebration of Your Achievements
Against All Odds is a once-a- year opportunity to celebrate and learn from experts with generous people — like you! — who fight for our planet and make Food & Water Watch such a powerful community to be part of.
Jaquette Ray offered advice from her book A Field Guide to Climate Anxiety: How to Keep Your Cool on a Warming Planet , and we laid out our strategy for keep- ing the pressure on in 2024, a pivotal
A ga i ns t A ll Od d s
ICYMI: Watch the conference!
election year. At the New York City benefit, we celebrated honorees Dr. Sandra Steingraber, a leader in the fight to ban fracking, and Dr Alan and Karen Warren, activists committed to electing climate champi- ons and championing the next generation.
In October, Food & Water Watch members celebrated at our biggest event of the year — Against All Odds. We kicked off the virtual confer- ence with a special message from Jane Fonda and discussed the future of climate action with youth activists Elise Joshi and Vic Barrett. In sessions, Sarah
Scan this QR code to
watch the recording of the Against All Odds virtual conference featuring Jane Fonda.
fwwat.ch/replay
FOOD & WATER WATCH / ACTION — LIVABLE FUTURE NOW | 6
UPCOMING EVENTS
NOVEMBER 15, 3 PM ET PFAS: The “Forever Chemicals” Contaminating Our Water DECEMBER 13, 3 PM ET State of the Climate: Wins (& Losses) and What’s on the Horizon JANUARY 23, 7-8 PM ET Book of the Year: A Discussion with Jake Bittle, author of The Great Displacement: Climate Change & the Next American Migration education series featuring the latest environmental news and sharing what you can do to protect our food, water, and climate. JOIN US FOR Livable Future LIVE! Livable Future LIVE! is our monthly virtual
You Give, We Match! Your love for our planet makes a difference in communities all across the country. And thanks to a generous donor, from now until December 31, your gift will be matched $3-to-$1! That means your donation will go 4X as far in the fight for sustainable food, clean water, and a livable climate for all.
Save Your Seat Visit fwwat.ch/live or scan this QR code
fwaction.us/WinterLFN Make a year-end gift and increase your impact!
Watch past events at fwwat.ch/LFL
foodandwaterwatch.org Food & Water Watch is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that educates and advocates for safe food, clean water, and a livable climate. Gifts to Food & Water Watch are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. foodandwateraction.org Food & Water Action is our affiliated 501(c)4 nonprofit that mobilizes people to win campaigns that builds political power. Gifts to Food & Water Action Fund are not tax deductible.
MISSION Our food, water, and climate are under constant assault by corporations who put profit over the survival of humanity. They have seized control of the very institutions that were built to protect us. We mobilize people to reclaim their political power, hold our elected officials accountable, and resist corporate control — ensuring we all have the essential resources we need to thrive. This is a fight we must win because this planet is the only one we get.
NATIONAL OFFICE 1616 P Street, NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 T: (202) 683-2500 Toll-free: 855-340-8083
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