SUMMER 2026 ISSUE Focus on Food & Water Watch's legal work
Thank You for Fighting for Safe Food, Clean Water, and a Livable Climate!
YOU’RE POWERING OUR LEGAL FIGHT TO PROTECT CLIMATE RULES
SUMMER 2026 ISSUE Trump is Attacking Climate Protections. Food & Water Justice is on the Case.
This Year’s Against All Odds Event Celebrated Our Community’s Creativity
Manijeh Saba's Personal Experiences Guide Her Life of Activism
TRUMP IS ATTACKING CLIMATE
A MESSAGE FOR YOU When it comes to protecting our health, our communities, and our environment, the law has always been an effec- tive and necessary tool. As we’re facing a barrage of the Trump administration’s aggressive and illegal attacks on our food, water, and climate, it’s more import- ant than ever. That’s why I’m so grateful for your investment in Food & Water Watch because it supports the work of our legal team, Food & Water Justice. Led by Tarah Heinzen, Food & Water Justice is working tirelessly to chal- lenge Trump’s pro-polluter agenda through strategic legal actions — powered by you. You make it possible for Tarah’s team to do what they do best: research, file, and litigate the strongest legal cases to hold polluters and government agencies accountable. Because of you, we’re not letting our environmental protections be dismantled without a fight. We won’t allow Trump to tear apart laws meant to hold dirty industries accountable — the health and safety of millions of people are at stake. Thank you for strengthening our fight for a livable future!
PROTECTIONS. FOOD & WATER JUSTICE IS ON THE CASE. From cutting federal funding for clean drinking water to trying to block state-level regulations that rein in AI data centers, Trump has unleashed an unprecedented assault on our shared resources and our communities.
Cover: Legal Director Tarah Heinzen boldly leads Food & Water Watch's legal team. Right: Tarah and Food & Water Justice Attorney Emily Miller pictured in front of a courtroom at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, California.
Wenonah Hauter Founder & Executive Director
1 | SUMMER 2026
This past February, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took the extreme action of throwing out the Endangerment Finding, the legal foundation for regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. Because of you, Food & Water Watch’s legal team, Food & Water Justice, is on the case. Tarah’s team is strategic and effective Tarah Heinzen is Food & Water Justice’s Legal Director and oversees the work of five attorneys and one paralegal. Because of your investment, our team is engaged in more than 25 lawsuits and numerous other legal strategies, with many more in development. They work closely with teams
Trump’s EPA repealed the Endangerment Finding.
Food & Water Justice Wins!
Issued by the EPA in 2009, this finding finally recognized that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare, and laid the foundation for the agency to regulate the emis- sions driving climate change. With this rollback and many others, the administration is trying to take away our tools to protect our health, envi- ronment, and climate from industrial pollution. Together, we’re fighting back. In April, we added a legal challenge to the withdrawal of the Endangerment Finding to our growing list of lawsuits against Trump’s reckless, unlawful rollbacks.
With your investment and Food & Water Justice’s relentless dedication, we’ve made major progress despite Trump’s pro-polluter agenda. In the past year, we won major legal victories* that will: • Push the EPA to monitor micro- plastics in our drinking water. • Hold factory farms accountable for their water pollution in Washington and Michigan. • Force the EPA to reexamine its water pollution standards for petroleum refineries, plastics manufacturers, and fertilizer plants. • Keep agricultural wetland and soil conservation programs on the books. • Protect our oceans from industrial fish farms. Your generosity adds more wins to this list!
Food & Water Justice - continue on Page 3 >
across our organiza- tion to advance our priority campaigns — stopping factory farms, protecting clean water, and getting off fossil fuels. They provide legal support to our organizers, develop legislative analysis and talking points, and bring high-im- pact lawsuits against polluters and govern- ment agencies, including the EPA. The Endanger- ment Finding and our climate are in danger Early this year, in a massive gift to the fossil fuel industry,
* You can read about these victories at fwwat.ch/legal-wins
FOOD & WATER WATCH / ACTION — LIVABLE FUTURE NOW | 2
Left: The Food & Water Justice team (from left, Alex Davis, Dani Replogle, Tarah Heinzen, Emily Miller, Tyler Lobdell) on a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park during their team retreat last year.
organize and stay engaged. Tarah encourages all of us to continue learning about the issues, showing up to protests to protect our democracy and climate, and demanding our elected leaders block unqualified judicial nominees and protect the integrity of the judiciary. Thank you for powering Food & Water Justice and defending the rule of law.
> Food & Water Justice - continued from Page 2
Silver lining: Trump’s impatience is his weakness Regulatory work is very time and labor-intensive. For a regulatory rollback to stand up in court, it must be done competently and carefully. Under Trump, the administra- tion’s flurry of deregulatory actions has been rushed and messy, and sometimes carried out with illegal procedural shortcuts, such as shortchang- ing the public notice and engagement required by feder- al law. And the administration’s
losing record in the courts shows that when we fight back, we can still win. What you can do to protect climate regulations Tarah says, “The two main lines of defense we have against Trump’s authoritarian and unlawful administration are the courts and the people.” To stave off Trump’s illegal deregulatory measures, we need to not only use the courts but keep them strong and independent. We also need to
Learn More
Scan this QR code to read more about the Endanger- ment Finding.
fwwat.ch/endangerment
You’re strengthening the next generation of planet-protecting attorneys FROM THE FIELD
Because of you, Food & Water Justice welcomes up to three legal interns each summer and one each semester. Former intern, John Mitchell, valued his experience, saying, "Environmental justice and clean energy are passions of mine. This internship taught me that I could turn my passions into a career. The legal team took the time to get to know me
and my interests, and exposed me to all types of legal environmental work, from taking on harmful indus- trial farming to litigating against climate scams. This internship with Food & Water Justice completely shaped my professional path." Thank you for providing what our movement needs — growing the next generation of talented legal minds who will fight for a livable future!
Last year's legal intern, John Mitchell
3 | SUMMER 2026
This Year’s Against All Odds Event Celebrated Our Community’s Creativity Art can inspire, shock, educate, and entertain. Whether it’s posters we bring to a No Kings march that call out political corruption, a film that opens
up the conversation about factory farms, or a musical performance that raises awareness about the impor- tance of water, art plays an essential role in the work we do together.
From top: Pictured from the left; Sara Karl McNair, Benefit Host Comittee Chair Lisa Schubert, Founder & Exectuve Director Wenonah Hauter, 2026 Honoree Fredericka Foster, Bennett Shapiro, and Rosarie Appel / Former U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón spoke to attendees / 2026 Honorees (from left, Susan Weltman, Freder- icka Foster, and Matt Wechsler) with Wenonah Hauter / Britton & The Sting gave a passionate performance.
At this year’s annual benefit, Against All Odds: Illustrating Activism, we celebrated the power of art and creativity in our movement and the impact artists have in our community. We recognized our 2026 Honorees, Fredericka Foster , artist, curator, and water activist; Matt Wechsler , Emmy-nominated environmental filmmaker; and Susan Weltman , lifelong activist, weaver, and community builder. And we heard from former U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón , up-and-coming environmental filmmakers Angie Chay-Arana and Summit Olson , and activist
and author Maude Barlow . We also enjoyed a live performance by musicians and water activists Britton & The Sting . After an inspiring Against All Odds, we hope you lean into your own creativity and celebrate the joy, imagination, and resourceful- ness you bring to our community. Thank you! — We need you here.
Missed Against All Odds?
You can watch our Virtual Program here:
fwwat.ch/watch-virtual
UPCOMING EVENTS
Livable Future LIVE! is for YOU Our monthly virtual educational series features the latest environmental news and shares what you can do to protect our food, water, and climate — and it’s free to all Food & Water Watch members! See what’s coming up and save your seat!
Outstanding speakers and excellent update and discussion... Appreciat- ed hearing what areas are the most urgent at this time and that Food & Water Watch is on it!
fwwat.ch/live
Comment from an attendee
FOOD & WATER WATCH / ACTION — LIVABLE FUTURE NOW | 4
YOUR FOOD & WATER WATCH AT WORK
ACTION SHOT!
Our Food & Water Watch community showed up in force across the country! — and led the organizing effort in Allentown, Pennsylvania, (above left) where about 5,000 people lined Cedar Crest
On March 28, an estimated 8 million people showed up at over 3,300 No Kings demon- strations — the largest number of protests on a single day in U.S. history.
Boulevard near Congressman Ryan Mackenzie’s office, and in Des Moines, Iowa, where 1,500 people joined a two-mile march ending at the state capitol (above, right).
FEATURED VICTORY
This vote came just nine days after city officials revealed that a developer had plans for a 27,000 square foot data center near homes and businesses.
center development. Since we launched the Stop Data Centers campaign in October last year, as of this writing, together, we've helped stop data center construction in seven towns and cities across five states. Thank you for protecting communities!
Food & Water Watch Central New Jersey Senior Organizer Charlie Kravatoli (left) spoke about the New Brunswick data center win on Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar.
See More of Your Generosity at Work!
Food & Water Watch Central New Jersey Senior Organizer Charlie Kratovil said, “This victory would not have been possible if it weren’t for the outstanding and fast action by the community.” New Brunswick joins a grow- ing number of communities standing up against data
Following substantial push- back by residents, the New Brunswick City Council in New Jersey voted unanimously to reject a controversial data center proposal as part of a redevelopment project on Jersey Avenue. Instead, the council approved plans for a public park.
Scan this code to read your summer quarterly victories update and see more of your impact. fwwat.ch/summer26wins
5 | SUMMER 2026
DONOR SPOTLIIGHT Manijeh Saba's Personal Experiences Guide Her Life of Activism Please introduce yourself to our readers. My name is Manijeh Saba. I’m an Iranian- born human rights activist and former educator of Sociology and Women’s Studies at several colleges, including Rutgers University and New York University. I left Iran in the 1970s to pursue graduate studies in the United States. I consider myself a citizen of the world with deep ties to both my homeland and the United States. I now live in Somerset, New Jersey. When did you first become interested in environmen- tal issues? My first direct exposure to environmental issues came in 1982, at an anti-nuclear march. There, I met Japanese survivors of the atomic bombings who spoke about catastrophic environmental pollution, especially radiation contamination of soil, water, and air. Their stories left a lasting impact on me. How do the issues Food & Water Watch works on impact you personally? When I lived in Iran, we ate fresh, season- al, home-prepared foods every day. After leaving, there was a period in my life when I developed devastating health issues due to eating commercially processed food and being exposed to unhealthy environmental factors such as air and water pollution. After three prominent dermatologists gave me three different diagnoses and treatments, each making my condition worse, a nutrition researcher helped me understand the harmful effects of industrial food production and envi- ronmental degradation on human health. This knowledge helped me find a way to regain my health. Experiences like this shaped my awareness of how deeply our health is connected to our environment. Recognizing environmental hazards empowers us to shape our present and
The belief that 'the personal is political' has guided my life and activism. future. The belief that “the personal is political” has guided my life and activism. How did you hear about Food & Water Watch, and what motivated you to make your first gift? My dear friend Jim Walsh, Food & Water Watch’s Policy Director, introduced me to the organization when the New Brunswick, New Jersey, office opened, and he became its direc- tor. Because food and water are the most basic necessities of life, the organization’s straightfor- ward name resonated with me. I met its founder, Wenonah Hauter, back in 2012 atop the Bus for Progress at the Stop the Frack Attack rally in Washington, DC. I expected to encounter a serious, humble, no-nonsense visionary — and I was not disappointed. If you were talking to someone about getting involved with Food & Water Watch, what would you tell them? Food & Water Watch has grown impressively — expanding its volunteer base, strengthening its organizing, building coalitions, and relent- lessly pursuing legislation. Its achievements are significant. Because I am deeply impressed by Food & Water Watch's vision and accomplishments, I trust the organization to allocate my donations where they are most needed to advance its goals. Manijeh Saba (right) standing with Food & Water Watch's New Jersey State Director Matt Smith at a rally on the steps of the New Jersey State House.
FOOD & WATER WATCH / ACTION — LIVABLE FUTURE NOW | 6
Food & Water Action Members Protect Our Food, Water, and Climate! When you become a Food & Water Action member, you join a community that’s leading the charge to protect our water from polluters, shut down factory farms, and put an end to climate-destroying fossil fuels. Members like you are the source of our grassroots power, and: • Hold elected officials accountable and fight for critical policy change • Give input on campaign priorities • Get access to meetings, educational events, and skill trainings with our Food & Water Volunteer Network • Receive our quarterly print newsletter, Livable Future NOW • Join a community that makes Food & Water Action an independent and sustainable organization
Your membership dues allow us to mobi- lize and train volunteers, advocate for legislation, and lobby key legislators. Food & Water Action is stra- tegic and focused on winning real policy change. I’m proud to support this work because I know my contributions — both
money and time — are well used to impact issues I care about. — Karen Meyer, member
YES! I want to fight back against Trump’s toxic agenda by becoming a Food & Water Action member today!
I will give by mail. Enclosed is my check to Food & Water Action for:
I want to fight against the dangerous Trump agenda. I believe everyone deserves safe food, clean water, and a livable climate.
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