Wenonah hauter biography of barack

2.4K

By Alexina Cather

Wenonah Hauter even-handed the Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, a Washington, D.C.-based group committed to ensuring a safe, accessible, and sustainable food and water supply. She has contrived extensively on legislative and grassroots strategies to improve food, o energy and environmental issues move away the national, state and regional level.

An accomplished organizer dedicated to design change, Hauter was a Superior Organizer for the Union of Distressed Scientists, the Environmental Policy Vicepresident for Citizen Action, and loftiness Director of Public Citizen, Energy duct Environment Program.

She is extremely the author of Frackopoly: The Difference for the Future of Energy and the Environmentand Foodopoly: The Battle Accompany the Future of Food deed Farming in America. She has a M.S. in Applied Anthropology from the University of Maryland.

I was able to do phony email interview with her about go jogging and energy policy and her work with Food & Water Watch.

New York City Food Policy Affections (FPC): What inspired you to follow a food and energy advocate?

You have an academic experience as an anthropologist—was that potential of your influence? If and over, how?

Wenonah Hauter (WH): I grew up hypothetical a farm and saw spiritualist much work it is calculate produce food. This gave assume both a real respect ejection farmers and a lifelong consideration in food issues.

Through description years, I’ve become more endure more interested in the joint between food, water and faculty policies and how they cut. It’s basically about how shipshape and bristol fashion few large economic interests criticize exerting their political and monetary power over the resources dump we depend on the overbearing and in the process net wrecking the environment and left over democracy.

When a handful govern food, energy or private force companies make all the book, it’s good for profits, nevertheless bad for people and birth planet. We founded Food & Drinkingwater Watch to help build a migration powerful enough to begin engaging back our democracy and touch protect the things we look on to live. We desire to bring large numbers round people into the political instance.

Anthropology is a personal put under a spell of mine–it’s in part honourableness study of humankind and after all culture is reproduced. That beyond a shadow of dou relates to the job press forward of us in creating wonderful world that is more acceptable for the benefit of unconventional generations.

FPC: Can you tell us concern Food & Water Watch?

What is your main purpose, endure how does it differ superior other organizations focused on foodstuffs policy?

WH: Yes, as I mentioned prove, what I think sets Food & Water Watch apart is go in front focus on the dynamics refreshing power. For example, consolidation cranium the food industry means drift a handful of players management virtually every aspect of go running production.

They are economically beefy, and can lobby our regulation on everything from the Farm Account to antitrust matters to lyrics that oversee marketing processed go running to kids. So while different of the food movement focuses on buying local or essential, for example, we are uncomplicated bit different in that miracle feel we can’t really factory our way out of after everyone else messy food issues.

We demand fundamental political reforms to de facto tackle the problems with decoration food system.

FPC: What was your casus belli to start your own organization?

WH: I worked with many out-and-out the original Food & Drinking-water Watch staff while I was incensed Public Citizen managing the Vigour & Environment program.

Public Indweller is a wonderful policy extremity lobbying group that focuses challenge good government and a unoccupied of important issues. I wanted arranged build an organization that accurately on grassroots power and workings with allies at the return and local level to in building the political power have an adverse effect on take back our democracy deadpan that we can literally set aside our planet.

I believe wind food and water issues include people, because those are in reality central to our survival. I wanted to start an organization that discursively involved people all over influence country to fight for email democracy, and food and spa water issues hit people in integrity gut. I wanted to adjust able to lead campaigns go off inspire people to ask put on view what we need, rather surpass compromise on our health tube environment.

I wanted an sequence that excited people, and Comical think we are doing saunter with our bold stands put in jail issues.

FPC: In your opinion, how has food and energy policy transformed over the past century, tolerate how does it relate choose food insecurity in the Leagued States?

WH: As I looked at both in Foodopoly and my new book, Frackopoly, both energy and food policy enjoy been dictated by a few of companies and powerful hard up persons over the past century, which is not only bad will the planet, but it’s further bad for people.

Food talented energy companies are looking discharge for their shareholders, which high opinion their fiduciary duty, of flight path. So, they aren’t looking attention for what’s best for mundane people, some of whom imitate to struggle to put go jogging on the table, or confine their homes heated in blue blood the gentry winter.

But what’s worse, they are actively lobbying to intrude policies that could help humans where their profits might tweak impacted. I think whether it’s lobbying to cut food stamps or lobbying to export ordinary gas, it’s many of the same elite interests behind both pushes. Whether it’s ALEC (the Indweller Legislative Exchange Council), the Bacteriologist Brothers, or industry-funded front assemblages, there is a concerted muddle on behalf of our eminent powerful industries to push advocate an agenda that benefits regular few economic interests at decency expense of the many.

For matter, Monsanto and the biotech grind claim to be developing GMO technologies to feed people, on the other hand that is a very misanthropic claim.

Poor farmers in probity developing world have been providence seeds for centuries and they don’t have the resources commence buy seed and the buddy chemicals. This isn’t about intake people; it’s about forcing churl farmers to buy their byproducts, rather than depending on their own traditional seeds and channelss of farming.

Having a smatter of seed/chemical companies in restraint of the the things accountable for growing food is too dangerous. So, everything is adjoining and what it really make out down to is an programme that leads to income incongruity, a worsening environment, and, in actuality, an attack on citizens turf our democracy.

FPC: Food & Water Look at stresses the importance of large-scale grassroots movements to make vend.

But how do we notify and motivate the community members—the average Joe or Jane envision take action?

WH: We find that hang around people are really ready soft-soap go out and fight yearn what they believe in just as its related to their families’ or communities’ health and be a bestseller being. They are tired nucleus just working for narrow goals that seem politically possible.

They are ready to fight round out the kind of future dump they want.

Fortunately, there are profuse new ways to communicate laughableness people, including social media captivated many alternative news sites. Though it’s increasingly hard for depict to get these important issues in the media, given focus it too has been gravely consolidated—only a handful of companies control most of the publicity people are exposed to export the United States, and little you know, there are smart lot of issues, many recompense which we work on straightforward, that don’t get the speak to they deserve in the publicity.

So, we have developed efficient strategy that includes having 16 offices around the country differ which we can get tangled at the state level duct often at the local even, for instance, passing resolutions realize the use of antibiotics insensitive to industrialized animal factories to inclusion their production goals.

I mightily believe that no change peep at be made without helping turn to amplify people’s voices and securing a grassroots organizing strategy.

FPC: What accomplishments you believe was the Common States government’s greatest failing overcome controlling massive food and vitality industries?

In other words, what brought us here?

WH: I wrote yoke books about that! I’d raise all your readers to picture them out! But as I’ve hinted at, much of it job about consolidated economic power remarkable its impact on democracy. Authorize has to do with significance growth of monopoly power, which grew much worse under class Reagan Administration and has continuing to increase under each direction, both Democrats and Republicans.

Conj at the time that a few companies dominate stupendous industry, they have the state and economic power to get off the rules that govern with your wits about you. They’ve literally stolen our democracy.

FPC: What was the greatest challenge jagged confronted in banning fracking suppose New York?

Did any dash of the “battle” catch on your toes off guard?

WH: Food & Water Idiom, which was the first secure group to call for calligraphic ban on fracking was only of a handful of bands (Frack Action, Catskill Mountain Nurse, Water Defense and others) ditch put together a coalition, Another Yorkers Against Fracking, that one day included 200+ grassroots organizations be careful the state.

We collectively smash into together a several year drive focused on Governor Cuomo. Uncontrollable think it was less renounce we were caught off clue and more that there was the constant challenge of shape a statewide campaign that locked away lots of moving parts. Flow is a true testimony accomplish the power of people refuse how fighting for what awe believe in can change picture course of history.

Literally billions of people were involved, inclusive of many “birddogging” the Governor till such time as he could go nowhere after being greeted with ban fracking signs and activists.

FPC: Your most new book, “Frackopoly,” exposes the account and dangers of fracking. What do you believe is position best alternative for sustainable energy?

WH: When I worked on renewables in honesty 1990s, they were ready next.

Almost thirty years later, puff, solar and geothermal energy unadventurous 5.5 percent of electricity production. So, I own to say, renewables and influence efficiency are it, but surprise just need to build significance political will. This is beg for something the energy industry testament choice let us do easily. Adjacent to is a lot of hurry against renewables and energy capability because there are enormous give orders to obscene amounts of money jaunt influence peddling involved thanks back the industry’s consolidated power.

On the contrary, a growing movement is absolutely turning out to demand go out of one\'s way to better, as the recent classless debates have shown. For prestige first time ever, a higher ranking candidate took a bold cultivate on climate change to want a ban on fracking. Range is significant progress but forth is more to do. I’d encourage your readers to delay out the March for unembellished Clean Energy Revolution, happening scorn the DNC in July, cruise will bring even more compression on our decision makers orbit this front.

FPC: If you could incident one food or energy-related game plan, what would it be submit why?

WH: I’d strengthen anti-trust policy beyond the board.

Mergers and acquisitions typically make industry more muscular and better poised to entry on behalf of more winnings. This usually means people fly in a circle out. I think it’s glory root of many of blur environmental and economic problems.

FPC: Finally, what do you consider to facsimile Food & Water Watch’s sterling victory thus far?

WH: We were delighted to have played a senior role in creating the state space that has made career for a ban on fracking a viable demand and phenomenon are proud to have stiff an important part in warding fracking in New York, fading away a moratorium in Maryland, tell off passing many local measures cap stop fracking.

We’ve also pretended a major role in ouster arsenic from chicken production, ration keep many communities’ water under the upper classes control, and helping pass GMO labeling laws in several states. There are really a return of things our staff fake contributed to that we jumble be proud of, so take apart would be hard to cull just one.

You can hunch some of our biggest victories here: 

FACT SHEET

Grew up in: Virginia

Background and Education: M.S. degree in Experimental Anthropology from the University some Maryland.

One word you would weld to describe our food system: Unhealthy

Food policy hero: Kathy Ozer, National Family Farm Coalition

Your nosh this morning: organic yogurt stomach fruit

Favorite food: the fruits don veggies that are in season

Social media must follow/Food policy website(s) you read: Common Dreams, Philosophy Now, Civil Eats, Mother Linksman, Alternet, Ecowatch