Food Empowerment Project

“The Board and the Executive Director always review the Form 990 before it is filed.”

“Compliance was reviewed at quarterly Board meetings.”

“The Board reviews salaries annually and provides recommendations within the scope of the organization's financial health.”

“Available upon request.”

“OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 4: Farm Workers Rights: School Supply DriveOur annual school supply drive for the children of farm workers continues to be a unique way to thank hundreds of families for the hard work they do planting, growing, and harvesting the fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes we all eat. One way we give back is through our annual school supply drive for the children of farm workers. In 2019, we distributed 653 backpacksnearly 100 more than the year beforefilled with pencils, paper, and other necessities to farm worker children in the Central Valley, Watsonville, Salinas, and Sonoma County, California. OTHER PROGRAM SERVICES 5: ChocolateSince we were founded in 2007, F.E.P. has been raising awareness about child labor and slavery in the chocolate industry. Among our efforts is the longstanding assertion that the certification process for fair trade chocolate is not workinga position that is controversial to say the least. A June 3, 2019 article in The Washington Post titled Cocoas Child Laborers, however, stated what we have been saying all along: [The chocolate industrys] most prominent effortbuying cocoa that has been certified for ethical business practices by third-party groups such as Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance, has been weakened by a lack of rigorous enforcement of child labor rules. The shocking lack of progress and transparency in the chocolate industry is why F.E.P. works so hard to hold corporations accountable. F.E.P.s founder, lauren Ornelas, was retained as an expert witness to give evidence in a chocolate-related class action case in Canada! And in an effort to make our Chocolate List app even more user-friendly, we updated it so that supporters can post directly to social media.”