(top) Santa Monica Council Member Richard Bloom signs a pledge to drink tap water and avoid bottled water whenever possible during the “I Love Santa Monica Water” kickoff campaign at Santa Monica Farmers Marketon Wednesday, Aug 26, 2009.(center) Daniel Macias, 12, fills his plastic bottle with free filtered water at Santa Monica Farmers Market's filling station on Wednesday, Aug 26, 2009.
Santa Monica Farmers’ Markets and Food & Water Watch Partner to Launch “I Love Santa Monica Water” Campaign
Santa Monica, Calif. – On the forefront of a nationwide trend to kick the bottled water habit, the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Farmers’ Markets today partnered with the consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch to launch the “I Love Santa Monica Water” campaign by providing free filtered Santa Monica tap water at special self-serve station to all market customers and vendors. Former Mayor and current Council Member Richard Bloom demonstrated his support for the program by signing a pledge on behalf of the community to support tap water and avoid bottled water. The event marked the start of the markets’ ongoing effort to offer free filtered tap water at all four of its markets.
The campaign dovetails with Food & Water Watch’s “Take Back the Tap” campaign, which works to educate consumers and decision makers about the economic, social and environmental benefits of choosing tap water over bottled water. In addition to costing consumers thousands of times more than tap water, bottled water contributes to excess waste in landfills, and in most cases, is no safer or healthier than tap water.
“Farmers’ markets provide consumers with access to local food, but often water is left out of the equation,” said Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter. “Drinking local water is less taxing on the environment, making it an essential component of the local food movement. Food & Water Watch is proud to partner with the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Farmers’ Markets to support local, public water systems and to go bottled water-free.”
After today, the campaign will be extended to the Saturday Pico and Sunday Main Street markets. “Santa Monica’s tap water is healthy and very economical compared to bottled water. I’ve been drinking our tap water for years,” said Kim O’Cain, Water Resources Specialist for the City of Santa Monica. “We hope the “We Love Santa Monica Water” campaign will help farmers’ market customers make the transition from disposable to reusable water bottles.”
Food & Water Watch, a nonprofit consumer organization, works to ensure clean water and safe food in the United States and around the world. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink. For more information, visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org.