FWW - Days 1&2

I thought it would also be beneficial for us to post any notes that we take about our sessions as a reference tool for when we create our final report. Please add anything you remember in a separate post or in comments!

Day 1 - 1/26/2011
My initial perceptions of FWW didn't perfectly align with what I had expected. For whatever reason, I anticipated a relatively high level of formality, particularly from the employees. Yet as soon as we met Katy, I was surprised by her casual demeanor--and dress. Fortunately, I think I much preferred her to be relatable and welcoming. I also believe that her disposition parallels the character of Food and Water Watch itself. As Katy shared with us, "We are learning as we go." It seems that a vast majority of the employees at FWW are young (25-35), like the organization itself, which according to their website is in its fifth year. (It would be interesting for us to get the actual data for the age/demographics of their workforce, and maybe also ask Katy about the founding of FWW).

Katy also briefly outlined FWW's areas of expertise and interest: water privatization, food, and interestingly enough, fish. She mentioned that a lot of their initiatives take place at the grass roots level and strongly emphasize online activism, as well.

And then, as we all know, we were promptly set to work databasing and stuffing envelopes relating to the Farm Bill. While I expected some amount of menial busy-work and paper-shuffling on our first day, I don't believe we expected it on the second day.

Day 2 - 2/2/2011
It was somewhat disheartening to once again be ushered into a conference room laden with packets of paper, envelopes, tape, and staplers. However, once a member of the group (Elana?) articulated our eagerness to interview employees and move beyond pencil-pushing to take full advantage of this real-life resource, Katy stated at the end of our time there that she would be happy to look at our questions and pass them on to any of FWW's researchers. Ideally, next week will include answers and possibly a meeting with some of the experts at FWW.