Founded by “two unrepentant liberals,” Firedoll Foundation is a politically progressive family foundation that finances nonprofits that work on a variety of issues, including environmental conservation. The foundation says it has “a sense of urgency about the state of the planet,” and supports “a variety of approaches to preserving the environment, including legal action, scientific inquiry, legislative advocacy and direct action.”
The Center for Food Safety (CFS), one of Firedoll’s biggest environmental grant recipients, is actively involved in the GMO debate. For example, CFS filed suit against the Trump Administration in August 2018, alleging that the USDA attempted to stall federal GMO food labeling regulations. “Trump, [USDA Secretary Sonny] Perdue, and their corporate lobbyists” want to keep “Americans in the dark” about genetically engineered ingredients in their food,” CFS claimed in a press release for the lawsuit, “but the law doesn’t permit it.”
Firedoll grant recipient Beyond Pesticides takes a similarly hardline stance against GMO crops. The organization argues on its website that engineering insect-resistant crops “is short-sighted and dangerous,” and the “overuse of herbicide-resistant crops has also led to ‘super weeds,’ and the destruction of pollinator habitat.” Experts do not share these concerns about GMO crops, however.
The Firedoll Foundation is also a member of Californians for GE-Free Agriculture, a statewide coalition to protect farmers from the “human health and economic risks of genetic engineering in agriculture.” Firedoll grant recipient Center for Environmental Health and Justice is also a part of the coalition. Center for Food Safety operates the California-based coalition.
Financial Data
Annual Revenue: $2,660,332 (2016)
Total Assets $12,124,093 (2016)
Major Recipients (total contributions 2012-present)
Center for Food Safety $80,000
Center for Biological Diversity $85,000
Center for Environmental Health $60,000
Natural Resources Defense Council $75,000
Beyond Pesticides $45,000
EarthJustice $50,000
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility $50,000
As You Sow $40,000
Food and Water Watch $35,000
Tides Center $15,000