After getting half-million-dollar grant, officials say ELLA lied to Washington State Department of Health investigators about using DOH logo to fabricate appearance of state endorsement of false accusations against Lower Yakima Valley farms

(OLYMPIA, Wash.) Yakima-based anti-farm activist group ELLA directly lied to the Washington State Department of Health, falsely telling the agency that it had stopped unauthorized use of the agency’s logo, an agency official has confirmed to Save Family Farming. ELLA then continued for months to deliberately create the appearance its false accusations against farms were endorsed by DOH.

In August 2025, Save Family Farming filed an official complaint about the use of the DOH logo on some videos on ELLA’s social media platforms that contained damaging false accusations against farms in the Lower Yakima Valley. The videos made false and defamatory claims blaming dairy farms in the area for harming public health.

In an email response to the complaint months later, Erika Baker, Deputy Director of the department’s Office of Environmental Public Health Sciences, claimed the department had “confirmed the logo was removed from the impacted videos,” yet a simple check by Save Family Farming showed the videos remained online with the DOH logo included.

Save Family Farming immediately told Baker that the videos remained online despite the Department’s assurances. The Department did not respond for nearly three months, until Save Family Farming informed DOH officials on July 16 that it had filed a complaint with the Washington State Auditor’s Office and notified several state legislators.

“Our previous statement that the logo had been removed was based on confirmation from the grantee that the concerns raised to our attention had been corrected,” Baker wrote in a July 16 email, “However, as your correspondence demonstrates, video uploads on specific social media platforms remain intact with the unauthorized logo use.”

“Not only is the Department of Health confirming that ELLA lied to them, officials are admitting that when they previously ‘confirmed’ the problem was resolved, they were simply taking the activist group’s word for it,” said Ben Tindall, Save Family Farming Executive Director. “Any recipient of a half-million dollars in taxpayer money should never be able to get away with lying to the state like this.”

According to Baker, via her July 16 email, “DOH contract managers have re-engaged with ELLA leadership regarding the specific social media posts cited in your correspondence and any other uploads where the DOH logo remains visible.” Baker’s latest response marks the first time the Department has acknowledged that its earlier statement—that it had “confirmed” the logo had been removed—was based solely on representations made by ELLA rather than an independent review by the agency itself.

“Since when does the state simply take the word of a person or group under investigation as ‘good enough’ to confirm that its rules weren’t broken,” said Tindall. “The Department of Health official name and logo were used to give credibility to false accusations against Washington farms. When DOH learned about it, it accepted the organization’s assurances without verifying the facts. Does DOH want to hold ELLA accountable for deceiving the public under the department’s own banner, or is it just trying to sweep this under the rug?”

Press Contact: Dillon Honcoop, dhoncoop@savefamilyfarming.org