Washington State Department of Health logo appears on political activist group We Are ELLA’s videos attacking and making false claims against Washington family farms.
(OLYMPIA, Wash.) Save Family Farming today filed an official complaint with the Washington State Attorney General’s Office requesting an investigation into state sponsorship of an anti-farm activist group’s videos making false, politically-charged accusations against farms in Washington state.
The videos, shared on social media by Yakima-based political activist group We Are ELLA, make a variety of derogatory claims against Washington farms, particularly dairy farms in the Lower Yakima Valley. Several of the videos clearly display the Washington Department of Health logo, suggesting state sponsorship of We Are ELLA’s political messaging.
One of the videos displaying the state Department of Health logo prominently features Teodora Martinez, a current political candidate for a Port of Sunnyside Commission seat. In the video, Martinez–without evidence–accuses local dairy farms of contaminating the groundwater at her home.
“The videos do not present any scientific data, citations or verifiable evidence to support these claims,” said Ben Tindall, Executive Director of Save Family Farming, in the letter of complaint to the Washington Attorney General’s Office. “Instead, it is clearly intended as an activist message designed to generate public outrage and action against this segment of Washington’s farming community.”
Save Family Farming is specifically requesting an investigation into whether the Washington Department of Health did indeed sponsor, contribute to, or otherwise support the production of these videos. The complaint also demands answers about whether the Department of Health endorses the messages and claims made in the videos, and whether the Department of Health approved this use of its logo.