By Ben Tindall, Save Family Farming Executive Director

When an activist organization misuses the official logo of a state agency to lend credibility to its false narrative and political messaging, that should trigger an immediate and serious response.

When that same organization is receiving nearly half a million dollars in taxpayer funding through the agency whose identity it misused, the need for scrutiny becomes even greater.

And when the agency claims the problem was corrected without actually verifying that they have, the public has every right to ask if anyone in the state government is paying attention.

That is exactly what happened with the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and the Sunnyside-based anti-farming activist organization We Are ELLA (ELLA).

In 2024, ELLA received a HEAL Capacity Grant in the amount of $499.200, funded with Climate Commitment Act dollars and administered through DOH. The grant included funding for what DOH described as “community storytelling through media.” DOH also acknowledged that it knew materials created through the grant would be used in the development of a documentary film ELLA was producing.

That film became a blatant piece of anti-farming propaganda filled with false, manipulated, and politically charged accusations targeted against agriculture in Washington state. The Department then failed to prevent its official identity from being attached to related videos that promoted political advocacy and unsupported accusations against local farms.

In the fall of 2025, Save Family Farming noticed the DOH logo appearing on multiple ELLA videos, creating an unmistakable appearance of state involvement, credibility or endorsement.

One video showed a Sunnyside political candidate accusing local dairies of contaminating drinking water without presenting scientific evidence to substantiate the claim. Another promoted ELLA’s lobbying activities at the state Capitol. If DOH was involved or sponsored the production of these clips, that would be a blatant violation of the state RCW, which directly prohibits public funds from being used for lobbying.

These were not neutral public-information materials. They were activist propaganda messages designed to influence public opinion and government action and the official logo of the Washington State Department of Health appeared alongside them.

Save Family Farming quickly reached out and raised this issue with both the Washington State Attorney General and DOH. Astonishingly, it took nearly six months for the agency to provide a formal response to this simple complaint.

When that response finally arrived, DOH officials claimed they had “confirmed” the logo had been removed from the affected videos. They said they had “worked diligently” with ELLA and described the organization as responsive.

There was only one problem: the videos were still online. It only took a matter of seconds to check ELLA’s social media to see that the videos remained publicly accessible with the unauthorized DOH logo still visible.

Save Family Farming immediately brought this glaring contradiction to DOH’s attention and asked several straightforward questions such as:

  • What specific steps has DOH taken to verify full removal of unauthorized logo use across all platforms, including social media?
  • What enforcement actions or consequences are applied when grantees fail to comply with branding and representation requirements?
  • What safeguards are in place to prevent grant-funded materials from being used in ways that could create confusion about agency endorsement?
  • Has DOH conducted any follow-up review to ensure continued compliance after initial contact with the organization?

The Department did not respond for nearly three months.

Only after Save Family Farming informed agency officials that they had contacted the Washington State Auditor’s Office requesting that it review the Department’s administration and oversight of these taxpayer-funded activities as well as notify state legislators, did DOH finally respond and acknowledge what had happened.

Save Family Farming received a response from Erika Baker, Deputy Director of DOH’s Office of Environmental Public Health Sciences. Ms. Baker stated in her official response,

“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.” However, as your correspondence demonstrates, video uploads on specific social media platforms remain intact with the unauthorized logo use. 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.”

In other words, when DOH told us it had “confirmed” the problem was fixed, it had relied on the word of the organization accused of violating the rules. According to the Department’s own admissions, ELLA communicated that it had corrected the unauthorized use of the Department’s logo. The Department later acknowledged that representation was false. In plain English, ELLA lied. ELLA directly lied to the Department of Health about compliance with a required corrective action.

The Department later admitted that its follow-up had been insufficient. Because of ELLA’s brazen disregard for the rules around receiving a half-million dollar taxpayer funded grant and their continued deception to a state agency, DOH is adjusting their processes as contract managers would now audit grantees’ social media channels before branding violations are considered resolved.

That is an appropriate step. It is also astonishing that such a basic safeguard was apparently not already standard practice.

A state agency administering public funds should not need an outside organization to teach it that compliance must be verified.

An organization entrusted with nearly half a million dollars in taxpayer funding should be held to a higher standard than simply telling the state what it wants to hear.

The Department has outlined possible enforcement tools for grantee noncompliance, including written notices, withheld payments, termination of grant agreements and formal takedown requests. But the public still does not know whether any meaningful consequence has been imposed in this case.

ELLA misused state branding. It directly lied to DOH who failed to verify compliance. The videos remained online for months and, as of the date of this writing, they still remain unchanged on ELLA’s social media channel.

At what point does accountability begin?

This controversy is not merely about the misuse of a logo.

It’s about the misuse of state credibility. It is about taxpayer dollars being directed toward advocacy that attacks Washington agriculture. It is about state agencies failing to protect the public from the appearance that politically charged messages carry official government endorsement.

It’s about a culture lacking transparency and accountability, in which an organization like ELLA feels emboldened to thumb its nose at the rules while emboldened to lie to the very state agency that awarded it nearly half a million dollars in taxpayer funding, yet apparently faces no meaningful consequences.

It’s about a culture in Olympia where agencies and favored activist organizations too often seem insulated from accountability.

Washington farmers do not receive that kind of leniency.

When a farmer misses a deadline, misunderstands a regulation, or fails to satisfy an agency requirement, the response is rarely a friendly conversation followed by months of patience. Farmers face inspections, penalties, corrective orders, legal costs and public accusations.

But when a politically connected activist organization misuses state property, fails to fully comply, and then provides false assurances, the response appears to be little more than a pat on the wrist and continued engagement as though the problem didn’t occur.

That is a double standard, and it must end!

Washington needs legislators willing to champion real government accountability. We need leaders prepared to ask where public money is going, what it is producing and whether agencies are enforcing the rules evenly.

The Legislature should examine how HEAL and Climate Commitment Act grants are reviewed, monitored and enforced. It should determine whether public money is being used, directly or indirectly, to subsidize political advocacy and attacks on lawful industries. It should require agencies to verify grantee compliance rather than merely accept lip-service. And it should insist upon refunding grant money when organizations misuse state resources or mislead agency officials.

These questions should not be dismissed as partisan or ideological. Stewardship of public money is not a partisan issue. Truthfulness by government contractors is not a partisan issue. Consistent enforcement of state rules is not a partisan issue.

Accountability is the minimum the public should expect.

Save Family Farming has repeatedly called for practical solutions to the pressures driving farms out of business in Washington. One essential solution is restoring accountability in state government.

Farmers cannot compete against activist organizations subsidized by their own tax dollars while state agencies look the other way. They should not have to fight false narratives funded by government grants. And they should never be forced to watch their own government’s name and credibility used to legitimize political attacks against them.

Washington agriculture needs a champion willing to confront this system.

A leader willing to demand answers now, expose how taxpayer dollars are being used and ensure that state agencies and grant recipients are both held to the same standard of truth, transparency and responsibility expected of everyone else.

Because when there is no accountability, misconduct quickly becomes the accepted policy. And when public officials refuse to act, silence becomes complicity.