Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jul 2011.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
79 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
8 people listed on the 990; $359K paid to officers and key staff.
Theodore Ross’s $146K as Editor-In-Chief is at the 81st percentile of top reported officer pay among 818 $1–10M food & agriculture nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 7 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theodore Ross | $146,424 | — | — | — | — |
| William Cunningham | $107,561 | $105,773 | $100,792 | — | — |
| Thomas Laskawy | $103,964 | $104,328 | $104,400 | $98,875 | $94,000 |
| Samuel Formartz | — | — | — | $98,875 | $94,000 |
| Samuel Frormartz | — | — | $92,479 | — | — |
| Samuel Frormartz Secretary | — | $60,037 | — | — | — |
| Samuel Fromartz | $1,000 | — | — | — | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Promote food, agriculture, and environmental health through media partnerships.
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The food & environment reporting network continues to demonstrate an ability to deliver smart, powerful journalism that helps define, and often leads, the media coverage of its areas of focus.
We produced dozens of original reported pieces for our fern's ag insider policy news service during the first half of the fiscal year. Topics that received extensive coverage this year included climate policy, california water issues, and food access policy.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $263K | $165K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $503K | $223K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $119K | $38K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $384K | $185K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $107K | $107K | ||
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $553K | $527K | $26K | |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $2K | $2K | $166 | |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $56K | $47K | $7K | $2K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $37K | $37K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $310K | $282K | $948 | $27K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $7K | $1K | $5K | $809 |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $52K | $9K | $37K | $6K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $304K | $277K | $18K | $9K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $6K | $1K | $5K | $762 |
| TravelLn 17 | $52K | $42K | $10K | |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $1K | $178 | $736 | $121 |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $18K | $18K | ||
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $1.5M | $1.2M | $243K | $72K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $1.3M | $1.5M | −$199K | $185K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $1.3M | $1.5M | −$233K | $384K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $1.3M | $1.3M | $7K | $617K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $1.4M | $1.3M | $79K | $609K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $1.1M | $1.0M | $5K | $531K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,304,394 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 4 of 5 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,304,394 across 9 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,503,629 across 13 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $222,971 assets, 12 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $184,719 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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