ACTION ALERT: "We need Milk with Dignity!"
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ACTION ALERT: “We need Milk with Dignity!”
Vermont dairy workers declare June 20th as national Day of Action, launch petition in support of brand-new Milk with Dignity Campaign!
Last week, we shared the exciting news — via an excellent article in the national hub for food movement news, Civil Eats
— that Vermont dairy workers had created the Milk with Dignity Program
and are calling on one of Vermont’s biggest milk buyers, Ben &
Jerry’s, to support their worker-driven social responsibility plan. Drawing on the CIW’s groundbreaking Fair Food Program, Milk with Dignity offers a concrete, enforceable solution to the dangerous
working conditions, wage theft, poor housing, and other abuses that
Vermont dairy workers say have plagued the industry for decades.
When Migrant Justice, the dairy
workers’ organization, first launched their new initiative, they
thought that ice cream giant Ben & Jerry’s — renowned for
its socially responsible business agenda, commitment to seeking fair
trade ingredients, and great love of the state of Vermont — would
welcome the opportunity to partner with Mountain State farmworkers.
However — much to the workers’ surprise — Ben & Jerry’s has thus
far refused to join the Milk with Dignity Program and instead has chosen
to pursue its own “Caring Dairy” initiative, which Migrant Justice
representatives describe as a voluntary program that calls on farmers to
self-monitor with no mechanisms for real worker participation in
oversight or enforcement.
So dairy workers are turning to the people Ben & Jerry’s cannot afford to ignore — you,
their customers! Migrant Justice is calling on anyone who enjoys the
occasional cup of Half Baked ice cream or cone of Cherry Garcia to take
action to support Vermont dairy workers’ human rights today...
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