The Ice Cream Didn't Melt, but My Heart Did

One of my family’s favorite stops during a summer vacation to Canada was the Ben & Jerry’s Factory Tour in Waterbury, Vermont. As everyone in Massachusetts knows, ice cream is great any time of year. But getting tastes of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream on the tour, followed by a full-size cone, is a very special summer treat. Somehow, I always finish it before it has time to melt!

Ben & Jerry’s has also set the standard for business practices that protect workers. Their mission reads:

“Ben & Jerry’s operates on a three-part mission that aims to create linked prosperity for everyone that’s connected to our business: suppliers, employees, farmers, franchisees, customers, and neighbors alike.”

While they purchase fair trade coffee, vanilla, sugar and bananas from around the world, it appears that they could improve conditions for workers in their own home state of Vermont.

This week, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers—who have successfully eradicated slavery in the tomato fields of Florida and brought better working conditions to the migrant workers there—released a short video in support of the dairy workers of Vermont. Migrant Justice, a farmworkers organization, has launched the “Milk with Dignity” campaign to persuade Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream to do the same for their suppliers. My heart melted when I watched it.

The “Milk with Dignity” campaign is modeled on the Fair Food Program in Florida. Many of you participated in persuading Trader Joe’s to sign on three years ago. Now, we can make a difference for the migrant workers in the Vermont Dairy industry.

Yes, I was surprised to learn about migrant workers milking cows in Vermont! They don’t appear in the Ben & Jerry’s website, much less on any of its products or advertising. In the video we hear from several immigrants who describe exploitation in the dairy industry in Vermont. If Ben & Jerry’s were to sign an agreement to buy milk products from farms that promise to abide by fair working conditions, dairy workers would have more oversight to ensure fair treatment.

So far, the Social Mission division of Ben & Jerry’s has not agreed, trying to handle these problems in a voluntary way, without making demands on its supply chain. We know from experience in Florida that this is not an effective method to make change.

Watch the short documentary and then put June 20 on your calendar for a day of action, when you can bring a letter to your nearby Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop (Newbury Street, in the Prudential Center and in Cambridge) and urge them to sign on. 

Remind them that they state on their website:

“We strive to show a deep respect for human beings inside and outside our company and for the communities in which they live.”

True respect for the human beings at the bottom of the supply chain requires giving them a voice. We look forward to the day that Ben & Jerry’s is a full supporter of Milk with Dignity. You can help bring that day soon!