OUR STATUS IN 2008:

United States
In Vermont, we developed an On-Farm Assessment toolkit in 2006 as a part of our ongoing Dairy Stewardship Alliance program in collaboration with the University of Vermont, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, and our primary dairy supplier, the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery. The toolkit gives farmers detailed resources to evaluate their practices in ten areas of environmental, social, and economic performance. In addition, summary data allows farmers to compare their practices to other participating farms. By the end of 2008, 52 Vermont farmers had participated in the pilot program, having completed the toolkit a first time and identified changes to make on their farm. Fifty-five percent of these farmers actually implemented changes and completed the toolkit a second time to evaluate their progress towards more sustainable farming practices. The program has been funded largely by an $86,000 grant from the US Department of Agriculture — Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education fund that was received in 2006.

Europe
In the Netherlands, where we source dairy for Ben & Jerry’s European production, we created a program called Caring Dairy in 2004 that helps farmers evaluate and continuously improve their practices against 11 sustainability indicators, which are based on the principles of Unilever’s Sustainable Agriculture program. After a pilot stage of building the program with eleven farmers, in 2007 we started a partnership with CONO Cheesemakers, allowing the program to scale up to 550 farmers. In 2008, 93 percent of CONO’s total dairy volume was covered under the Caring Dairy program. In return for a premium on their milk, participating farmers committed to an annual sustainability audit, participation in three workshops a year, and implementation of the improvement plans arising out of the workshops. Caring Dairy offered 131 workshops in 2008 on different topics related to sustainable practices, with a maximum of twelve farmers per interactive session. Also in 2008, we rolled out customized ‘Muddy Boots’ management software to all farmers to enable full program administration and to track performance improvements.

OUR STATUS IN 2008:

United States
In the United States, Ben & Jerry’s purchases milk from three suppliers. More than 80 percent of our total volume of production happens in our two Vermont plants in Waterbury and St. Albans, Vermont. In addition, some Ben & Jerry’s single-serve novelties are made in Hagerstown, Maryland. These three plants are supplied by the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery, which is our partner in the Dairy Stewardship Alliance (DSA) program (see Goal 3A above). Participation in the DSA program is voluntary, and open to all Vermont farmers. By 2008, 52 farmers in the St. Albans Coop had participated in the DSA pilot program, which represents more than 10 percent of the Coop’s members.

We do not have sustainable dairy programs in place for the suppliers of milk and cream for Ben & Jerry’s products produced in Henderson, Nevada; or Sikeston, Missouri, which represent less than 20 percent of our total U.S. production.

Canada
We do not have a sustainable dairy program in place for our milk supply in Canada. Such a program has been difficult to implement in Canada because the dairy market is controlled by a federal supply management system.

Europe
In Europe, Ben & Jerry’s purchases milk and cream from one supplier, the CONO Cooperative. In 2008, 93 percent of the dairy volume CONO supplied to Ben & Jerry’s came from farmers enrolled in the Caring Dairy program (see Goal 3A above). We aim to achieve 100 percent participation by 2012.

OUR STATUS IN 2008:

United States
In 2008, we were active in our longstanding opposition to recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), a genetically engineered growth hormone given to dairy cows to increase their milk production. All Ben & Jerry’s packaged pints and several of our single-serve novelties (where we had enough room on the label) carried a message that states “We oppose recombinant bovine growth hormone. The family farmers who supply our milk and cream pledge not to treat their cows with rBGH.” We have used this label language on our products since 1997.

In 2008, we partnered with a coalition of public interest groups in the United States to stand up for the right to put rBGH labels on dairy products. We believe rBGH labels help consumers to make informed choices about the foods they want to buy. But under pressure from biotech groups, many states considered laws or regulations that would restrict or ban rBGH labeling in 2008.

Ben & Jerry’s top management sent letters to the Governors of Kansas and Ohio, and state legislators and/or Agriculture Department officials in Kansas, Ohio, Missouri, Utah, New Jersey, and Indiana in 2008 to oppose restrictions on rBGH labeling. We sent email messages to Ben & Jerry’s fans in many of these states, and we used Ben & Jerry’s website to connect consumers in several states to our nonprofit partners on this issue. We intend to keep working until the challenges to rBGH labeling have been defeated.

We were also active in the movement to ensure careful oversight and regulation of cloned animals in the U.S. food supply in 2008, following FDA approval of these foods in January 2008. At a congressional briefing in Washington, D.C., with several nonprofit partners, we publicly supported a national framework to track cloned animals so people and companies could have a choice to avoid cloned foods. We’ve talked to lawmakers, food safety experts, and the public via our website in an effort to build momentum for good policy in this area.

Europe
Neither recombinant bovine growth hormones nor cloned cows have been approved in the European Union. We are paying close attention to the regulatory response to cloned animals to look for opportunities to make our voice heard if necessary. But so far, our view on these technologies has been mostly in line with policy makers.