Migrant Justice Justicia Migrante

This Christmas, Santa has a message for Hannaford Supermarket: “If it’s not Milk with Dignity, I won’t drink it!”

In the latest video from Migrant Justice and the Milk with Dignity campaign, Santa comes down the chimney to find milk and cookies left out under the tree. Once he realizes that it’s Hannaford-brand milk, he turns away in disgust. The only way for Hannaford to get off of the naughty list is to sit down with farmworkers, and commit to respect their human rights by joining the Milk with Dignity Program!

Click “read more” to watch the video and take action

Migrant Justice recently participated in the 13th annual Vermont Farm to Plate gathering, bringing a message of human rights from the farmworker community to the sold-out conference. 

Every year, farmers, advocates, and government officials from across the state come together to share strategies for strengthening Vermont’s food and agriculture systems. This year, hundreds of attendees joined sessions led by Migrant Justice and listened to leader Thelma Gómez deliver one of the keynote addresses.

Thelma shared her powerful story of transformation, from a teenaged farmworker suffering discrimination and wage theft, to a nationally-recognized organizer and a key architect of the Milk with Dignity Program. She concluded her speech with a call to the assembled changemakers:

"We can’t talk about food systems without talking about farmworkers. An industry that exploits our labor, that abuses us daily, is not sustainable. As we work to transform food systems in Vermont, we must make sure that we are creating a system that recognizes the rights of the farmworkers who keep it running."

Read more to watch the video of Thelma's speech!

Today, as families around the country gather to share a meal and give thanks, farmworkers are working long hours in the cold weather to bring food to our tables. From dairy barns and milking parlors around the state, dozens of workers have filmed short videos with a holiday message. Farmworkers are asking Hannaford Supermarkets' president Mike Vail to join the Milk with Dignity Program. For years the company has rejected workers' calls to address the poor conditions and horrendous abuses on the farms producing Hannaford-brand milk. It's time for Hannaford to get with the Program!

As the weather turns cold, dairy workers on the farms producing Hannaford-brand milk are preparing for another winter without essential human rights protections. 

The Milk with Dignity Program ensures that farmworkers live in dignified housing fit for human habitation. Through the Program, hundreds of workers and their families have won tangible improvements to housing conditions – or in some cases, the construction of brand new housing. This is just one of the protections that Hannaford denies to the farmworkers in its supply chain through its refusal to join Milk with Dignity.

Despite Hananford’s delays, farmworkers are persisting. This fall, many of you joined workers on the picket line to protest the abuses and human rights violations on Hannaford’s farms and hold the company accountable. Check out the newly-released video from the Month of Action!

Today, October 3rd, 2023, marks the sixth anniversary of the launch of the Milk with Dignity Program. Six years ago, dairy workers and Ben & Jerry’s joined together in front of the company’s flagship store to sign the first Milk with Dignity agreement. This historic moment represented the first time that a dairy company joined with farmworkers in its supply chain to protect workers’ rights.

Today also marks four years since dairy workers first publicly invited Hannaford Supermarkets to follow in Ben & Jerry’s footsteps and join Milk with Dignity. Over the past four years, Hannaford has hidden from its responsibility to ensure respect for the human rights of the farmworkers behind their store-brand milk, opting instead to promote empty standards and knock-off initiatives that mimic the Milk with Dignity Program without providing any of its protections.

To celebrate the anniversary, we are releasing a new video from this summer’s Milk with Dignity march through Portland, Maine. Read more to watch the video and get the latest on the Milk with Dignity Month of Action!