National faith organizations endorse Milk with Dignity -- add your name!

National religious groups are endorsing Milk with Dignity -- and turning up the heat on Hannaford supermarkets to join the human rights program!

Following the recent farmworker-led march on Hannaford, three faith organizations wrote to the supermarket chain’s CEO urging him to sign on to Milk with Dignity.  The Presbyterian Church USA (with 2 million members), T’Ruah (an organization of 2,000 rabbis and cantors), and the National Council of Churches (the country’s largest ecumenical body, comprising 45 million churchgoers in 100,000 congregations) are all throwing down for Milk with Dignity.

Add your name!  Take a moment to send an email to Hannaford’s CEO telling him it’s time to join Milk with Dignity.

Milk with Dignity is transforming the dairy industry.  Across Vermont and New York, farms are benefiting from the program’s premiums and workers are seeing drastic improvements in labor and housing conditions: raises, rest days, new housing, and so much more.  Recognizing Milk with Dignity’s proven success, and the ongoing abuses on farms outside the program, three national faith communities have joined the campaign calling on Hannaford to commit to responsibly source its store-brand milk.  

Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Executive Director of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, wrote of the ethical imperative behind Milk with Dignity.

“As Jewish leaders, we believe that corporate social responsibility must begin with a commitment to the human rights and fair wages of workers. Consumers deserve to know that the products they buy are free from human rights abuses. As Jewish ethical consumers, the first question we ask is about the treatment of the human beings who produced a product. After all, it is not the milk that is created in the image of God, but the farmworker who produced it. Legally binding worker-driven social responsibility programs like Milk with Dignity are true embodiments of these values, placing workers at the head of a partnership that also supports farmers.”

Jim Winkler, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches, connected Milk with Dignity’s successes with related struggles for human rights:

“The NCC is proud to be an endorser of this model called Worker-driven Social Responsibility that is not only transforming the dairy industry but also realizing human rights advances in US agriculture through the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ Fair Food Program and ensuring safety for 2 million garment workers through the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Safety. We know this model works – what’s needed now is its expansion… You can do that by joining the Milk With Dignity Program now. I urge you to respond to Migrant Justice’s invitation, take the place at the table that is waiting for you, and join us in forwarding this new day of human rights in the dairy industry.”

And J. Herbert Nelson II, the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA, took the Hannaford CEO to task for the company’s lack of response to date:

“It is disturbing that Hannaford has rebuffed the efforts of the leaders of Migrant Justice to enter into dialogue regarding these injustices. We, therefore, join our voices with theirs in urging you, in the strongest terms, to begin this dialogue, to the end that justice is served and another step is taken to end dairy farmworker exploitation and to contribute to the sustainability of small farmers in the dairy industry. We respectfully request that you do the right thing.”

The campaign is just heating up -- and will continue to get hotter the longer Hannaford delays.  These letters make it clear that Hannaford can’t hide from the farmworkers responsible for putting the milk on their shelves.  Add your name above to join the growing chorus telling Hannaford to get with the program!

p.s. Keep the heat on Hannaford by following Migrant Justice on social media and sharing our posts.  Make sure you follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and at our brand-new Instagram account!