Statement from Hannaford Supermarkets regarding Migrant Justice’s Milk with Dignity Campaign

For Immediate Release 

June 23, 2023 

 

Statement from Hannaford Supermarkets regarding Migrant Justice’s Milk with Dignity campaign

 

Hannaford knows that farm workers are the backbone of our food systems. We strongly support the fair, safe and humane treatment of agricultural workers, and are dedicated to ensuring that the products in our supply chain are ethically and sustainably sourced from suppliers that adhere to all labor laws.

 

We also recognize that migrant farm workers face vulnerabilities and challenges unique to their circumstances, including language barriers. Meaningful and impactful support of farmworkers requires a long-term, sustainable solution. Hannaford is fully committed to doing its part, alongside the direct suppliers, dairy cooperatives, farmers and farm workers that comprise our supply chain, to ensure the human rights integrity of our supply chain, which includes the respectful and fair treatment of farm workers within it.

 

However, we differ with Migrant Justice in our approach to the solution. The concerns and issues facing agricultural workers are systemic, complex and extend far beyond Hannaford’s supply chain and the state of Vermont. The Milk with Dignity program is focused on a very small portion of the U.S. dairy supply chain, both in terms of its geographic footprint as well as the number of stakeholders involved. Because of the complexity and scope of the issues facing migrant farm workers, we do not feel this approach is scalable. Nor do we feel that these issues can be solved with a patchwork of loosely affiliated programs like Milk with Dignity working independently.

 

In our experience, truly impactful, lasting change is best affected at scale across the industry – not on a state-by-state, commodity-by-commodity, or company-by-company basis - and in partnership with credible, external auditing organizations. As such, we are currently engaged in partnerships that help advance our human rights commitments across our supply chain, including the use of second- and third-party auditing tools to validate findings. Moving forward, we will continue to deepen our collaboration and engagement with industry and supply chain partners to drive meaningful change. We believe this is the most reliable and sustainable way to create lasting impact on human rights while safeguarding the dignity and well-being of farmworkers.

 

Statement from Hannaford regarding its dairy industry partnerships and auditing tools

 

Hannaford has been actively engaged with its dairy supply chain for years, partnering with our milk suppliers, the National Milk Producers Federation and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy to both assess and assure compliance and responsible farm management across our private brand dairy supply chain.  Hannaford has implemented theNational Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) tool, a comprehensive program to support farmers in building excellent and safe work environments and is currently being utilized by more than 3,000 farms across the country.

 

Hannaford requires its private label suppliers to deploy the FARM assessment and the FARM Workforce Development Evaluation Tool, which includes modules on environmental practices, animal welfare housing, and workforce conditions. Utilizing the tool, our suppliers have assessed working conditions at 70 of Hannaford’s private label milk suppliers across our marketplace. While this work is ongoing, to date these assessments have covered more than 500 farm workers.Any findings are addressed with farmers in real-time. 

 

Additionally, an independent third-party auditor has been identified and is being onboarded for the purpose of confirming that the second party FARM assessments accurately reflect working conditions on farm. In the event of a serious finding reported to us, Hannaford policy requires the suspension of our commercial relationship with the supplier until the issue has been remediated and re-assessed.

 

Statement from HP Hood, Hannaford’s private brand milk supplier

 

HP Hood strives for success through continuous improvement and the quality and safety of our people, products, and services. We are committed to ensuring that the products we sell are sourced and manufactured sustainably and responsibly. This commitment includes our dairy supply chain. Hood sources milk primarily from dairy cooperatives who market the milk for their member dairy farms. The cooperatives who supply us, work with their member farms daily to ensure a safe and responsible supply chain.

 

Today, Hood requires that 100 percent of our supplier farms participate in the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) program developed by the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) to demonstrate and provide verification that they are following proper animal care practices, and are committed to improvements in environmental sustainability and the safety and well-being of individuals working on the farm. We work closely with our suppliers, customers, and the industry to monitor the progress of the FARM program and the implementation of the FARM Workforce Development Evaluation Tool and together, will continue to seek opportunities for improvement.

 

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Media Contact:

Caitlin Cortelyou, External Communications Manager

Hannaford Supermarkets

207-885-3132

caitlin.cortelyou@hannaford.com

 

Lynne Bohan, HP Hood

(Media inquiries related to HP Hood only)

617-312-6173

Lynne.Bohan@hphood.com