Among Ben & Jerry’s many environmentally friendly practices is an adherence to sustainable agriculture.  The growth of enormous commercial farming operations has put a significant strain on smaller family farms.  Benn & Jerry’s reports a stunning fact:  six out of every ten family farms lose money annually.  Around 330 farms shut their doors every week.  These are the farms that interest Ben & Jerry’s.  Despite the ice cream company’s large operation, it prefers smaller farming partners.

 

In St. Albans, Vermont, Ben & Jerry’s puts its small farm principle to work.  For two decades, Ben & Jerry’s has relied on its relationship with the five hundred members of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery to put high quality milk and cream into its ice cream products.  At Ben & Jerry’s, small farmers provide a big taste.  The company’s socially responsible practices have been great for business.

 

 

Environmentally friendly and fair trade purchasing is important, but it does not distinguish Ben & Jerry’s from the market.  Ben & Jerry’s took a leadership role, though, by helpful to establish the Vermont Dairy Farm Sustainability Project.  Working with local farms, milk processors, universities, and farm suppliers, Ben & Jerry’s has helped find and implement sustainable agriculture practices that reduce nitrogen and phosphorous runoff, resulting in cleaner, safer drinking water.  

 

Ben & Jerry’s also launched the Dairy Stewardship Alliance.  With the University of Vermont’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture and the St. Alban’s Coop, Ben & Jerry’s aides farms in diagnosing the environmental impact of their operations, educate farmers on sustainable dairy farming techniques, and form a relationship for future sustainable farming improvements.  Ultimately, the program helps farms adopt and maintain environmentally friendly practices.  

 

Ben & Jerry’s has a well-known reputation for socially responsible business practices.  The company’s leadership on sustainable agriculture, though, is keeping family farms alive.  Instead of simply buying products from smaller farms, Ben & Jerry’s is helping them to refine their practices, thereby extending the reach of Ben & Jerry’s environmental impact to small farms in Vermont and around the world.