MIDDLEBURY — Maribel can point to several ways Migrant Justice’s Milk with Dignity Program has helped improve her experience as a dairy worker.

“One of the things I was most excited about to come was knowing that once my farm came into the program I would start to get, and my coworkers would start to get, a higher wage, the Vermont minimum, because prior to that we were making below minimum wage,” she said through an interpreter. “We started to get other benefits as well; five paid vacation days, five paid sick days and improvements to our housing on the farm.”

Maribel is a dairy worker on a farm enrolled in the Milk with Dignity program and serves on the Farmworker Coordinating Committee for Migrant Justice, a human rights organization founded and led by immigrant farmworkers. The organization in 2017 established Milk with Dignity, which works to improve conditions and enforce human rights in the dairy industry.

The Milk with Dignity program is now expanding through a new partnership Vermont Way Foods, an initiative of The Vermont Food Hub Collaborative established to “support Vermont farmers and promote food access in their communities.”

Through the agreement, Vermont Way Foods will offer a new cheese made with Addison County milk and sold at stores throughout the region. Over 50 people gathered at the ACORN Food Hub in Middlebury this past Friday for a product tasting and celebration announcing the partnership.

“This is so important because this represents the first expansion of Milk with Dignity into the organic world, and this is a company taking the initiative that from day one their product is going to be on the shelves as a Milk with Dignity product,” said Olga Cruz, a dairy worker and leader with Migrant Justice.

MILK WITH DIGNITY

Maribel and Cruz were among a handful of speakers to share remarks at the Oct. 3 event, which corresponded with the eighth anniversary of Milk with Dignity.

The program was launched after an initial agreement with Ben & Jerry’s. Companies that enter the program agree to source milk from dairy farms that are enrolled in Milk with Dignity and meet its requirements. Companies also provide a premium that helps offset the cost of compliance with the Milk with Dignity Code of Conduct and rewards participating farms.

That code of conduct outlines requirements in areas like wages, working conditions and housing. Farmers and farmworkers work with the Milk with Dignity Standards Council to ensure compliance with those requirements.

“What we’re living through is a tale of two dairy industries, and I’ve seen both sides of the coin,” Cruz said. “I’ve worked on a farm in the Milk with Dignity Program and right now, I’m working on a farm that doesn’t have the protections of the program. I can tell you how difficult it is to be a dairy worker, especially as a woman.”

A survey conducted by Migrant Justice in 2024 asked Spanish-speaking immigrant dairy workers about labor and housing conditions on Vermont farms. The survey illuminated the experiences of workers on farms outside Milk with Dignity, finding that 87% of respondents made less than minimum wage and 77% had experienced an accident or injury.

Ninety-five percent of workers surveyed said they work six to seven days per week. The survey also found that the conditions of employer-provided housing were inadequate and unsafe for the vast majority of workers, and that about half of workers reported experiencing some kind of discrimination.

“I’m here fighting so that one day my husband and I will be on a farm that has the protections of Milk with Dignity,” Cruz said.

Maribel spoke of her experience as a dairy worker in the program.

“Now that my farm is in the program, this is the second year in a row where I’ve been able to take a vacation, and also when I’ve gotten sick, I’ve been able to take the days off,” she said. “The program also ensures that all workers receive respectful treatment on the farm, and that there aren’t any violations of our rights by our employers or the managers.”

Also speaking Friday was Cheryl Pinto, Global Head of Values Led Sourcing at Ben & Jerry’s.

“Over eight years we’ve spent millions of dollars, which we believe is our role as the buyer, as the company, to invest in those premiums through the farmers to the farmworkers, because as we are all connected this prosperity has to flow,” Pinto said. “Otherwise, we’re not going to have these dairy farms working in Vermont; we’re not going to have this community here supporting us.”

EXPANDING WITH CHEESE

 Other speakers on Oct. 3 included Catherine Cusak, co-founder of Vermont Way Foods. Cusak acknowledged those behind the partnership and new Vermont Way Foods organic, farmer cheese.

Carleton Yoder of Middlebury’s Champlain Valley Creamery developed an herb blend for Vermont Way Foods, homing in on the quality and taste of the cheese. Chelsea’s Free Verse Farm is growing herbs for the cheese and Cornwall dairy farmer Nate Severy will provide organic milk for the product.

“Nate and his farm will work closely with the Milk with Dignity Standards Council to promote workers’ rights, safety and wellbeing,” Cusak said.

She said Vermont Way Foods plans to offer two varieties of herbed cheese — an Italian blend and a Mexican blend.

“We still have some final details to work out before the product hits the market, but we are getting close and looking forward to celebrating again at that time,” Cusak said.

Will Lambek of Migrant Justice told the Independent retailing agreements are still underway, but plans call for the product to be sold at stores around the region sometime soon. Interested retailers are encouraged to connect with Vermont Way Foods.

The cheese will be the first product to bear the “Milk with Dignity” label, though organizers are hopeful there will be more to come.   

“This is a great start, and we hope that it will succeed in the market and that we will be expanding,” Lambek said.

Cruz encouraged more companies to join the Milk with Dignity program and for fellow dairy workers to continue advocating for change and the expansion of the program.

“It’s important to recognize that immigrants do not just suffer, we are here fighting for change and bringing the solutions that are going to transform our lives,” she said.