This Agreement is intended to avoid misunderstandings. We set up this form to allow the many consumers like yourself to submit suggestions to us. "This Agreement sets forth the terms and conditions you agree to by submitting a suggestion through the Suggestion Box on Ben & Jerry’s web site. We also continue our opposition to the artificial growth hormone rBGH to boost milk production.īy submitting this form, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions: Animal Husbandry has consistently been a high scoring area as farmers care deeply about their animals and want to ensure milk quality and healthy animals. The Caring Dairy program allows farmers to assess their farm in terms of economic, social and environmental attributes, provides a score for the farm and then requires written improvement plans and participation in educational workshops. This innovative program provides farmers the opportunity to assess the “sustainability” of their farm operation, including animal husbandry. In 2011 Ben & Jerry’s initiated the Caring Dairy program with the St. Albans Cooperative work hard to ensure the comfort and health of their cows because they care about their animals, want to ensure milk quality and sustainable production. Cows must have nutritious quality feed, clean abundant water, comfortable areas to rest, and appropriate health management. This includes rasing calves and heifers in a good environment, providing calm interactions between cows and employees and caring for animals so they can enjoy basic freedoms. High quality animal welfare continually takes place from birth to milking and finally until the time a cow leaves the farm.
Well-cared-for dairy cows are a key ingredient to good ice-cream and sustainable dairy farms, a point well appreciated by dairy producers. We believe that a farm that operates in a balance of “Happy Planet, Happy Farmer, Happy Cow” provides a scenario that benefits all aspects of dairy farming. The program offers farmers a practical framework for understanding, evaluating, and continuously improving the sustainability of their dairy operations based on economic, social and environmental criteria.
A group of these farmers voluntarily choose to participate in Ben & Jerry’s Sustainable Dairy program known as “Caring Dairy.” Caring Dairy identifies 11 indicators of sustainable dairy farming that include: Animal Husbandry, Soil Fertility and Health, Soil loss, Nutrients, Pest Management, Biodiversity, Farm Economics, Energy, Water, Social Human Capital and Impact on Local Economy. The Coop has been a long-term partner with Ben & Jerry’s, providing us the dairy we use to make our delicious product and whose farmers are dedicated to keeping Vermont part of the valuable working landscape. Albans Coop, a farmer-owned cooperative located in Franklin County, Vermont. We are proud to source our dairy from the St. For specific information about our products, we ask that you continuously refer to the labels on our products as they are the most complete and most up-to-date source for specific food allergen information. Also, while it is virtually impossible to make absolute guarantees, Ben & Jerry's is confident that not only are our products good to eat, they are also safe to eat. While we process all flavors on shared equipment, Ben & Jerry's employs strict sanitation procedures and processes that ensure complete cleaning of all equipment. We have systems and policies in place to help protect our consumers from cross-contamination. Our policies and procedures are such that if peanuts or tree nuts (almonds, cashews, chestnuts, walnuts, pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts/filberts, macadamias, Brazil nuts, pine nuts) as well as eggs, milk, fish, shellfish, wheat, soy, seeds, and lupin are not listed in the ingredient declaration or in an Allergy Information statement, then the product is safe to consume for persons with allergies to those ingredients. We insure that this information is then included on the ingredient label of our product. We work closely with all of our ingredient suppliers to verify all ingredient components, including those in natural flavors, colors and spices that might be a concern to persons who, either for medical reasons or as a matter of personal preference, wish to avoid certain foods.