MAINE PUBLIC • August 4, 2023
Milk With Dignity is a worker-driven social responsibility movement that has been pressuring Hannaford to join for years. The group has a code of conduct that sets housing and working condition standards that companies and farms agree to follow. Those standards are enforced by an independent council of investigators and lawyers. In turn, the companies pay the farms a premium to improve worker conditions. It was born after an employee died in a 2009 workplace accident at a Vermont farm suppling milk to Ben & Jerry's, the iconic Vermont ice cream brand. The company agreed to require suppliers to follow the code in 2017. Cheryl Pinto, the company’s lead on the topic, said farmworkers have already seen results. Now, Milk With Dignity is focused on Hannaford, Maine's second largest private employer, with nearly 200 stores throughout the Northeast.