The Partnership was launched earlier this year through the efforts of Stonyfield Organic co-founder Gary Hirshberg to encourage consumers to increase their weekly purchases of organic dairy brands. The goal is to provide area dairy farms with the demand they need to remain financially viable. Collectively, the Partnershipâs participating brands purchase milk from over 390 farms in the Northeast and their survival is tied to consumer demand.
âOur association and its members are already very aligned with these goals,â said NFCA Executive Director Erbin Crowell. âThis Partnership provides yet another opportunity for us to reinforce our support of locally and regionally sourced organic farms and dairy brands, and healthy and organic foods.â As part of their role in the Partnership, NFCA member co-ops across New England and New York are encouraging their members and customers to purchase one-quarter of their weekly dairy products from participating local organic brands and take a pledge to that effect on the Partnershipâs website, at saveorganicfamilyfarms.org. More than 2,500 consumers have taken the pledge to date, said Olga Moriarty, Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership Executive Director.
The NFCAâs 40 member co-ops include an estimated 168,000 members, and food co-ops also attract other shoppers seeking local brands, healthy and organic foods, and other products not often found in chain markets.
Like those larger chain stores, many NFCA member co-ops continue to deal with post-pandemic challenges, including supply-chain disruptions and labor shortages, but as Crowell explained, âthis Partnership and its effort to help dairy farmers and organic brands is positive news, and offers a way for our member co-ops to further engage their members and customers.â
About the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership
Last fall, 135 organic family farms across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and eastern New York received the sudden news that Horizon and Maple Hill Creamery were terminating their purchase contracts, effective in early 2023. This news put these farms, many of whom have been in business for generations, at serious risk of closure unless they find alternate outlets. In early January, the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership, a first-of-its-kind campaign in partnership with the Maine Organic Farming and Gardening Association (MOFGA), was created to help solve the crisis of disappearing family farms in our region.
The Partnership, a collaboration of farmers, processors, retailers, activists and government agencies, invites consumers to pledge to purchase at least one-fourth of their weekly organic dairy purchases from brands that have committed to sourcing their dairy from Northeast organic family farmers. A central goal of the effort is to increase demand for dairy produced in our region, creating market stability to help at-risk farms and build greater food system resilience for the future.
The Neighboring Food Co-op Association (NFCA) is the first retail organization to join the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnershipâs efforts to support local organic dairy brands and save organic dairy farms in the region. Several Vermont NFCA members are participating in the initiative. They include the Brattleboro Food Co-op, Hanover Co-op Food Stores in White River Junction, Hunger Mountain Co-op in Montpelier, Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op, Putney Food Co-op, Upper Valley Co-op in White River Junction, and Plainfield Food Co-op. The Partnership was launched earlier this year through the efforts of Stonyfield Organic co-founder Gary Hirshberg to encourage consumers to increase their weekly purchases of organic dairy brands. The goal is to provide area dairy farms with the demand they need to remain financially viable.
Collectively, the Partnershipâs participating brands purchase milk from more than 390 farms in the Northeast and their survival is tied to consumer demand.