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BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - UVM dining officials say it was no struggle getting college kids to come get free treats, but they add it was a learning opportunity, too. With the help of the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership, Sodexo -- who handles food services at UVM -- has committed to increased use of local organic dairy and the event was a chance to connect students with the farmers and producers who make the products students eat every day...

Organic dairy farmers are in crisis. Costs are way up for fuel, feed and fertilizer. And without matching increases in the pay price for milk, advocates, officials and farmers themselves are worried they might leave the industry altogether. A lot of those same people are trying to crack this problem, including one organization that wants to use consumer power to get more local organic dairy on supermarket shelves. Vermont Public’s Mary Williams Engisch spoke with digital producer Elodie Reed, who covers the dairy industry...

How acute is the plight of dairy farmers in the Northeast?  The situation was enough for Gary Hirshberg, co-founder and former CEO of Londonderry, N.H.-based Stonyfield Farm Inc., to return to the trenches. Hirshberg, whose fun title has been “chief organic optimist,” wanted to ensure that the glass of milk is indeed half full for the remaining dairy farmers in his part of the world...

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - A major supplier of food to large dining halls in our region just made a commitment to help save organic dairy farms in the area. It was Stonyfield Organic that worked to create the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership when Horizon Organic made its exit from the Northeast as a way to keep organic milk here in our regional food ecosystem. Now, enter Sodexo, which serves 37 colleges and universities in the Northeast region, including schools like UVM. The supplier has committed to incrementally doubling or tripling its purchasing of Northeast brands that come from area organic dairies...

Butterworks Farm, a family-owned small dairy farm and creamery in Westfield, expects to increase its weekly sales to area colleges and universities roughly ten-fold this fall, thanks to a growing regional partnership between organic dairy farmers, processors and retailers. Sodexo — a global food management company that serves institutions across the country  — announced this month it will double and, for some accounts, triple its purchases of organic dairy brands that support New England’s family-owned organic farms...

Small, organic family farms are built on connection to the land, participation in their communities, and commitment to the well-being of their animals and surrounding wildlife habitats. They also rely on business from food brands to package and sell their food...

US dairy business Stonyfield Organic wants to support the next generation of organic family farmers through a new initiative, ‘Save Gen F’. DairyReporter caught up with Jason Johnson, Farmer Relationship Manager, to learn more about this effort...

More than 100 organic dairy farms abruptly lost their contracts last year. Six months later, they’re cautiously moving forward...

Last fall, we told you about the 89 small organic dairy farmers in the Northeast whose contracts were abruptly cut by Danone — and the subsequent 46 organic dairy farmers who were cut by Maple Hill Creamery. When the USDA was pressured by politicians and the industry to intervene and help save them, the primary message to the agency was — finalize the damn Origin of Livestock rule, a rule that governs how organic dairy operates and something that the organic industry has been fighting for since 2005...

PUTNEY — Putney Food Co-op is the first retailer to officially join the Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership’s efforts to support local organic dairy brands and organic dairy farms. The partnership, launched earlier this year through the efforts of Stonyfield Organic co-founder Gary Hirshberg, hopes to encourage consumers to increase their weekly purchases of organic dairy brands with the goal of providing area dairy farms with the demand they need to remain financially viable...

If you buy milk in the U.S., you're likely familiar with the brand Horizon Organic, a certified organic producer of milk, cheese, and other dairy products. As explained by the New York Times, since its founding in 1991, the company has sourced its milk from a variety of small dairy producers, many located in the Northeastern United States. But what you might not know is that Horizon Organic became embroiled in a scandal starting last summer, when it announced it would be terminating contracts with 89 of these small-scale milk producers...

When Gary Hirshberg heard two major food corporations would pull their contracts with 135 small organic dairy farms in the Northeast, he knew something needed to be done. As co-founder of Stonyfield Organics, he always came to rely on small, family-run organic dairy farms. He knew the move would put many farms at risk of closing if they couldn't find alternative markets...

Northeast organic dairy companies are trying to recruit consumers to help strengthen the industry after news that 135 farms in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and New York will lose their milk contracts. An initiative announced Wednesday by Gary Hirshberg, co-founder of organic yogurt maker and dairy company Stonyfield, encourages consumers to sign a pledge to buy a quarter of their weekly dairy purchases from 35 brands...

Partnership Invites Consumers to Pledge to Purchase One-Fourth of Weekly Dairy Purchases from Brands Committed to Increasing their Purchases from New England and Eastern NY Organic Family Farms in 2022. Photos courtesy Northeast Organic Family Farm Partnership...