10. Global >
10.1 Sustainable Agriculture — The Netherlands
Caring Dairy
>>>Watch this video clip about the Caring Dairy program
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In 2003, Ben & Jerry’s launched Caring Dairy,
a collaborative project that works directly with dairy farmers
in the Netherlands on continuous improvement of the environmental, social,
and economic performance 
of
their operations. Our partners in this effort include Unilever’s Sustainable
Agriculture Initiative, our milk supplier, local farmers and Wageningen
University.
The project’s final objective is the development of guidelines for sustainable dairy farming, which will be completed in 2008 and made freely accessible to all participating farmers and the public at large.
Caring Dairy helps farmers keep an eye on eleven indicators of sustainable dairy farming related to soil fertility and health, soil loss, nutrients, pest management, biodiversity, farm economics/value chain, energy, water, social/human factors, impact on local economy and animal welfare.
In October 2006, we took all participating Caring Dairy farmers and their families to Ben & Jerry’s home base in Vermont. During their week-long visit, the Caring Dairy 
farmers had a chance to share ideas with some of the Vermont farmers who supply dairy ingredients for Ben & Jerry’s U.S. production and who participate in the Dairy Stewardship Alliance, a Ben & Jerry’s initiative to encourage sustainable dairy farming in Vermont. The Caring Dairy farmers also had a chance to connect with the brand’s origins, taking a tour of Ben & Jerry’s flagship ice cream factory in Waterbury, Vermont and meeting with co-founder Jerry Greenfield.
We plan to complete the exchange program in 2007, when some of Ben & Jerry’s Vermont-based farmers will visit the Netherlands to gain a European perspective on dairying and the growth of Ben & Jerry’s overseas.
We’re pleased that the impact of Caring Dairy is rippling outward from our initial group of participating farmers. We are actively sharing outcomes from Caring Dairy in the dairy industry, including in the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform (SAI) Working Group on Dairy, a food sector initiative with over twenty global food companies.
Learn more about the Caring Dairy program and listen to its participating farmers at www.benjerry.co.uk/caringdairy.