From Cow Food to Phish Food,
What’s the Deal with GMO Feed

There’s been some buzz lately about dairy products that come from cows that are fed genetically modified (GMO) feed. As a dairy company (it takes a whole lot of Vermont milk and cream to make all those ice cream pints) we wanted to take this opportunity to share our point of view.

As you may know, Ben & Jerry’s is in the middle of our transition out of genetically engineered ingredients. Already 80% of our ingredients by volume are non-GMO, according to “non-GMO by origin” standards. By the middle of 2014 we’ll have completed our work and all of the ingredients we source globally will be non-GMO.

Another goal of ours is to be fully transparent about our transition to non-GMO, what it means, and what it doesn’t mean. To be clear, the fresh Vermont milk and cream that our family farmers supply to us is not organic. This means that it is almost certain that some portion of the cows’ feed contains GMO ingredients, such as corn. With almost 90% of corn grown in the US being genetically modified, it’s hard for conventional farmers to find non-GMO feed.

However, it’s also true that even though milk may come from a cow that is fed GMO corn, it would not be required to be labeled GMO under the legislation being considered in places like Vermont, Maine, California and Washington State, and recently passed in Connecticut. That’s because these current proposed labeling laws would require food made with GMO ingredients to be labeled, and because neither the cow nor the milk is genetically modified, the dairy products would not require labeling.

We’re extremely proud of our thirty year relationship with the family farmers of the St. Albans Dairy Coop. Their more than 460 family farms are the backbone of our rural economy in Vermont and are stewards of the idyllic landscape for which our state is known. Their farmers stood with us as we fought for the right to label the first genetically engineered technology used in the US food system, rBGH (artificial bovine growth hormone) in milk. And will continue to work closely with the farmers of the Coop to support the healthy, sustainable and financially viable family farms through our Caring Dairy program.

We also want you to know that we’re committed to not only sourcing non-GMO ingredients for our ice cream, but we are also actively working with a diverse set of stakeholders — from farmers and seed traders to suppliers and manufacturers — to move US agriculture away from GMOs so consumers have a broader choice of food ingredients and products. We want to create the conditions for farmers who want to begin the transition back to conventional, non-GMO corn, soy, canola and other commodities. We believe that as that happens the family farmers of the St. Albans Coop will have access to competitively priced non-GMO feed for their cows. We’re working hard to make that happen.