Farm Fresh Rhode Island blog

Back this summer, when Genie Trevor let us know that the Winter issue of Edible Rhody would be all about dairy, we knew there was a important story to be told. However, it was bigger and timelier than anyone could have expected.

Just weeks later, the US Department of Justice launched an inquiry into alleged monopolistic practices by Dean Foods, the national conglomerate that owns Garelick Farms, Horizon, Silk Soymilk and 50 other regional milk brands. The Department of Justice’s concern: Dean now controls 70% of the milk processing in the Northeast (and as much as 85% in places like Michigan) and its profits are rising just as the price paid to farmers is plunging. Even though the consumer price of milk at the grocery store hasn’t changed much, dairy farmers are getting squeezed on price. In fact, the money farmers get is now below the cost of production.

The lack of competition presents a number of issues:

• It’s hard for individual farmers looking to get a fair price for their milk when one company controls so much of the processing.
• Such high concentration of food processing has been a central concern in recent food safety crises for tomatoes, peanuts, cilantro and beef.
• The control that large conglomerates hold over processing often also extends to control over the shelves in your local supermarket. Dean Foods and other large food conglomerates essentially own the shelves in the grocery store by paying supermarket chains what are called “slotting fees” that keep out competition and especially disadvantage smaller producers.

So where does that leave the farms of the Rhody Fresh dairy coop or the two farms that process the milk of their own herd – Arruda in Tiverton and Wright’s in North Smithfield?

• These independent milk producers have worked hard to develop strong relationships with Rhode Island customers. By taking their milk directly to customers, they’ve been able to maintain more control over pricing.
• Sure, as a dairy farmer you get up hours before dawn every day and work ’til the cows come home, but one of the hardest parts is surviving the price swings. One of the most significant things that the Rhody Fresh coop does for its members is to stabilize prices. No matter the market price, Rhody Fresh coop tries to buffer the farmers so they always get a price that at least meets their production costs. (The go-it-alone alternative has been disastrous for many dairies, especially in Vermont, where many family dairy farms have been lost in recent months.) Rhody Fresh just turned 5 and it’s working: the coop grew from 5 to 9 farms and its milk is now available in many new stores, schools and restaurants.
• Supporting our local dairies is as important as ever. It’s only because Rhode Islanders relentlessly asked store managers “Where’s the Rhody Fresh?” that the milk is now on the shelves in stores like Stop and Shop. (By the way, where’s the Rhody Fresh at URI and RIC? Providence College, Brown, RISD, Salve Regina, and Roger Williams all proudly serve Rhody Fresh. The Governor and Lt. Governor have both spoken out that our public colleges should serve RI milk. What’s the hold up?!)

Local dairy farms are priceless: we’re talking about our milk, our cheese, our yogurt, our butter. How much dairy do we eat everyday? Over your next bowl of cereal, think about the happy cows, the early-rising farmers, the pastoral landscape of Southern New England and how good it all tastes.

The Dairy Issue of Edible Rhody is now out at the Wintertime Farmers Market and your favorite food spot. The stories do an incredible job of capturing and contextualizing this moment of challenge and hope for dairy in Rhode Island: from family dairy farmers to milk processors and from cows to cheesemakers to cheesemongers. It’s an excellent read and provides a 360 degree view of what’s at stake.