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UVM Helps Ailing Dairy Industry

Burlington, Vermont - November 16, 2009

At the University of Vermont, students are pitching in to help Vermont's ailing dairy farmers.

The school is participating in the new Keep Local Farms program that allows consumers and organizations to contribute directly to the New England Family Dairy Farmer Cooperative. The pool of money is then divided up and given back to farmers.

UVM students were soon supposed to see a 10-cent decrease in the price of one of these 14-ounce bottles of milk, but instead voted to maintain the current price and give the 10 cents back to the industry.

"We can sell anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 bottles of 14-ounce milk, so we're looking at anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 potentially each year," said Melissa Zelazny of the UVM Dining Services.

"We understand that the dairy industry is suffering with the current economic crisis, you know, low prices and stuff so we just feel like this is finally an opportunity for students to actually directly participate in and directly offer an extension of being a land grant university," said Bryce Jones of the UVM Student Government

The 10-cent differential does not yet apply to the bulk milk consumed in UVM's 15 dining halls, just the bottles of milk at the school's convenience stores and retail establishments. But officials hope to be able to eventually help farmers through their bulk milk purchases as well.