Hannaford Supermarkets recently participated in a roundtable presentation focused on farmworker safety and well-being at the Dairy Sustainability Alliance spring meeting held in Chicago.
Leigh Chase, director of center store merchandising, and George Parmenter, the brand’s lead for sustainability and health, spoke about Hannaford’s collaboration with dairy farmers and industry partners to implement the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Workforce Development Evaluation Tool, a program to support farmers in building safe work environments, according to Hannaford.
The FARM Workforce Development Evaluation Tool assesses workplace practices on dairy farms with a focus on developing sustainable processes that promote human resources and safety best practices. Topics covered include recruitment and hiring, compensation and benefits, working conditions, housing, and safety training.
“Hannaford is committed to ensuring that the products we sell are responsibly sourced from suppliers and farms that treat their workers fairly and humanely,” said Chase. “We believe our biggest, longest-lasting impact comes from independent assurance and resources such as the FARM Workforce Development Evaluation Tool, which supports dairy managers in creating a positive workplace culture with industry-best practices.”
The speakers also discussed how the assessment has helped identify areas where additional education, training, and resources can support further advancement in farm safety and human resources practices.
“We applaud dairy farmers for having this program and for their commitment to sustainable production. Partnerships and collaborations such as this one help us all advance human rights commitments across our supply chains,” said Parmenter. “Hannaford has seen this model succeed and led this kind of work across a range of industry and supply-chain sectors in the past, including seafood.”
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