(Würzburg/Brussels, 14.06.2017) “Let us have justice, and then we shall have enough liberty!” This quote by Joseph Joubert seems to have been tailor-made for the five farmers who presented their fair milk projects today. “In the beginning, the idea was just to find a way to ensure a fair income for us dairy farmers,” said Michael Braun of Fair Milk Germany, describing the early steps taken by his German colleagues. “Today, the Fair Milk brand is available in six countries and each carton sold represents a step toward self-determination for us dairy farmers.”
This fourth European Fair Milk Conference was held under the auspices of Bavaria’s Minister President Horst Seehofer and was organised in Würzburg by Fair Milk Germany and the European Milk Board.
Fair Milk Conference honours contributions to sustainable agriculture
This year, the “Golden Faironika”, which is awarded for outstanding efforts in the dairy sector, was given in the “Policymaker” category to former French Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll. In his introduction, President of the European Milk Board Romuald Schaber praised the former minister for his commitment: “Minister Le Foll understood that to reach acceptable milk prices, we have to address milk volumes! Regardless of any resistance, he vehemently pushed for his proposal for volume reduction at European level.”
A platform of Spanish organisations – which includes milk producer association OPL (Organización de Productores de Leche) – was honoured for their impressive “white march” protest, where hundreds of people took to the streets in the summer of 2015 to demand fair milk prices. The Golden Faironika in the “Farmer” category was awarded to French dairy farmer Boris Gondouin, who “is committed and invests fervent energy in fighting for fair conditions for dairy farmers.”
Host country Germany felicitated Lower Saxony’s Agriculture Minister Christian Meyer, the organisation Misereor and German farmer Kirsten Wosnitza with the 2017 Golden Faironika.
Fair Milk in six European countries
Founded by dairy farmers in Austria in 2006, the Fair Milk Project now covers six EU countries. A range of Fair Milk products are now available in stores in Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Italy and Austria.
Die Faire Milch in Germany:
“Fair milk with its strict quality criteria simply tastes good. The fair milk price contributes to creating a fairer dairy sector and allows us dairy farmers to continue to live off our work.”
“The cow goes ‘moo’ to say thank-you” – for the 8 million litres of fair milk that were sold in 2016. Our goal is for every resident of Belgium to drink our fair milk in the future.”
“Only if it says 'Guat.Fair' is it filled with an assured future for our local farmers. Because our farmers receive an additional 10 cents for every litre of fair milk.”
“Our milk producers have implemented their idea – The Fair Milk brand gives our farmers a permanent place in the food production chain as well as appropriate remuneration for their work.”
Il latte onesto in Italy:
“100% honest, good and fair. Our fair milk favours agriculture, the environment and rural development.”
“Above all else, consumers want to trust the products they buy. Luxembourgers – from children to the Grand Duke – are fans of our fair milk products.”
Contact:
Michael Braun, Fair Milk Germany (DE): + 49 (0) 170 761 4043
Romuald Schaber, EMB President (DE): + 49 (0) 160 352 4703
Regina Reiterer, EMB Press officer (DE, EN, FR): +32 (0) 2808 1935
