Ben & Jerry's ad supports small family farms.

Ben & Jerry's has launched an advertising campaign that tackles the issue of the rapid disappearance of America's farms. The first ad, in the form of a television commercial introduced on October 17, highlights the struggles of small-scale family farming in the face of the growth of industrial agriculture. The commercial will air through November on network and cable television during early morning, primetime, late night and access programs in eight key markets: Boston; Burlington, Vermont; Denver; New York; San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; Seattle and Washington, DC. The campaign was created by Amalgamated in New York and shot by Jake Scott, who has directed videos for several bands including REM, U2 and Radiohead.

The ad features Mike Eastman, a first-generation Vermont dairy farmer, and communicates the message that America loses 330 farms every week due in large part to the proliferation of industrial agriculture, encroaching urban development and other economic shifts in agriculture. In the ad, Ben & Jerry's asks viewers to log on to www.benjerry.com/familyfarms where they can find timely action steps to take on behalf of small and mid-sized family farms.

Among the options recommended to viewers is having them ask their representatives in Congress to further national farmer-friendly legislation, through vehicles such as the 2007 Farm Bill, that protect small and mid-sized farms while slowing the expansion of industrial farming.

A focus of the ad was having viewers send personalized letters to their representatives urging support for the Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC). Interestingly enough, two days after the ad appeared, the Senate agriculture committee extended MILC for two more years, although there was a cutback in funding.

Walt Freese, Ben & Jerry's CEO, explained "These ads aren't about selling ice cream. We're trying to initiate public dialogue about the fact that small and mid-size family farms are in danger of disappearing. We think Ben & Jerry's consumers care about this issue as much as we do, so we're using our marketing dollars to encourage them to tell Congress that smaller family farms are important to a diverse food supply."

"Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield built Ben & Jerry's on the idea that business should play a central role in society by initiating innovative ways to improve the quality of life locally, nationally and internationally," said Dave Stever, Ben & Jerry's Marketing Director. "Ben & Jerry's is a long-time supporter of small-scale family farms. We're especially proud of our 20-year relationship with the 500 family farmers of the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery in Vermont."

Ben & Jerry's has launched a number of initiatives over the years to support small to mid-size family farms and sustainable practices in the dairy sector, specifically the Vermont Dairy Stewardship Alliance, the Vermont Dairy Farm Sustainability Project and the Caring Dairy Program in Europe, all of which focus on sustainable agriculture and the support of small-scale farms. "The introduction of our line of organic ice cream and our commitment to natural ingredients speaks to our engagement with the cause of sustainable agriculture. We also recently switched the coffee extract in all our coffee flavors to Fair Trade Certified, adding an extra layer of assurance that we're supporting smaller family farms in developing countries by guaranteeing a fair wage," said Yola Carlough, Ben & Jerry's Social Mission Director. "These efforts alone won't save small-scale family farms, but they are an important way to put our values into action."

Ben & Jerry's has engaged with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) as its content partner to develop this campaign and enrich its understanding of small-scale farming and sustainable agriculture. UCS is a nonprofit partnership of scientists and citizens making great strides in the way humanity perceives its role as steward of the earth and investigating topics related to protecting and improving the health of our environment.

USA Today points out that the TV ad campaign is the company's first in a decade. In all, according to USA Today, there will be five commercials that will run throughout the year, all intended to slow the decline of family-owned farms in the U.S.