Vincentia High School students have demonstrated their support for Australian dairy farmers by creating a Facebook page promoting the sale of branded milk.
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Vincentia High School teacher John Fairs said the concept for Fight The $1 White came about after his students were asked to brainstorm business ideas.
“Students scoured some Shoalhaven Facebook pages to find our communities biggest problem and without a doubt the biggest problem was the dairy farmer’s milk crisis,” Mr Fairs said.
“We read of the farmer’s harrowing stories, the whole unfairness of their plight and very sadly of the 14 suicides that have occurred since the initial price cuts; we realised we had to do something about this now.”
Not only are the students encouraging people to avoid buying $1 milk, they have designed bumper stickers to raise awareness of the milk crisis and cost $3 to purchase.
“Fight The $1 White means exactly that, with our bumper stickers we are trying to create a groundswell of public support for our farmers, that both creates and extends awareness of their plight but also encourages consumers to stop buying Coles and Woolworths $1 milk,” he said.
“Ultimately, we want the support to be so strong that the bargaining power returns to the farmers where it should be and not with the supermarkets.
“At the moment, the campaign is local but for us to really make Coles and Woolies sit up and take notice we need it to go nationally.
“We have sold out of our first order of 250 stickers and have received our next order of 500, so we are looking for passionate local businesses to sell the stickers on our behalf.”
All profits from the sale of the stickers will go to Lifeline’s Dairy Farmer Crisis Appeal, which offers emergency counselling to farmers.
“When you consider many farmers are currently not even covering their costs, they are effectively turning into charity workers,” Mr Fairs said.
“Now more than ever they need professional counselling to deal with their fate.”
Vincentia High School student Campbell Blair spoke of the milk crisis after he visited a local dairy farm with the class.
“What I learned from going to the farm, is how much blood, sweat and tears goes into making milk,” he said.
“It is so disrespectful to our farmers, who for some are up 2.30am every morning, to produce milk that is three and half times cheaper than the price of many bottles of water.
“It is just insane.”
Student Teneisha Ross agreed it was vital the community got behind local dairy farmers.
“Without our farmers we would not have the luxury of drinking the fresh milk they produce,” she said.
“The cut in prices is outrageous, it is not only disrespectful to the farmers it is disrespectful to the cows.
“We must support our farmers by spreading the word about this crisis country-wide, this way people will be aware of the situation and get behind their local farmers to save not only their jobs but their lives and families.”
Numbaa dairy farmer Tim Cochrane has keenly observed the activity on the Fight The $1 White Facebook page since it began last month and invited the students to visit his farm.
“We have been fighting the Coles $1 milk since it started in 2011,” he said.
“We are very happy to have community support, buying branded product is key to adding value back to the dairy industry.
“I was excited to meet young people who can see the need for a future dairy industry. These students have had no affiliation with a farm other than to buy milk in a shop, and they can see what the supermarkets are doing is negative for a short-term profit to the detriment of an industry which supplies their future food needs.”
To show your support, purchase a bumper sticker or to sell them at your business visit: https://www.facebook.com/Fight-the-1-White-280054909050710/.