Stonyfield Farm Strikes the Right Environmental Chords

We like this company for many reasons, and of course, it's not just about the apricot mango yogurt. President and "CE-YO" Gary Hirshberg, who started at the company in 1983, has spearheaded enormous initiatives. For the past 25 years, Gary has overseen Stonyfield Farm’s phenomenal growth, from its infancy as a 7-cow organic farming school in 1983 to its current $260 million in annual sales. Stonyfield has enjoyed an annual growth rate of 27.4% for more than eighteen years, by consistently producing a great-tasting product and using innovative marketing techniques that blend the company’s social, environmental, and financial missions. The company's environmental initiatives include: supporting organic milk and agriculture; giving away 10% of its profits each year to organizations that promote sustainability; using environmental packaging and including important messages about the environment on the package lids; being an official partner of the recent Live Earth concerts; being the recipient of nearly 50 environmental awards; and sponsoring a veggie-powered bus in 2006 to tour us universities to spread the word about climate change.

The web site has so many features one could get lost in it, except for the fact that it is so well organized and presented. The site features: recipes, 2 blogs, "mooseletters," a company history, "menu for change" about programs that support healthy food for school kids, the "Have a Cow" program which gives the viewer first hand insights into life on the farm, calls to action on numerous areas regarding the environment and education, nutritional and medical advice from experts on call, and much more. The site is a great testimony to the fact that one can have a great web site that is still, in the end, fun, and the creators obviously never lost site of this. A visit to this site is well worth it, and let us know if you don't feel like you just came back from a day at the farm.