Co-founder of NH's Stonyfield Farm's voting for Hillary

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My Turn: Corporate responsibility and why I’m voting for Hillary Clinton

When it comes to politics and government, I believe in progressive, Democratic principles: that we all deserve a fair shot to get ahead and that we need to make sure no one slips through the cracks or gets left behind. And that average citizens should have the right to know about the practices of the companies who sell products and services to us.

I’ve been asked if these beliefs hindered our ability to grow Stonyfield Farm from a seven-cow operation into one of New Hampshire’s largest companies – but the truth is I think they’re complementary. And if business leaders look closely at the long-term success of companies that behave responsibly, treat their employees and consumers fairly and respectfully, and reinvest in the communities that support them, they’ll understand that it’s in their best interests to do the same.

Leading a business doesn’t mean I can’t also support practices that treat workers and consumers fairly and respectfully. At Stonyfield, we recently introduced a 6-month paid family leave for our employees, because we recognize that workers who don’t have to worry about having a child or taking care of a sick family member are happier and more productive.

We support the Just Label It coalition to promote GMO transparency. We prize sustainability, and have donated many millions of dollars to environmental causes. And we recognize the importance of supporting other small businesses, which is why we source our milk from New England and Midwest farmers through a sustainable organic family farmer cooperative.

Sure, there is a lot about corporate America that needs fixing. No one has to explain to me why the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision was flawed and that corporations have far more power than individuals to influence government policy. I have been spending the last five years fighting to get large chemical and food companies to stop blocking citizens’ basic rights to know whether or not our foods have been genetically engineered. And these enormous corporations have spent more than $400 million lobbying to deny these rights. But recently Campbell Soup broke with the pack and joined the call for mandatory labeling and citizens’ rights to know. Campbell and their forward-looking CEO Denise Morrison need to be applauded for this progressive step, and we need to encourage more leadership from her peers.

We need a thriving economy of successful American businesses for our country to maintain the high standards of living we enjoy. But we need to make sure that encouraging successful business doesn’t mean leaving workers behind or crushing individuals’ rights to know. That’s why it’s so important to have real conversations about what we can do to encourage corporate responsibility, learn from best practices and discourage short-term thinking in which profits are the only priority.

And that’s why, as a progressive businessman committed to helping lift up both our employees and our local communities and to supporting people’s rights to know and choose the kinds of foods we buy, I support Hillary Clinton for president.

Clinton has introduced the kind of detailed, insightful proposals that prove she understands how to actually make these changes happen. She has embraced consumers’ rights to know whether our foods have been genetically engineered. She has shown that she is committed to rewarding and encouraging positive practices – as well as punishing and eliminating negative ones. Most of all, Clinton has demonstrated that she understands the necessity of working with everyone from small-business owners to company leaders to ensure that businesses do everything they can to help workers and their families get a fair shot at the American dream and to enable parents to do what they think is right to protect their families.

Businesses can misbehave – or they can be engines for steady jobs, fair wages, economic mobility, community service and social change. What we need is a president who understands how to promote and build positive, socially responsible businesses. We need a president who is committed to bringing out the best side of the American entrepreneurial spirit and maximizing its potential to help American families get ahead. And that’s why I’m voting for Hillary Clinton.


read: http://mobile.concordmonitor.com/home/20832054-108/my-turn-corporate-responsibility-and-why-im-voting-for-hillary-clinton

[still_one]

1. I like their Yogart, and nice to see their support

[stonecutter357]

2. K&R!

[Lucinda]

3. The notion that all corporations are baaaad has never set well with me

Extreme point of view are extreme.
Thankie for the link!

[pandr32]

4. Exactly--too simplistic

Same can be said of "establishment" or the wealthy.
We need to remember that some extremely well off people have felt a sense of duty to do good in the world. I hate it when George Soros, as one example, is equated to the Koch brothers. Or the "establishment" and the "1%" are criticized, yet they gave us JFK and his brothers, and both the Roosevelt presidents.
Every single person or business should be judged by their/its character and not be tarred with the same stereotyping brush.