Land O’ Lakes has officially removed the Native American woman who appeared on its packaging for nearly 100 years.
The farmer-owned cooperative announced in February that the change would begin to be rolled out in the spring and summer, and that is now visible on butter tubs and deli cheeses, according to HuffPost.
"As Land O'Lakes looks toward our 100th anniversary, we've recognized we need packaging that reflects the foundation and heart of our company culture—and nothing does that better than our farmer-owners whose milk is used to produce Land O'Lakes' dairy products," Land O'Lakes President and CEO Beth Ford said in a statement. "As a farmer-owned co-op, we strongly feel the need to better connect the men and women who grow our food with those who consume it," she said. "Our farmer-to-fork structure gives us a unique ability to bridge this divide."
The so-called butter maiden -- a Native American woman kneeling as she presented butter in her hands -- has been criticized for its racist and sexist imagery.
Twin Cities Pioneer Press reported the maiden, named Mia, first appeared on Land O'Lakes packaging in 1928. The packaging changed multiple times since then, most recently showing the woman from the shoulders up.
Minnesota Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan thanked the company for making the change on Twitter.
“Thank you to Land O’Lakes for making this important and needed change,” she said. “Native people are not mascots or logos. We are very much still here.”
North Dakota state Rep. Ruth Buffalo, D-Fargo, a registered member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, said the maiden packaging goes "hand-in-hand with human and sex trafficking of our women and girls … by depicting Native women as sex objects," according to the Pioneer Press. She also said it wasn't enough to just change a logo.
“We as a whole need to keep pushing forward to address the underlying issues that directly impact an entire population that survived genocide,” Buffalo said.
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