Land O’Lakes is removing the Native American woman from their packaging

Since 1928, an image of a Native American woman has appeared on the packaging of Land O’Lakes butter and margarine. Now, the company will replace that familiar image with new designs to reflect their initiative to celebrate farmers. Land O’Lakes, Inc. was founded by a group of Minnesota dairy farmers in 1921, and continues to be a farmer-owned cooperative today.

As Land O’Lakes approaches its 100th anniversary, the co-op has chosen to celebrate the farmers that are its backbone. The new packaging will include the phrase “Farmer-Owned” above the Land O’Lakes brandmark and “Since 1921” below it.

Some products will also feature photos of Land O’Lakes farmer members with accompanying copy that reads “Since 1921” and “Proud to be Farmer-Owned: As a farmer-owned co-op, we stand together to bring you the very best in dairy.”

“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,” Beth Ford, president and CEO of Land O’Lakes, said in a statement.

The new packaging already appears on tub butter spreads, foodservice products and deli cheese. It will begin appearing on stick butter in spring and summer of 2020. The company says the rollout of the new design will reach all products by the end of the year.

The original Land O’Lakes logo was painted in 1928 and has been updated throughout the years. It has come under fire for being racist and culturally insensitive toward Native Americans.

“Yes, it’s a good thing for the company to remove the images, but we can’t stop there,” North Dakota state Rep. Ruth Buffalo, who is a registered member of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, told TwinCities.com. “We as a whole need to keep pushing forward to address the underlying issues that directly impact an entire population that survived genocide.”

What do you think of the new packaging?