A Vermont clean water activist has filed a lawsuit claiming Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. and Unilever, its corporate parent, use misleading marketing to make consumers believe its farmers protect the environment and their animals.

Activist James Ehlers filed the class action lawsuit in federal court Oct. 29 on behalf of himself and other consumers of Ben & Jerry’s products.

The suit lays out a series of allegedly deceptive advertising and marketing claims employed by the world-famous ice cream maker. It says Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever claim their products are made from “happy cows” raised by “happy farmers” who follow sustainable agriculture practices.

“Ehlers, like other reasonable consumers who see Unilever’s representations about milk and cream sourced exclusively from ‘happy cows’ on ‘Caring Dairy’ farms, did not expect the products to be made with dairy produced on regular factory-style, mass production dairy operations,” the suit reads.