On April 18, co-founders of the Vermont-based ice cream company we all know and love, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, were arrested. The pair were part of a protest at the U.S. Capitol Building held by a group called Democracy Awakening, calling for reform on issues such as climate change, education, racial injustice and many others. According to CNN, 300 people were arrested at this one protest, and all were charged with “crowding, obstructing and incommoding.”
In response to their founders’ arrest, Ben and Jerry’s website released an article commenting on the situation. They stood firmly behind the pair, saying “If you care about something, you have to be willing to risk it all — your reputation, your values, your business — for the greater good.” At the bottom of the article, there were options to “Take Action,” leading you a link to sign a petition to overturn the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling; or to “Learn More,” directing the viewer to freespeechforpeople.org, where people could join or just become educated on the situation. The Ben and Jerry’s website also posted an article on March 30 telling their viewers about the protest, and inviting them to come and join in Democracy Awakening.
Ben and Jerry’s has been known to take a stance on controversial situations in the past, including the release of the ice cream flavor “Save Our Swirled” to raise awareness on climate change, and changing the name of their chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream to “I Dough, I Dough” after gay marriage was legalized. Cohen even made 40 pints of “Bernie’s Yearning,” a flavor inspired by Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign; he donated 25 of the 40 pints to Sanders’ campaign, and allowed people to put their name in a raffle to win one of the remaining 15 pints.
Since the protests started on April 11, USA Today reported at over 1200 people were arrested. CNN also reported that there were “3500 people from 33 different states” that had made pledges to join the protests going on that week. Those who were arrested were processed and released on the scene, including Cohen and Greenfield.
“The history of our country is that nothing happens until people start putting their bodies on the line and risk getting arrested,” Cohen said at the protest to the writers of their legacy’s website. Cohen and Greenfield also served ice cream in Delaware to support Sanders, serving a version of Cohen’s flavor “Bernie’s Yearning” (this one had vanilla ice cream instead of mint).
The pair and their ice cream company are very vocal about their progressive values and have always taken a stand for values they deemed right. They also practice what they preach, having GMO-free products, use sustainable farming, and even pay their workers more than minimum wage (think: $15.97 an hour for an entry-level job). Their passion is what has earned them the reputation they have as a company that is about more than the money and has worked to make a change in the world.
