Are you yearning for some Bernie? We have all come to either love or hate Bernie Sanders. Nationwide, Bernie has received tons of support from voters, especially among millenials. Whether or not you're "feeling the Bern," you have to admit that this guy is a pretty interesting character, especially to be running for president.
Sanders began his political career as mayor in Burlington, Vermont, where he served for four terms. He then moved to the national political stage where he served Vermont in the House of Representatives as an independent. Sanders won a seat in the Senate in 2007 and was re-elected in 2012. He announced his Democratic presidential nomination in 2015.
What better way to show your support for Bernie than to make a delicious and almost satirical dessert in his honor? That is exactly what co-founder of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream did. Ben Cohen was a resident of Burlington, Vermont, and he believes Sanders is a great choice for our next commander in chief. He calls this new ice cream concoction, "Bernie's Yearning" and there is a very clever concept behind crafting this ice cream flavor. Cohen describes the flavor as a "participatory flavor," which means you are supposed to do something with the food, like yogurt and granola packs we so frequently see in stores.
In an interview with Samantha Bonar, a reporter with the Los Angeles Times, Cohen broke down the ice cream and described to us what exactly it tasted like, and he further explained the concept behind the flavor.
For the flavor choices, Cohen went with flavors he honestly does not even know if Sanders likes ... but Cohen loves them, so he went with it. The ice cream is mint flavored and it is covered with a thick shell of solid chocolate.
Why these flavors? Why place a huge, hard, chocolate shell around it? The concept is extremely bright and brings into play some of Bernie's political ideologies.
The Concept:
"The chocolate disc represents the huge majority of economic gains that have gone to the top one percent since the end of the recession. Beneath it, the rest of us," explains Cohen." Cohen explained to a Los Angeles Times reporter.
Basically, you break up the chocolate shell into pieces and then mix it into the mint ice cream to make it equal all the way through, then you are to share the treat "with your fellow Americans." In other words, take away all of the gains from the economic top, and share with everyone down below who is not as fortunate financially, or smash the chocolate and make mint chocolate chip ice cream.
Since there is a non-compete clause, Ben & Jerry's could mass-produce and sell the ice cream. Cohen has decided to give all 40 of the homemade, and hand-signed pints to random winners of his contest. Cohen also noted that Ben & Jerry's would never mass-produce and sell the concoction because it has a company policy of not endorsing any candidates. While we have seen an elected political figure get their own flavor (Obama's "Yes Pecan"), this is a big first for Cohen.
There have been 14 flavors named after celebrities. Some of these include: Willie Nelson's "Country Peach Cobbler," Jimmy Fallon's "Late Night Snack" and President Obama's "Yes Pecan."
"Nothing is so unstoppable as a flavor whose time has finally come." -Ben Cohen
So maybe this is Bernie's time ... He does seem to be unstoppable as we head into the beginnings of what is sure to be a historic election. So why not sit on the couch, pop open your favorite flavor of Ben & Jerry's, and watch the countless debates on television? You could even research your favorite candidates online to learn more about them. Besides a pint of ice cream, what other way can you make economic policies suck a little less?
