Ben and Jerry: We all scream for social justice



Jerry & Ben, 2010 (Photo by Dismas)

When Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, childhood friends who later became co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, were interviewed by Melissa McGinnis from Greenopolis TV, Ben had this to say:  I’m positive that trying to improve the quality of life for people ends up coming back to you.  You know it’s a universal law and it’s written in the Bible,“as you give, you shall receive”…  as your business supports the community, then the community supports your business.

For Ben and Jerry, there’s been a whole lot of social-justice action backing up this kind of talk.  Even when they first met in junior high school, they bonded in recognition of unfair treatment by a teacher there.  Years later, as business partners, they would heavily invest in alleviating unfair practices the world over.

Interestingly enough, 1984 found them once again bonding over the unfair use of power.  Haagen-Dazs, owned by the mammoth Pillsbury, tried to limit the distribution of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.  Ben and Jerry’s response?  They launched a successful “What is the Doughboy afraid of?” campaign which encouraged the boycotting of Pillsbury subsidiaries such as Burger King. 

They then established Ben & Jerry’s Foundation in 1985.  According to Wikipedia, its purpose has been to “fund community-oriented projects.”  Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream donated 7.5% of the company’s annual pretax profits to this foundation.  Operating under the principle of “linked prosperity” (which empowers employees), they included employees in the decision-making as to which projects would receive grants.

According to the current Ben & Jerry’s (which is no longer owned by Ben and Jerry, but remains heavily influenced by their vision), the company is dedicated to paying their employees “a livable wage.”  As of 2009, this “livable wage” was $13.94 – “nearly twice the national minimum wage.”   Ben & Jerry’s has also looked out for workers elsewhere.  They were the first ice cream company to use fair-trade ingredients, beginning in 2005 with coffee flavoring.  As Jerry Greenfield said:  Nobody wants to buy something that was made by exploiting somebody else…

Resources

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsnEr9DgZTI

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_%26_Jerry%27s_Homemade,_Inc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Cohen_(businessman)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Greenfield

http://what-when-how.com/junk-food-and-fast-food/ben-jerrys/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_%26_Jerry%27s_Homemade,_Inc.

http://www.benandjerrysfoundation.org/who-we-are.html

http://www.benjerry.com/activism/inside-the-pint/fair-trade/

http://www.benjerry.com/activism/peace-and-justice/livable-wage/

Copyright July 17, 2011 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved