Ben and Jerry take a licking

Jerry and Ben in 2010  (Photo by Dismas)

Co-founders of the brand that America loves to lick took a licking themselves at the United States Capitol.

As part of a group that was protesting “the role of money in politics,” Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were arrested on charges of “crowding, obstructing or incommoding,” all of which are considered “unlawful demonstration activity.”

Friends since childhood, Ben and Jerry have a long history of social activism.  They launched a foundation in 1985 which supported “community-oriented projects.”  By 1989, they were publicly opposing the use of recombinant bovine growth hormone.  In 2001, they began using environmentally-friendly packaging.  In 2009, they lobbied for a national clone-tracking system.

Ben and Jerry have contributed generously to causes ranging from equal marriage rights to protecting the Great Barrier Reef.  While still in charge of the company, they instituted a five-to-one policy in which no employee was paid more than five times the entry-level wage.   

Resources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_%26_Jerry's 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/co-founders-of-ben-and-jerrys-arrested-at-us-capitol/ar-BBrW5tb?li=BBnbfcL 

Copyright April 21, 2016 by Linda Van Slyke   All Rights Reserved