Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder Steps Down – Says “Silenced” Over Social Justice Issues
Jerry Greenfield, supporter of marriage equality and human rights, claims he’s been “sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power.”
Featured Image: Ben and Jerry with MoveOn’s Scoop the Vote Truck Tour, for Kamala Harris and Democrats, in Philadelphia (Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images for MoveOn)
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder, Jerry Greenfield, has resigned from the ice cream behemoth this week, citing a loss of independence under parent company, Unilever, in a climate of fear around upsetting those in power. The announcement came on Wednesday, when Ben Cohen, shared the news on social media.
“I never thought I would have to write this, but after 47 years Jerry has made the difficult decision to stand down from the company we built together,” Ben Cohen wrote on Instagram, where he posted a statement from Jerry Greenfield.
Image via Ben Cohen Instagram
Cohen commented, “His legacy deserves to be true to the values we founded this company on, not silenced by @magnum.” Magnum is a subsidiary of Unilever, which reportedly plans to spin its ice cream business into a new entity, Magnum Ice Cream Company.
“For more than 20 years under their ownership, Ben & Jerry’s stood up and spoke out in support of peace, justice and human rights, not as abstract concepts, but in relation to real events happening in our world,” Greenfield wrote in a statement that Cohen shared on X. “It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone.”
“Standing up for the values of justice, equity, and our shared humanity has never been more important, and yet Ben & Jerry’s has been silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power.”
Image via Facebook, Ted Dully—Boston Globe/Getty Images
Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield started the company in 1978 with a homemade ice cream stand in Bennington, Vermont. Its history of activism spans decades, and includes a 2021 decision to stop selling its products in the West Bank, which it described as an Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).
Long before marriage equality became enshrined in the law, since 1989, Ben & Jerry’s extended full benefits to partners of employees in same-sex relationships. As the company rightfully acknowledges about the mood of the times: it was a fairly radical move.
The ice cream company has historically advocated for human rights, including causes important to the LGBTQ community. It currently maintains a web page dedicated to “LGBTQ+ Rights.”
“To celebrate this monumental victory for LGBT rights, Ben & Jerry’s has renamed the classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor to “I Dough, I Dough,” the company memorialized the 2015 renaming on its website. “And who better to tell the story behind our long-standing commitment to ‘Love Who You Love’ than Lisa and Mitch—two employees whose own same-sex partnership was first recognized right here at Ben & Jerry’s.”
While Jerry Greenfield may be stepping down, and while there has been reporting of tensions with Unilever over social activism since the $326 million acquisition in 2000, the site currently notes, “It’s important to remember that the fight for LGBT equality isn’t over.”
“Because after all the ‘I Dough’s’ are done, there’s still more stuff to do.”
