By Alfred King, Journalism Guild Writer
Ben & Jerry’s has announced a new ice cream flavor in support of criminal justice reform, “Justice Remix’d.”
B&J, well known for its social activism, launched a new flavor chocolate ice cream coupled with gobs of cinnamon bun dough and spicy fudge brownie to “spotlight structural racism in a broken criminal justice system,” reported The Independent article.
“Our approach to creating social change is to raise up the work nonprofits are doing on the ground,” said co-founder Ben Cohen. “We bring every resource we have to support them — our business voice, our connection with fans, our Scoop Shop community and, of course, ice cream. Somehow, it’s easier to talk about difficult issues over a scoop or two.”
B&J has partnered with the Advancement Project to bring forth changes in the criminal justice arena, now working to close The Workhouse jail in St. Louis, the Sept. 4 story said.
Blacks make up 90% of the people held in jail but make up less than 50% of the population in St. Louis, a HuffPost story reported. Many cannot afford bail.
“Our country needs to invest in services that build up communities rather than those that tear them down,” Executive Director Judith Browne Dianis of the Advancement Project told The Independent.
“That means ending a wealth-based pretrial detention system that locks people up because they are poor, Black or Brown. It means dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline, divesting from criminalizing students and investing in the creation of high quality education and services. It’s time to reimagine safety and justice.” commented Mike Pomranz in a Food&Wine article.
In October 2018 B&J released “Pecan Resist” in protest of Pres. Donald Trump, reported The Independent.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the new flavor will go to support the Advancement Project work in criminal justice reform, noted the HuffPost article.
Ice cream lovers can purchase pints of Justice Remix’d at Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shops, many grocery stores, and Scoop Trucks deployed to various cities. Free scoops have been passed out in St. Louis and Miami, according to Pomranz.
