Ben & Jerry's Takes On Racism And Criminal Justice Reform With New Flavor: "Justice ReMix'd"

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Ice cream company partners with Advancement Project National Office for social justice campaign

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Sep 03, 2019, 18:15 ET

WASHINGTON, Sep. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Ben & Jerry's believes everyone deserves the sweet taste of justice, regardless of race or wealth. The iconic ice cream company has partnered with Advancement Project National Office to launch Justice ReMix'd, a flavor created to spotlight structural racism in a broken criminal legal system.

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Actor and activist Jesse Williams (Grey’s Anatomy) serves on the board of Advancement Project National Office, a multi-racial civil rights organization. A portion of the proceeds from Justice ReMix’d will go to Advancement Project National Office.

Ben & Jerry’s uses its Scoop Truck to engage people around criminal justice issues. It’s one of several ways the company uses its resources to support social movements.

Ben & Jerry’s sent its Scoop Truck to St. Louis to encourage people to contact their city representatives about the need to close The Workhouse jail.

Justice ReMix’d is cinnamon and chocolate ice creams with gobs of cinnamon bun dough and spicy fudge brownies.

A portion of the proceeds from Justice ReMix’d will go to Advancement Project National Office to help them fight for reforms that invest in people instead of prisons.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, CoFounders of Ben & Jerry’s, unveiled “Justice ReMix’d” today with Judith Browne Dianis, Executive Director of Advancement Project National Office. The new flavor is part of the company’s campaign for criminal justice reform.

Those are big issues for a business to take on, but Ben & Jerry's has been an advocate for social justice and equity for much of its 40 years. "Our approach to creating social change is to raise up the work non-profits 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."

Advancement Project National Office is a national, multi-racial civil rights organization that works with local grassroots organizers on racial justice issues. "Our country needs to invest in services that build up communities rather than those that tear them down," said Advancement Project National Office Executive Director Judith Browne Dianis. "That means ending a wealth-based pre-trial 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."

At the grassroots level, Ben & Jerry's is deploying its Scoop Truck in various states to spark conversations, activate community members, and give away ice cream. It's a tactic that has proven effective in growing social movements. In St. Louis, the Scoop Truck supported the Close the Workhouse Coalition by attending 27 events, giving out 13,420 scoops, and generating more than 1500 messages to public officials. In Miami, Ben & Jerry's is working with the Power U Center for Social Change in calling on the Miami-Dade County School Board to prioritize funding for mental health and counselors instead of more security and surveillance.

Described as cinnamon and chocolate ice creams with gobs of cinnamon bun dough and spicy fudge brownies, Justice ReMix'd is part of Ben & Jerry's multi-year campaign for criminal justice reform. Justice seekers with a sweet tooth can find the audacious new flavor in grocery stores nationwide (MSRP $4-6) and in Scoop Shops. To learn more about the flavor and the company's criminal justice reform campaign, go to benjerry.com.

SOURCE Ben & Jerry's