10 Unexpected Ways We’ve Thrown Down For Our Values

Back in 2005, the US Congress was poised to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for oil drilling. We were not on board. So we dug into our pints of Fossil Fuel ice cream and made the world’s largest Baked Alaska dessert, brought it to the front lawn of the US Capitol, and served it up to fellow protestors.

In 2007, the US Food and Drug Administration decided that it was okay to sell and consume meat and dairy products from cloned animals. Even though at the time such clones were likely years away, we were not on board with the decision. So we launched a “Truth or Clone-sequences” demonstration, sending a herd of cow-costumed protestors to Washington, DC to make their voices herd (er, heard).

Our pints like to celebrate equality, too! Over the years we’ve changed the names of a number of flavors in support of marriage equality. In 2009 we changed Chubby Hubby to Hubby Hubby when our home state of Vermont became the fifth US state to recognize same-sex marriages (and the first state to do so by enacting a statute without being required to do so by a court decision). In 2012 we supported marriage equality in the UK with Apple-y Ever After, and in 2013 with I Dough, I Dough in Australia and Engage-Mint Party in Ireland. I Dough, I Dough made another appearance in the US in 2015 when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality.

2012 marked the 15th anniversary of Phish Food, our chocolate-and-marshmallow ode to one of our favorite bands ever, Phish. To celebrate, we assembled the world’s largest ever cowbell ensemble — over 1,600 Phish fans, all banging on cowbells in Burlington, VT. Best of all, we raised some serious dough for Phish’s WaterWheel Foundation.

When Australia approved a plan to expand the Abbot Point Coal Terminal — dumping 3 million cubic meters of dredge spoil in the Great Barrier Reef marine park in the process, and furthering Australia’s reliance on coal — we were pretty upset. So we rallied our ice cream trucks and launched the Fight For The Reef Scoop Tour to raise awareness and get Australians to take action. We even sent two “cows” underwater to pose with the reef for our wettest photo op ever.

We’ve long been advocates for GMO labeling on food products. We believe that you deserve to know what’s in your food — it’s as simple as that! And in 2014, our home state of Vermont became the first state in the US to pass a law requiring the labeling of GMO products. But no sooner was the ink dry on the new law than the legal attacks began. We renamed Chocolate Fudge Brownie to Food Fight Fudge Brownie to join the fight to uphold the law and spread awareness about GMO labeling.

For the past few years we’ve been working with our friends at Refugee Action and the Lift the Ban Coalition to call on the UK government to give people seeking asylum the right to work. In 2020 a 180,000 strong petition was submitted to the Home Secretary showcasing the huge amount of public support for this change. But the coalition also wanted to demonstrate how little sense the current rules make as people are unnecessarily frozen out of work and pushed into poverty and isolation. So, we took to the streets with the world’s first Frozen Protest.

In early 2016, we raided the US Capitol building, armed with ice cream and a plea to legislators. We handed out pints of Empower Mint ice cream to every member of Congress along with a letter from our co-founders Ben and Jerry, asking them to repair the damage done by the Supreme Court’s disastrous 2013 decision that rendered the Voting Rights Act largely toothless. After all, we find that hard decisions are a little easier with a scoop of ice cream.

Arrested?! Yup, it’s true. Following a long line of activists throughout history who have put their bodies on the line for what they believe in, our co-founders were arrested in 2016 as part of the Democracy Awakening protests at the US Capitol. Their message? That dough belongs in ice cream and not in politics, and that voting should be accessible to everyone. “The history of our country is that nothing happens,” said Ben, “until people start putting their bodies on the line and risk getting arrested.”

A few years earlier, a rainbow installation in Zbawiciela Square in Warsaw, Poland had been vandalized so many times that it was finally removed. It was a sad moment for the LGBTQ community, and we wanted to help. So in 2018, we installed a light-and-water hologram rainbow in the same place for Pride month. Just as big as the original, it was an unbreakable symbol of hope and solidarity with the Polish LGBTQ community.