Ben & Jerry’s ice cream founders create new flavors to boost progressive candidates in midterms
The founders of Ben & Jerry ice cream are working with the organization MoveOn.org to help progressive candidates in the critical midterm elections.
Lauren Underwood, a registered nurse running for Congress in Illinois, and Stefany Rose Spaulding, an educator and child advocate in Colorado, are among Democratic candidates that Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are supporting. The Vermont-based ice cream makers are whipping up flavors that they feel best reflect the candidates, the Associated Press is reporting. The company wants the public to help name the flavors. Once that’s done, Cohen will make about 40 pints each by hand in his own kitchen and raffle them off. Proceeds will benefit the candidates.
Aside from Underwood and Spaulding, the ice cream-making pair is supporting: Jess King in Pennsylvania, Aftab Pureval in Ohio, J.D. Scholten in Iowa, Ammar Campa Najjar in California and James Thompson in Kansas.
This is the second time the ice cream-making pair has used its skills to support a candidate, the Associated Press reported. In 2016, the duo created “Bernie’s Yearning” flavored ice cream to support U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’run for the Democratic nomination for president.
Cohen and Greenfield point out they are taking on the project personally, and their company is not involved, according to the Associated Press.
Members of the public can enter the contest at the MoveOn.org site. The winning flavors will be announced on a rolling basis starting on Oct. 7 at Iowa University in Ames, Iowa, the AP reports. The public has until Oct. 1 to enter the raffle for one of the winning pints, according to the AP.
At least one campaign was surprised but happy to hear about the contest.
“It’s fantastic,” Irene Lin, Scholten’s campaign manager, told the AP. “We’re very, very grateful.”
Supporters are working to come up with ingredients and flavors, Lin told the news organization.
