Ben & Jerry’s is amongst the businesses whose supply chains exploit migrant child labour, often breaking child labor laws despite the corporate’s self-proclaimed progressive values and vow to “honor and support” immigrants.
Latest York Times exposition, published earlier this week, interviewed greater than 100 migrant children in greater than 20 states “who described work that left them exhausted and fears of being trapped in circumstances they may never have imagined.” The report details children as young as 13 who work 12-hour days, often night shifts before going to highschool in the course of the day to survive.
The report found that migrant children are employed in the availability chain for giant firms akin to Walmart, Goal, Whole Foods, Ford, General Motors and Ben & Jerry’s, amongst others.
Ben & Jerry’s, a self-proclaimed progressive company, told Fox News Digital that it’s “anti-child labour” and works to make sure fair wages and safety for farm staff.
“Ben & Jerry’s is against child labor of any kind. The corporate has a robust commitment to justice and equality for all, including over five years with Milk with Dignity supporting migrant staff. The Milk Standards Board is dignified in providing farm staff with a good wage for his or her work, working in healthy conditions and introducing additional safeguards for those aged 16 and 17,” an organization spokesman said.
Cheryl Pinto, head of Ben & Jerry’s values-based sourcing, “said that if migrant children should work full-time, they’d higher have a job in a well-monitored workplace,” in response to the Latest York Times.
Nevertheless, national child labor laws prohibit children under the age of 16 from working greater than three hours or after 7 p.m. on school days, except on farms.
Ben & Jerry’s can also be known for taking a stand on controversial political initiatives, often listing ice cream flavors in support of or opposition to controversial issues.
In 2018, the corporate released a recent “Pecan Resist” flavor that was designed to send a message of opposing the Trump administration.
“We respect and stand with the ladies, immigrants, people of color and the tens of millions of activists and allies who courageously resist the President’s attack on our values, humanity and the environment,” Ben & Jerry’s wrote on its website. “We rejoice the range of our great nation and lift our spoons in solidarity with all Americans.”
Other politically charged flavors include EmpowerMINT, released in 2016 to attract attention to claims of voter suppression, and I Dough, I Dough, a short lived renaming of a chocolate chip cake flavor in support of the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Ben & Jerry’s “Change the Whirled” dairy-free frozen dessert pays homage to former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s “activism for racial justice”, with a portion of his proceeds donated to the Know Your Rights Camp.
Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp mission is to “support the liberation and well-being of black and brown communities through education, empowerment, mass mobilization and creating recent systems that can elevate the subsequent generation of change leaders.”
The Know Your Rights camp didn’t immediately reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.