Carrie Battan isn’t just a Survivor expert, though she is writing a book about the show. She’s also a hard-nosed reporter who recently spent a lot of time with 75-year-old Ben Cohen. Lately, Cohen has been having a difference of opinion with Unilever, which bought Ben & Jerry’s in 2000. Jerry Greenfield, who co-founded the company with Cohen, resigned in 2025 to protest Unilever’s alleged thwarting of Ben & Jerry’s stance against Israel’s war on Gaza. Cohen, who remains on the company’s payroll and is somewhat of an unofficial mascot, has recently launched a campaign to “Free Ben & Jerry’s,” bringing together a coalition of institutional investors to try to buy back the company. I spoke to Carrie about whether his mission is doomed and whether there’s such a thing as ethical ice-cream consumption under capitalism
Carrie, what’s your go-to ice cream?
Ice cream has gotten out of control in this country, particularly in New York City. Everybody’s trying to jam too much in there. I’m a crazy ice-cream addict. My go-tos are Trader Joe’s mint chocolate chip or vanilla, and I really like Tillamook vanilla and chocolate.
If it’s gotta be Ben & Jerry’s, what’s it gonna be?
Americone Dream, for sure.
Phish Food for me. Okay, so I’m standing in the ice-cream aisle and trying to be an ethical consumer, but there’s something dark about all the brands. Breyers is also Unilever. Häagen-Dazs is Pillsbury. Van Leeuwen is backed by private equity. Jeni’s has dealt with allegations of employee mistreatment. Is Ben & Jerry’s my best bet?
I do think buying Ben and Jerry’s, even in its current state, is the closest you can come to ethical ice-cream consumption, unless you have a really hard line about not spending money in any way that does not support Gaza, which I don’t think is possible in America. I do think that the people who work at Ben and Jerry’s proper are all treated well. They work really hard to source ingredients from places that are both high-quality and ethical. That said, the vast majority of people are not thinking about politics when they buy Ben and Jerry’s.
Well, thinking about politics every time you buy something is exhausting. Ahaha, I’m trying to figure out how to have this conversation without accidentally admitting that I shoplift lemons or something. But yeah, you have to pick a lane. Mine is that I don’t buy books from Amazon.
It’s almost more important to consume things in a way that does not feel spiritually corrosive to yourself. For example, I don’t actually fully understand the economy of food-delivery services, but I just know based on how it makes me feel when I do it that it’s bad, both for me as a human being and for the world.
Do you think Ben has a chance at buying Ben & Jerry’s back?
On paper, it’s unwinnable. However, in just reading about the history of Ben and Jerry’s, he’s pulled off so many crazy things — legally, financially, entrepreneurially, and from a marketing standpoint — that I wouldn’t be totally shocked if he did succeed.
