Ben and Jerry’s Co-founder on socially responsible businesses
I scream, you scream, we all scream for socially responsible companies!
I find myself in agreement with Ben Cohen’s views on how businesses need to learn to use their power not just for self interest but to benefit society as a whole. Brands are slowly learning that their customers now demand they be more responsible both environmentally and socially.
A recent example of this was the Nestle Palm Oil debacle with Greenpeace. Nestle has since amended their ways and have announced that they will align themselves with The Forest Trust. Their recent news adds:
TFT, a global non-profit organization, will help Nestlé to build responsible supply chains by identifying and addressing embedded social and environmental issues. Nestlé is the first global consumer goods company to become a TFT member.
Businesses are beginning to change their ways and policies, its just a pity the public had to inform them of the impact they have on our planet. Cohen gives a small example of how the US is currently spending $730bn a year on the just the Pentagon alone when for just $30bn you could end world hunger or for $15bn provide universal education to the people who need it the most. Obviously there are bigger hurdles to overcome and you can’t just throw money at a problem but in order to get a task like this off the ground it requires co-operation from the big guys.