Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are using the now Unilever-owned corporation to push for social issues again, with the new American Pie flavor.

From the Burlington Free Press…

Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc. is returning to its social activist roots, attracting its aging hippie founders back to the company for the first time in years, as it lobbies to shift federal spending from nuclear missiles to children’s programs.

Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are leading the company’s American Pie campaign, designed to persuade consumers to demand that the federal government shift its spending priorities. Their goal is to shift $13 billion that now pays to maintain thousands of nuclear bombs into pediatric health insurance, schools or other programs for children.

“Do you really need 10,000 nuclear bombs?” Greenfield asked in a telephone interview from Washington, where he and Cohen kicked off the campaign Tuesday. “How many nuclear bombs are you going to send anywhere? Five? Ten?”…

…The company has created a new ice cream flavor — American Pie made with apple pie ice cream with apples and pie crust pieces. Lids from pints of ice cream will carry information about the campaign and ways to get involved. A new section of Ben & Jerry’s Web site is dedicated to the initiative, and Cohen and Greenfield have set out on a multi-city tour to carry the message.

“I think that business is the most powerful force in the country,” Cohen said. “When business starts using its voice for the benefit of the country as a whole, not just in its narrow self-interest, it can really be the force that can make the changes that need to be made.”

More info can be found at the Ben & Jerry’s site.