"While in Seattle 50,000 people protested global corporate power, days later in Vermont Ben & Jerry's, a company admired for its commitment to local communities and farmers, received a takeover bid from Unilever, one of the world's largest multinational corporations. Although it seemed that these two events were moving history in opposite directions, something unexpected emerged, providing new possibilities. In purchasing Ben & Jerry's, Unilever agreed that, not only would Ben & Jerry's social mission of 'caring capitalism' be preserved and expanded under the direction of its own separate board, with funding from Unilever to do so, but Ben & Jerry's was encouraged to influence the business practices within the global operations of the $45 billion Goliath, which would undergo a social audit and monitoring."

"The sale of Ben & Jerry's has inspired almost 100 businesses and non-profits concerned with social responsibility, including the White Dog Cafe, to sign a letter pledging to adopt within our own companies the following goals, for which Ben & Jerry's has long stood, and to assist them in seeking opportunities within Unilever to do so in its worldwide operations:"

"Work toward labor, trade, and environmental practices at home and abroad that narrow economic inequities and help restore the earth.

Seek mutually beneficial business relationships through purchasing, hiring, joint ventures, and partnerships that bring economically disenfranchised people, companies, and communities into the economic mainstream while protecting the natural environment.

Identify the source of materials we purchase through our enterprises and become knowledgeable about the effects of our business activities on humans, animals, and the environment in the local communities where they originate.

Contribute the equivalent of 7.5% or more of our pre-tax profits to social change and charitable nonprofit organizations and projects.

Work toward changing corporate charter laws so that a board of directors need not measure all its actions strictly in terms of the financial return to stockholders, much less be forced to sell a company only to the highest bidder. Instead, take equally into account factors other than short-term financial gain, including the consequences to employees, suppliers, local communities, the natural environment, and the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a few."

"The growing number of businesses committed to addressing the issues raised by protesters in Seattle, and more recently in Washington, DC, has created a powerful force for change. The diverse intergenerational outcry, which includes environmentalists, farmers and anti-genetic-engineering activists, consumers, students and labor unions, will not be silenced or ignored. Front-page stories in mainstream papers have described schoolchildren training in civil disobedience, students in universities across the country have stopped their schools from selling sweatshop-produced college wear, and coffee giant Starbucks has yielded to threats by activists and agreed to carry fair trade coffee. A growing public voice, knowledgeable and demanding, is creating the climate for 'caring capitalism' to invade the chambers of even the world's largest corporations. Now is the time for each of us, as consumers, business people, and citizens, to accept responsibility for building a global economy that supports rather than sacrifices the human and environmental resources on which all economic activity ultimately rules. Whether in or outside the boardrooms, have we any other choice?"

(Judy Wicks, Tales from the White Dog Café, Summer 2000)