“This whole initiative is really honoring those different struggles and trying to give back to those communities.”

Chicago’s JUSTice Cream is a non dairy, nonprofit (mutual aid) vegan ice cream company led by women and has been founded with the intention of donating 100% of its profits to grassroots radical liberation organisations.

According to the founder Hialy Gutierrez: “This whole initiative is really honoring those different struggles and trying to give back to those communities.”

The company’s vegan ice creams contain plant-based and ethically sourced ingredients to optimize environmental sustainability and promote fair labor practices.

In addition, each of the company’s five flavours set to debut this summer namely: Fudge The Police, Purple Root for Domestic Workers, Frida Kahlua, ABOLECHE ICE, and Reparalines and Cream reflects a social justice issue and all of the net profits from every flavor will be forwarded to an affiliated social justice-focused organization.

“For Fudge the Police, we’re working with Black Lives Matter Chicago; for ABOLECHE ICE, we’re working with Organized Communities Against Deportation; for Frida Kahlua, we’re working with Art Resistance Through Education; for Reparalines And Cream, we’re working with the Chicago Torture Justice Center; and for Purple Root for Domestic Workers. we’re working with the Alliance for Filipino Rights and Empowerment,” Gutierrez told Medium.

Working for change

Gutierrez hopes her business model will help organizations that focus on liberation work and highlight issues within the nonprofit industrial structure, dispel negative conceptions of veganism, and address human and environmental exploitation, and food industry practices.

While the company aims to launch via popups at the end of July, the products will be distributed through small/co-op markets in Fall.

Gutierrez is confident the company will flourish despite the teething issues it faced due to the COVID-19 outbreak and white supremacy tangles that created hurdles with suppliers, equipment availability, and safety issues.

Crowdfunding

The company has also launched a GoFundMe campaign in order to seek funds for the start-up costs of this venture.

Sharing the campaign to its Instagram account, the company wrote: “We hope to run this as cost-efficiently (but as lovingly) as possible, as we hope we can lean on y’all to help us do so. Thank you!”

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Mohsina Dodhiya

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