We are asking this question to settle a dispute about the real history
behind Ben and Jerry's, the famous Vermont icecream makers.

One of us claims to have read 'somewhere' (and there is no
recollection of where this might have been, whether in print or
online) that Ben and Jerry actually learned their trade in a course
offered in prison while they were serving time.

We would like you to research the history of Ben and Jerry's, and a
good answer would address the following points:

i) Did Ben and Jerry serve time in prison together?  If so, please
provide dates, crime and prison name/location.  Estimate the
likelihood of not finding any record of a prison history when one in
fact exists.

ii) Do any prisons offer ice cream making instructional programs for
inmates?

iii) If Ben and Jerry did serve time, did the prison in which they
served offer such a course.

iv) If Ben and Jerry served time and the prison in which they served
offered such a course, can you verify that Ben and Jerry did in fact
take that course.

In the event of a coverup by the company for PR purposes, all evidence
must be independent of information released by the Ben and Jerry's
company itself.

---

Request for Question Clarification by justaskscott-ga on 21 May 2003 18:54 PDT

I have found strong evidence that Ben and Jerry learned their trade
from a particular correspondence course, in an article from the
institution (not a correctional institution, but an educational one)
that offered the course and still offers it today.  The article does
include quotes from Jerry; but I believe that this institution (which
is well-known) would not fabricate the fact that they took the course.

Of course, you never know; the New York Times recently announced that
one of its reporters made up stories routinely.  But in general, when
a reputable organization publishes an article, I presume that it is
accurate at least in its basic details -- such as whether two people
were actually associated with that organization.  Moreover, like
pinkfreud (one of our most trustworthy Researchers), I have not found
any reference to a story that they were in prison and learned their
trade there.

[I also know that Ben and Jerry met in grade school.  I know this not
only because many web pages say so -- as they likewise say with
respect to the correspondence course -- but also because I come from
the same area as they did.  (I should emphasize that I have not met
them and have no connection with them.)]

Would a link to the article (along with a link to the web site for the
course) be a sufficient answer?

---

Clarification of Question by chunkymonkey-ga on 21 May 2003 19:29 PDT

justaskscott and pinkfreud have been pursuing the true story about
where Ben and Jerry learned their trade, and this is certainly useful
information that we value.  However, we are wary of the 'party line',
and the company's desire to suppress what may be an unsavory truth,
and promote through various avenues an alternative 'truth'.  The
question as we posed it asks to eliminate doubt about whether the
prison story could be true.  It would be proved false if it were shown
that

a) Ben and Jerry have not spent time in prison.

b) No prisons in regions where Ben and Jerry have resided have ice
cream making vocational programs.

We realize that we are asking for proof of negative statements which
can be tricky, but these are the areas in which we would like light
shed.

Thanks.

If Ben and Jerry met in prison, they must have been in juvenile
detention. Every source I've found says that the men have been best
friends since 1963, when they met in a 7th grade gym class.

Ice cream manufacture seems like a very odd sort of vocational
training for a prison. I've counseled quite a few ex-offenders (I
worked for a government agency for many years.) I can't say that it's
impossible that a prison might offer such a training program, but it's
certainly unlikely.

I cannot find even one reference to the prison rumor on the Web or in
newsgroups. Considering that the Internet is a major rumor-mill, it
seems very unlikely that such a juicy story would be neglected,
whether or not it is true.

Could the person who claims to have read this "somewhere" have seen it
on a parody site?

Ben and Jerry need not have met in prison; they could have served time
together well after the 7th grade.

The champion of this somewhat unlikely story claims that he read it
from a serious source, not a parody.

Personally, I think that the fact that no web pages or discussion
groups appear to contain this story is sufficient evidence.  No matter
how much a corporation might want to suppress the truth, somebody
somewhere would have posted a message if such a significant story had
any support (or had any viability as a rumor).  People who believe
that there might be a conspiracy to cover up the truth generally like
to post messages revealing the lie, as evidenced by this very
question.  Since no one else has posted such a message, the source of
the belief in this possible conspiracy is fairly obscure.  I don't
doubt that you read this somewhere; I just doubt that what you read
has a basis.  Serious sources may seem convincing, yet may just as
wrong as parodies.

If there were even a whiff of truth to this prison story, I'd expect
the tabloids to jump right on it. The absence of such coverage does
not prove that the rumor is untrue, but it certainly casts suspicion
on an already suspicious story. The tabloids aren't exactly
mouthpieces of the ice cream industry, and would be highly unlikely to
join a conspiracy of silence.