Ben & Jerry’s has just lost a crucial member of its ice cream team as co-founder Jerry Greenfield resigned from the company last week. While it is very hard to see him go, his choice to stand on his principles is entirely commendable and one that we all should be inspired by.

Though their product has always been delicious ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s has long been known for their outspoken activism for social and environmental justice. On the company’s official website, they repeatedly stress that, “We love making ice cream—but using our business to make the world a better place gives our work its meaning.” Their parent company, Unilever, however, does not seem to appreciate this central message and, according to the founders themselves, has worked to silence them on their political action to appease people in power.

After starting up in 1978 and going public in 1984, Ben & Jerry’s was not very lucrative for its investors, with the stock hovering around $17. So, while it seemed unprecedented for such an outspoken independent company, Ben & Jerry’s agreed to be purchased by Unilever for $326 million in 2000. While this came as a shock to many customers who supported the brand for their famous activist voice, co-founder Ben Cohen was told that he would become a bigger part of Unilever’s social action initiatives, and he assured the consumers that he was “excited about this next chapter.”

Unilever convinced Cohen, Greenfield and other Ben & Jerry’s executives that this business deal would be one that would not only support their current social justice initiatives but promote them to the larger corporate world. Though once they got deep enough into it,management changes at Unilever took away the people who signed the original deal, and the new management used their corporate power to silence them, striking down the delicious chocolate core of the Ben & Jerry’s company.

Due to the tensions this deal has caused for a number of years, Greenfield decided it was his duty to leave the company in protest. Cohen is in full support of Greenfield’s departure. He said that he is “glad we’re both standing up for the values of Ben and Jerry’s,” and “I think that I can be most helpful from the inside and Jerry’s going to try to be helpful from the outside.”

I believe that every company should be as socially responsible as Ben & Jerry’s. Political involvement from companies is not rare, but showing it honestly on the surface is. The fact is, corporations run our country, and if we had their support on social issues, the world would be a much safer and more equitable place. Companies should first and foremost focus on providing for their consumers, not just profitable gains for their shareholders.

As a longtime lover of the Ben & Jerry’s company, it is difficult to decide how I should act in accordance with these struggles. With my mom being a Vermonter, we have always brought the delicious taste and honorable values of their ice cream into our household. It’s the best ice cream on the market that tastes even better because you don’t have to feel guilty for supporting the corporation.

Like Cohen, I wholeheartedly support Greenfield’s actions; the very foundation of the company he built is crumbling, and he has to take a stand. While Cohen works within the company to fight against this restrictive partnership, Greenfield is showing consumers from the outside that the founders will not stand for this blatant reduction of their company’s purpose.

Consumers need to use their voices to stand against corporate silencing like this and show that they love Ben & Jerry’s because of their social mission, not in spite of it. If we allow them to be silenced and squashed under the steel-toed boot of Unilever, we will be making a statement that corporations can do whatever they want, regardless of the wants or needs of the consumer. Honest and transparent companies like Ben & Jerry’s are few and far between, so it is absolutely dire that we fight alongside them to keep their mission going.