Recently saw this ice cream container for the first time on a local blog discussing how wrong and offensive it was. The company that makes it is 5 Boroughs Ice Cream and, amazingly, they’ve apparently agreed to add an ameliorating sticker to their package which will read…
It is true, Fresh Kill was once a landfill visible from space. When the landfill became full it was closed and the city created an ambitious plan to turn the area into a city park. Plans for the park include a bird-nesting island, public roads, boardwalks, soccer and baseball fields, bridle paths and a 5,000-seat stadium. Today, freshwater and tidal wetlands, fields, birch thickets and a coastal oak maritime forest, as well as areas dominated by non-native plant species, are all within the boundaries of Fresh Kills. Already, many of the landscapes of Fresh Kills possess a stark beauty, with 360 degree, wide horizon views from the hills, over 300 acres of salt marsh and a winding network of creeks.
Seeing the brave and provocative packaging that can be found on store shelves in England, I have to conclude that this sort of brouhaha about packaging deemed to be offensive is a uniquely American phenomenon.
