Here are a couple things you should know about me. First, in second grade, I fell in love with Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream by Babcock Ice Cream. It was during a field trip to the Capitol that I first tasted it. It was my favorite kind of ice cream for over 12 years. Second, I've been a full-fledged vegetarian (not vegan, I love diary) for 6 years, but it's been about 16 years since I've eaten seafood, chicken, and most other red meats. I've spent a good portion of my life checking labels to make sure I wasn't eating meat products. Imagine my surprise when out of the blue last semester I came across the "Cold Hard Facts (of Babcock Ice Cream)" sign in Ed's Express in Gordon Commons. The "cold hard fact" of Babcock Ice Cream is that all of their ice cream, except their four premium flavors, is made with pork gelatin. That's right, pork gelatin. Curious as to why this is, I searched the Internet for answers. None. There was no information about the recipes on the Babcock web site. Next, I went to the Memorial Union. No signs were posted and none of the workers knew what I was talking about; one worker even denied it. Lastly, I went to the source: Babcock Hall itself. Again, no signs were posted and none of the workers knew what I was talking about. One, however, referred me to the director down the hall. I knocked on his office to get the skinny on the ice cream. He said that the ice cream is kosher (although he wasn't clear as to what that meant) but it is made with pork gelatin. Even though the thought of ice cream, something supposedly sweet and delicious, being made with pork gelatin is pretty sickening, that's not what concerns me. What bothers me is the lacking effort on the part of Babcock Ice Cream to inform its customers of the presence of pork gelatin. Not only would vegetarians (probably) want to know this, but those that follow the beliefs of the Judaic, Islamic, and Hindu religions would as well, even if the pork gelatin is kosher. The way to remedy this is simple: posting a sign or two (like the one in Ed's Express) wherever the ice cream is sold would probably work just fine. Babcock Ice Cream should be more concerned with informing their customers on what they're consuming, as well as being more sensitive to their dietary needs and wants, and less concerned with potentially losing customers due to this fact becoming just a little more public than before. Lisa Schlieben [email protected]