I realize that I am aging myself by saying this, but I witnessed the first Earth Day in 1970. It’s hard to describe the impact of that day, but there was a universal feeling of purpose and empowerment among those who participated, and it focused my career goals.

Many people have spent their careers attempting to enhance the health and vitality of our environment. From my experience, first through the government and regulatory approaches and now from the perspective of private business, I can tell you that things have changed quite a bit from that first Earth Day in April 1970. It is now celebrated in almost 150 countries, which alludes to the fact that our world has become increasingly connected.

We realize now, more than ever, that we cannot solve the environmental issues we face without increased collaboration and communication. We all must work together in order to enact the changes we hope to see in the next few decades. At Smithfield we work alongside both our supply chain and our customers to move in a direction of increased sustainability, and we strive to deepen those relationships as we move forward.

Those of us involved in agriculture face perhaps the greatest challenge of our time—feeding a global population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050. We need to more than double our production of food, but not increase the land or other resources we are using in the process. That is a massive task, and we won’t be able to meet it without innovation, collaboration, and creativity. Here at Smithfield, we believe the future is bright, but we understand that we have a responsibility to feed the world in a sustainable way.

Sincerely,

Dennis Treacy

EVP and Chief Sustainability Officer

Smithfield Foods, Inc.

Sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the George and Cynthia Mitchell Endowment for Sustainability Science, the report emphasizes the importance of increasing global food supplies in a sustainable way while navigating worldwide policy and logistical constraints.

As a global food company, food security is something that Smithfield Foods recognizes as a growing and complex issue and one that requires collaboration and new approaches to solve.

“Our perspective is that everyone should have access not only to affordable food, but food that they can trust is produced in a sustainable and responsible way,” said Dennis Treacy, our executive vice president and chief sustainability officer who served on the Food Security for All as a Sustainability Challenge Committee and contributed to the research report.

Click here to access the report.

Before last quarter’s meeting, council members had a unique chance to tour one of our sow farms in the Midwest. This farm offered valuable insight because it uses three types of pregnant sow housing arrangements: individual stall housing, free-access pen housing and open-pen housing.

• Individual Sow Housing: Used by most of the pork industry, this system puts pregnant sows in individual stalls for the duration of their pregnancy. This system allows for individual medical care and attention, minimizes fighting between sows, and allows personnel to monitor a sow’s pregnancy more accurately. Murphy-Brown (our hog production subsidiary) has chosen to convert to the other two types of systems on our company-owned farms because of customer concerns about the care of animals in individual sow housing.
• Free Access Housing: In this system, a large group of sows (between 30 and 40) has access to a common area for lounging and exercise as well as access to individual stalls used for feeding. Sows can come and go as they please and can close a gate behind them in the stalls if they choose. It is worth noting that 90% of sows choose to spend a majority of their time in the individual stalls rather than in the common area.
• Small Group Housing: This form of housing allows six sows to be in a common open pen once they are confirmed pregnant. These pens include six feeding stations, which helps to minimize fighting between sows for feed.

It’s important for our animal care experts to understand the benefits and challenges associated with each type of housing to ensure our company is providing the best care possible for all our animals.

Want to see snapshots of the group’s tour? Check out our photo album on Facebook: 

Henry Morris, Smithfield’s senior corporate vice president of operations and engineering, has worked in the meat industry for many years. His career path has taken him from Owens Country Sausage to Smithfield Foods. Along the way he has developed a reputation for hard work, excellence, innovation and integrity, and now a leading industry publication is taking notice.

Meat & Poultry named Morris its first-ever Operations Executive of the Year and will devote its April cover story to him.  Congratulations, Henry!

We will share more after the story prints. 

Last night, our management team, Larry’s family, and representatives from Meatingplace magazine gathered to witness Larry officially receive the award. We are thrilled that our CEO was chosen for this prestigious honor.

To read Larry’s interview with Meatingplace in its December 2011 issue, click here.

To see additional photos from the awards ceremony, check out our Facebook album here.

“We are honored by the recognition from Trust Across America,” said Dennis Treacy, our executive vice president and chief sustainability officer. “Every employee of Smithfield Foods and our family of companies should be proud.”

According to Monday’s news release, Trust Across America analyzed nearly 2,500 public companies in order to develop its list of the ten most trustworthy companies in America. The study analyzed more than 200 data points with respect to five key corporate indicators of trustworthy business behavior: financial stability and strength, accounting conservativeness, corporate integrity, transparency, and sustainability.

Sustainability is an evolving journey, not a destination,” Treacy said. “While we are proud of our progress thus far, we know that the hallmark of an effective program is continuous improvement, which is something we strive for here at Smithfield.”  

“On behalf of Smithfield Foods and our employees, I thank Congressman Forbes for championing the causes that will help manufacturers thrive in Virginia and across the United States,” said Smithfield Foods Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer Dennis Treacy. “We’re fortunate to have Congressman Forbes in our corner, advocating policies that will enable us to grow, create jobs, expand internationally, and stay ahead of our global competition.”

“Congressman Forbes supports common-sense policies that will enable manufacturers to create and maintain good high-paying jobs in Virginia and throughout America,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “A vibrant manufacturing base is vital to getting our economy turned around and ensuring quality of life for all Americans. It is critical to have lawmakers like Congressman Forbes whose actions consistently match their words when it comes to a pro-manufacturing agenda for economic growth and job creation.”

After the presentation of the award, Congressman Forbes held a question and answer session with many of our company’s executives, as well as other key members of the National Association of Manufacturers. During the session, Congressman Forbes discussed his views on many political and economic issues affecting manufacturers in the United States, including the situation in Libya and the production of corn ethanol.