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Net Impact Conference Garners Interest in Smithfield CSR

ourcommitments — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 21:43:54 +0000

We recently attended the Net Impact Conference in Portland, Ore., a collaboration of people and companies who do social and environmental good. We were there on the tradeshow floor to discuss our social responsibility efforts and the launch of smithfieldcommitments.com with attendees. It was a great forum to engage in these conversations because those visiting our booth were intrigued by our attendance, but skeptical about our modern farming practices. After learning we had CSR in place, some attendees better understood our commitments and even stated in a conference survey that “given the chance, would change my consumption behavior in favor of this company.”

In addition, our CSO Dennis Treacy was on the panel for a session entitled “Feeding the World by 2050 through Sustainable Intensification.” The panelists spoke at length about the future of food production given the demands of a rapidly growing population, how business and government are addressing food security challenges, and what opportunities exist to meet these challenges while also “greening” companies’ operations.

Projections indicate the population is likely to grow to over 9 billion in the next 40 years, so the topic of sustainable intensification is a growing concern among producers – how to feed the growing population while reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint. Smithfield provided a “very interesting perspective” said one attendee in a session evaluation. Another stated “all speakers had really enlightening insights into potential solutions and innovative thinking in the field, from large scale corporations to the WWF.”

We had a great time in Portland and fully enjoyed the opportunity to participate in a conference that brings together people whose values are so close to ours. It was a great success and we hope to sponsor and attend next year.

Water, Water, Everywhere as Smithfield Sponsors Annual Global Event

admin — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 14:27:20 +0000

In the past few months, Smithfield and our independent operating companies have sponsored many World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD) events. This year we distributed 200 sampling kits and had over 750 participants! Sampling events were held across the country, including events in Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Kansas, Illinois, North Carolina, Minnesota, Massachusetts, South Dakota, Nebraska, Indiana, Iowa, Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, and Utah. We also had multiple events sponsored in Poland and Romania! World Water Monitoring Day reported that worldwide they had participation from over 200,000 people in 85 countries.

Here are some highlights of the events sponsored:

Animex sponsored events at eight different locations which included over 350 participants.
The Farmland Monmouth plant has participated every year, and this year (as in years past) they sponsored two events at local middle/junior high schools.
The John Morrell/Armour-Eckrich plant in Junction City had a program for over 20 teachers and 80 kids! They had a water-monitoring station, a water analysis station, a leaf rubbing station, a nature station, and an environmental scavenger hunt. All this was followed by grilling out some of their product and handing out WWMD t-shirts.

Thanks to Ferme, AgriPlus, Animex, Stefano’s, Murphy-Brown, Smithfield Packing, Farmland, and John Morrell for sponsoring events this year. We think it was a great success, and look forward to next year’s sampling.

Winning Green for Going Green with Environmental Excellence Awards

admin — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 14:28:55 +0000

Each year we give Environmental Excellence Awards to projects and initiatives by our facilities that both help the environment and save money. On September 14, 2010, we held our annual Environmental Excellence Awards banquet during our Environmental Training Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. Over 100 representatives of Smithfield Foods, John Morrell, Smithfield Packing Company, Farmland Foods, and Murphy-Brown attended. This year’s theme was “Sustainability in Focus.” Dennis Treacy, our chief sustainability officer, and Bob Toy, director of environmental for Union Pacific, both spoke about the importance of sustainability for today’s companies.

Three President’s Awards and eleven Environmental Excellence Awards were presented for a wide range of projects addressing Processes/Packaging, Resource Conservation, Pollution Prevention, and Environmental Management. Environmental Excellence Awards are given to specific people (or a team of people), and a President’s award is given when the project was the combined effort of too many folks to name. In total, over 137 projects were submitted.

In combination, the projects submitted resulted in a savings as follows:

378 million gallons of water
138,044 decatherms of natural gas
5,014,193 kWhs of electricity
34,689 tons of solid waste materials
1,575 tons of additional cardboard recycling
65,900 gallons of diesel fuel
15,000 trees planted

All the above was realized at a capital expenditure of $10.5 million and an annual cost reduction of $9.94 million.

The awards also resulted in donations to many charities, including Ronald McDonald House, National FFA, American Cancer Society, American Red Cross, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and more.

Carter Hanson of the John Morrell Patrick Cudahy facility in Cudahy, Wisconsin, was selected as this year’s “Zero Hero.” Carter was recognized for his preparedness and ongoing management of the environmental issues that were encountered as part of the fire that took place at the Cudahy facility in July of 2009.

“These kinds of results and cost reductions are the product of a corporate social responsibility program that is embedded throughout the company and supported at all levels,” noted Bill Gill, assistant vice president for environmental affairs. Dennis Treacy agreed, adding that “All those receiving awards and submitting projects are to be congratulated on the efforts and results they bring to the company year after year.”

Please direct any questions or comments regarding the Awards program to Robert ‘Buddy’ Harris (robertharris@smithfieldfoods.com).