Smithfield Foods

Our Smithfield, VA facility was recently awarded a Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) Platinum Award for Pretreatment Excellence and Pollution Prevention. This award recognizes local businesses for exceptional permit compliance and pollution prevention efforts. We are extremely proud of the team's hard work in protecting the waterways and natural resources in Hampton Roads.

For Smithfield's Hugo Rodriguez, the National FFA Organization provided just the foundation he needed for a career in agriculture. When he started in the organization, he said, “I’d never raised a pig in my life. I didn’t know what was going on, but I was ready to take on the challenge.” Now, he is Smithfield's assistant hog procurement manager, ensuring a stable hog supply to meet the demand for the products available in our grocery stores.

Smithfield Foods has once again partnered with the Luter Family YMCA for their Bright Beginnings Program. Twenty-seven Smithfield team members were paired with students in Smithfield, VA to shop for back-to-school clothing and shoes, ensuring the students are ready to start their school year in style. Thank you to all our volunteers in Smithfield and Suffolk for your participation in this impactful event.

As students are packing backpacks and parents are packing lunches for the new school year, we are packing boxes of school supplies for local teachers. In support of our community school districts, we are donating $40,000 in school supplies to local classrooms across North Carolina, Iowa and Missouri.

At Smithfield, we are committed to leading the industry in worker health and safety. Our commitment in this area is reflected in our industry-leading safety practices along with our support of local first responders to ensure they have the tools necessary to assist in the case of an emergency. In support, we are donating grain rescue systems, the Great Wall of Rescue, to the local North Carolina fire departments that serve our feed mills and grain elevators. By having the Great Wall of Rescue system readily available, the chances of a successful grain entrapment rescue and the victim's survival are significantly enhanced.

At Smithfield, we are proud to offer training and education opportunities that prioritize career advancement and a welcoming workplace for our people, including our Career Foundation Program (CFP). With rotational assignments at our facilities, offices and farms, this program exposes recent college graduates to the many areas of our company. Dozens of our managers and senior leaders started their careers at Smithfield as program graduates. Now, we're proudly welcoming our newest cohort of CFP Associates.

The first cohort of Southeastern Education and Economic Development (SEED) students recently completed the newly formed youth apprenticeship program, sponsored by Smithfield Foods in partnership with the NC Business Committee for Education (NCBCE), on July 25. This program is focused on growing the manufacturing and agriculture workforce through work-based learning and apprenticeships and these students have positively paved the way for those to come.

Giving back to those who give so much to our communities is a top priority for Smithfield Foods. To show our appreciation for our first responders, we recently held a luncheon in Greene County, NC for all emergency personnel, complete with Smithfield chops.

Smithfield Foods is teaming up with leading anti-hunger organization Feed the Children this back-to-school season to provide children and families with wholesome food items, backpacks, household essentials and more through rallies held in Crete, NE, Monmouth, IL and Sioux Falls, SD where we operate as a local employer. For these rallies we are donating $100,000 along with thousands of pounds of much-needed protein, including products such as Smithfield® bacon, hams, ribs and loins.

Smithfield Foods' Steve Evans, vice president of community development, has been named to the 2024-2025 MANNRS Advisory Board. In this role, Steve will play a critical role in guiding MANRRS’ strategic direction, enhancing programmatic efforts and supporting initiatives aimed at fostering the next generation of leaders in the fields of agriculture, natural resources, and related sciences. There is no one better for the job - congratulations, Steve!