Smithfield Foods’ Warsaw and Tar Heel, North Carolina Operations Participate in North America’s Largest Environmental Education Program

Smithfield Foods, Inc. is pleased to announce its Warsaw and Tar Heel, North Carolina operations’ participation in the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Envirothon’s 2019 North Carolina Envirothon competition where 600 high school and middle school students competed to demonstrate their knowledge and environmental problem-solving skills.

Smithfield has more than 10,000 employees in North Carolina. The company’s employees from the local community donated their time and expertise to the program, serving as volunteer advisors to lead training sessions, facilitate program curriculum, and coordinate activities.

“We are proud of our Envirothon students and their outstanding work and commitment to learning about their natural resources and potentially becoming successful environmental leaders,” said Sandra Weitzel, state coordinator for the North Carolina Envirothon. “Smithfield’s support and mentorship has provided  our students with invaluable environmental learning experiences, which played a significant and dynamic role in our event.”

The 2019 North Carolina competition is part of the NCF-Envirothon, an environmental education program and competition that attracts more than 50,000 high school students across the U.S., Canada, and China. Participating students completed hands-on and in-class activities to demonstrate knowledge of soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and current environmental issues.

Smithfield and its employees will continue to offer financial and volunteer support at ongoing NCF-Envirothon regional and state-level competitions taking place near the company’s locations nationwide, leading into the program’s finale championship this July in Raleigh, North Carolina.

“Smithfield applauds Envirothon and its participants for their continued efforts to protect and conserve the environment while taking steps toward a brighter tomorrow,” said Stewart Leeth, vice president of regulatory affairs and chief sustainability officer for Smithfield Foods. “It’s uplifting to see the enthusiasm that this next generation of leaders has for the environment. We look forward to their future achievements"

Smithfield actively supports NCF-Envirothon and its efforts to advance environmental education, aligning with both Smithfield’s environmental initiatives and commitment to support the vitality of local communities. Smithfield’s industry-leading sustainability program is focused on five pillars: animal care, environment, food safety and quality, helping communities, and people.

For more information about Smithfield’s sustainability program, recent achievements, and industry-leading environmental programs, visit Smithfield’s most recent Sustainability Report.
 

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About Smithfield Foods
Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. In the United States, the company is also the leader in numerous packaged meats categories with popular brands including Smithfield^®, Eckrich^®, Nathan’s Famous^®, Farmland^®, Armour^®, Farmer John^®, Kretschmar^®, John Morrell^®, Cook’s^®, Gwaltney^®, Carando^®, Margherita^®, Curly’s^®, Healthy Ones^®, Morliny^®, Krakus^®, and Berlinki^®. Smithfield Foods is committed to providing good food in a responsible way and maintains robust animal care, community involvement, employee safety, environmental and food safety and quality programs. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com
 
About NCF-Envirothon 
NCF-Envirothon is a hands-on, environmental problem-solving, leadership development program that includes a competition involving high school students annually throughout the U.S., Canada and China. Participating teams complete training and testing in five natural resource categories: soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife and current environmental issues. The program combines in-class curriculum and hands-on field experiences to provide an E-STEM program for students in environmental education, science, technology, engineering and mathematics.NCF-Envirothon works in partnership with local conservation districts, and their state associations, forestry associations, educators, school officials, and cooperating natural resources agencies to organize and conduct competitions on the local, regional, state and/or provincial level. Winning teams from each state and province advance to a final competition for the opportunity to compete for recognition, scholarships and prizes as well as an understanding of natural resources issues. For more information on this exciting program visit www.envirothon.org