KANSAS CITY, Mo., Sept. 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yesterday, Smithfield Foods' Helping Hungry Homes® initiative, a program focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure, joined forces with Price Chopper to donate nearly 40,000 pounds of protein to Harvesters—The Community Food Network. The donation, equivalent to nearly 160,000 servings, will help those fighting hunger in Kansas City, where one in seven individuals are food insecure.

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/faef9440-8053-4675-970d-df277d688c94

"We are very grateful for Smithfield, Price Chopper and all of our partners who help us alleviate hunger," said Valerie Nicholson-Watson, president and CEO of Harvesters—The Community Food Network. "This generous donation strengthens our communities and will serve local families in need."

Smithfield and Price Chopper's representatives presented the donation to Harvesters—The Community Food Network this morning at an event that raised awareness of hunger's impact in the local community. Members from all three organizations discussed the significance of protein donations in helping the 262,020 individuals, including one in six children, who face hunger each day in the Kansas City metro area.

"Price Chopper is grateful to have Smithfield and Harvesters as partners in the fight to end hunger across the Kansas City metro area," said Casie Broker, vice president of marketing at Price Chopper. "Feeding Kansas City is at the heart of everything we do at Price Chopper and we're dedicated to reducing the number of Kansas Citians facing food insecurity."

Smithfield's donation to Harvesters—The Community Food Network was a part of the Helping Hungry Homes® 2017 nationwide donation tour. Throughout the annual tour, Smithfield will provide large-scale protein donations to nearly 60 food banks across the country. This donation adds to the more than 65 million servings of protein donated since 2011.

"As a global food company, we are passionate about serving communities seeking assistance," said Dennis Pittman, senior director of hunger relief for Smithfield Foods. "It is our honor to stand with Price Chopper and Harvesters in the fight against hunger by providing high-quality, nutritious protein to families within the 26 counties the food bank serves."

Helping Hungry Homes® will visit Columbia, MO, today, Wednesday, Sept. 6. For more information about Helping Hungry Homes® and a list of upcoming donation events, visit helpinghungryhomes.com.

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Ⓡ, John MorrellⓇ, Cook'sⓇ, KretschmarⓇ, GwaltneyⓇ, Curly'sⓇ, MargheritaⓇ, CarandoⓇ, Healthy OnesⓇ, KrakusⓇ, MorlinyⓇ 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 Harvesters—The Community Food Network
Harvesters is a regional food bank and was Feeding America's 2011 Food Bank of the Year. Serving a 26-county area of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas, Harvesters provides food and related household products to more than 620 not-for-profit agencies including emergency food pantries, community kitchens, shelters and others. Agencies in Harvesters' network provide food assistance to as many as 141,500 different people each month. Harvesters, which was founded in 1979, is a certified member of Feeding America, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks, serving all 50 states. For more information, visit www.harvesters.org.

About Price Chopper
Price Chopper's 51 Kansas City stores are locally owned by the Ball, Cosentino, McKeever and Queen families, all of whom live in Kansas City and oversee store operations on a daily basis. For 38 years, the owners and employees of Price Chopper have been committed to providing the highest quality products and top-of-the-line customer service to the thousands of customers they serve every day. For more information, please visit www.mypricechopper.com.

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