MIDDLESBORO, Ky. (May 22, 2019) — Smithfield Foods, Inc. is pleased to announce its Middlesboro, Kentucky facility’s participation in the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Envirothon’s 2019 Kentucky Envirothon competition where 200 high school students competed to demonstrate their knowledge and environmental problem-solving skills.
Smithfield 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.
“Our goal at Envirothon is to help student participants engage with the environment in a positive and impactful way,” said Johnna McHugh, coordinator for Kentucky Envirothon. “We are thankful for the guidance from Smithfield volunteers, who helped to further our students’ commitment to understanding and protecting the environment.”
The 2019 Kentucky Envirothon 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 is pleased to support Envirothon and our common goal to better the environment and prepare our next generation of leaders to achieve a more sustainable tomorrow,” said Stewart Leeth, vice president of regulatory affairs and chief sustainability officer for Smithfield Foods. “Sustainability and innovation are at the core of everything we do. We look forward to witnessing the future achievements of these talented students as they work to solve today’s environmental challenges.”
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, and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
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 and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Media Contact:
Dalton Agency for Smithfield Foods
Lauren Homrich
(480) 268-3253
lhomrich@daltonagency.com