Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson presented the award during a ceremony at the State Historical Building auditorium in Des Moines. The award recognizes comprehensive environmental programs implemented by organizations and businesses.

Farmland Foods was honored for achieving ISO 14001 certification for its Environmental Management System (EMS) at its pork processing facilities in Denison and Carroll, Iowa, during 2005. ISO certification means that Farmland Foods is meeting a stringent set of internationally respected environmental management standards.

In addition, Farmland was recognized by the governor’s office for being an integral part of the American Meat Institute’s (AMI) Environmental Committee, helping AMI to design and further develop an EMS implementation program that can be used by companies from any industry.

“We’re honored to receive this award, which was made possible thanks to the dedication of our employees who have worked tirelessly to establish Farmland as a leader in environmental stewardship,” said George Richter, president and chief operating officer of Farmland Foods.

Richter pointed out that Farmland’s ISO certification and numerous other environmental stewardship programs have resulted in “significantly reducing our energy usage, including natural gas and electricity, along with reducing our water usage and generating less wastewater, storm water, solid waste and air emissions. We have accomplished all of this while at the same time increasing production levels at our processing plants.”

In presenting the 2005 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award to Farmland, Pederson noted, “The leadership of companies such as Farmland serves as a model for implementing environmental sustainability across the state of Iowa.”

C. Larry Pope, president and chief operating officer for Smithfield Foods, praised Farmland Foods for its accomplishment, adding, “We believe everyone has a responsibility to preserve our natural resources and that’s why we have made superior environmental performance a top priority at Smithfield Foods and all of our subsidiaries.”

Farmland currently is in the process of constructing an $81 million, 165,000-square-foot addition to its pork processing facility in Denison that is expected to add 219 new jobs when the expansion is completed in the late summer of 2007. The Denison plant currently employs 1,500 workers producing fresh pork, hams and bacon.

Farmland Foods, founded in 1959, is a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Inc., of Smithfield, Va. Farmland is headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., and has about 6,300 employees at its operations in Denison and Carroll, Iowa; Crete, Neb.; Monmouth, Ill.; Wichita, Kan.; New Riegel, Ohio; Salt Lake City, Utah.; and Springfield, Mass. Farmland processes fresh and frozen pork products for national retail and foodservice markets, with a strong concentration in the Midwest. Farmland serves an international commodity, foodservice and retail market in Asia, Central America and Eastern Europe.

ThePigSite News Team