Alliance members commit to food waste reduction and repurposing, decarbonization

Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s largest pork processor, is the latest food company to join the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance (FPSA), a collaborative movement to boost food waste reduction and recycling, and expand renewable energy production across America. The Farm Powered Strategic Alliance, founded in 2020 by Vanguard Renewables, Unilever, Starbucks, and Dairy Farmers of America, aims to avoid or eliminate food waste first and repurpose what can’t be eliminated into renewable energy via farm-based anaerobic digesters.

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Matt Newsom, Vice President Renewable Finance at Smithfield Foods, and John Hanselman, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Vanguard Renewables at the RNG 2021 Conference. (Photo: Business Wire)

Smithfield’s inclusion in the alliance will further support progress toward sustainability initiatives the vertically integrated company has underway across its operations, including commitments to reduce waste sent to landfills, increase renewable energy sourcing and creation and become carbon negative in its U.S. company-owned operations by 2030.

“Smithfield sets an example for other companies to take a hard look at their business practices to see how they can do even better for the planet,” said John Hanselman, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Vanguard Renewables. “Smithfield has significant sustainability efforts across its value chain and recognizes the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance’s value in offering additional pathways to reach them.”

“Our aggressive sustainability goals and programs are the foundation of how we carry out our commitment to produce 'Good food. Responsibly.^®' with respect for our people, animals, communities and planet,” said Stewart Leeth, Chief Sustainability Officer for Smithfield Foods. “We’re excited to join the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance and accelerate progress toward our leading goals, including our pledge to achieve a 75% reduction in waste and certify 75% of our U.S. facilities zero-waste-to-landfill by 2025.”

The Farm Powered Strategic Alliance, named one of Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas, includes Unilever, Starbucks, Dairy Farmers of America, Vanguard Renewables, Stonyfield Organic, Cabot Creamery, and now Smithfield Foods. The Alliance offers U.S. food manufacturers and retailers a circular approach to reducing the detrimental environmental impacts of CO2 emissions and offers a pathway toward a carbon-neutral footprint. Members have the opportunity to recycle unavoidable food and beverage waste on farms, where it is combined with farm manure in a Farm Powered anaerobic digester to generate renewable natural gas (RNG). The process also produces a low-carbon fertilizer that host farms can use to support regenerative agriculture practices and provide the American farmer with a diversified income stream.

“The world cannot wait for governments to do the right thing; private industry must take initiative, and we are thrilled to welcome Smithfield to the Alliance,” says Hanselman.

More information about Smithfield’s sustainability program and its zero-waste-to-landfill initiatives is available on its website.

To learn more about the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance, visit this link.

About Vanguard Renewables

Vanguard Renewables is a national leader in the development of food and dairy waste-to-renewable energy projects. The Company, based in Wellesley, Massachusetts, is committed to advancing decarbonization by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farms and food waste and supporting regenerative agriculture best practices on partner farms. Vanguard co-founded the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance alongside food industry leaders Dairy Farmers of America, Unilever, and Starbucks; the Alliance now includes Cabot Creamery, Stonyfield Organic, and Smithfield Foods. The Alliance commits to developing a circular solution for food waste reduction and recycling and decarbonization of manufacturing and the supply chain. Vanguard Renewables owns and operates six on-farm anaerobic digester facilities in the northeast and plans to expand to more than 100 sites nationwide by 2025. Vanguard’s established relationships and renewable natural gas offtake agreements with national utilities including Dominion Energy, Enbridge, ONE Gas, National Grid, and Eversource, and its strategic alliance with 14,500-dairy member cooperative Dairy Farmers of America, position the Company to significantly increase U.S. production and delivery of renewable natural gas to commercial and residential customers across the country. Vanguard is a 2020 Energy Vision Leadership Award recipient and its Farm Powered anaerobic digester at Goodrich Farm in Salisbury, Vermont earned the 2021 Outstanding Dairy Sustainability Award from the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. Please visit https://vanguardrenewables.com/fpsa-farm-powered-strategic-alliance/ to learn more.

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About Smithfield Foods, Inc.

Headquartered in Smithfield, Va. since 1936, Smithfield Foods, Inc. is an American food company with agricultural roots and a global reach. Our 63,000 team members are dedicated to producing "Good food. Responsibly.^®" and have made Smithfield one of the world's leading vertically integrated protein companies. We have pioneered sustainability standards for more than two decades, including our industry-leading commitments to become carbon negative in U.S. company-owned operations and reduce GHG emissions by 30 percent across our entire U.S. value chain by 2030. We believe in the power of protein to end food insecurity and have donated hundreds of millions of food servings to our communities. Smithfield boasts a portfolio of high-quality iconic brands, such as Smithfield^®, Eckrich^®, and Nathan's Famous^®, among many others. For more information, visit www.smithfieldfoods.com.

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