2024 event theme highlights importance of renewable energy
for a sustainable future
SMITHFIELD, Va., Aug. 2, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Smithfield Foods is sponsoring the 2024
National Conservation Foundation (NCF)-Envirothon Competition, an
international environmental and natural resource problem-solving
competition that builds leadership experience for high school
students, with $89,000 in
funding.
We're proud to support Envirothon to
inspire students to take action in their local communities.
"Empowering youth through educational programs and competitions
like NCF-Envirothon is key to solving the planet's most pressing
environmental challenges such as the need to create clean,
renewable energy," said Stewart
Leeth, chief sustainability officer for Smithfield Foods.
"Sustainability has been a long-term priority for Smithfield, and we're proud to support
Envirothon to inspire students to take action in their local
communities."
Smithfield provided
$30,000 to be awarded as scholarships
to the top three teams in the national competition, as well as an
additional $59,000 to support 51
state competitions held across the country earlier this year.
"The NCF-Envirothon and student teams from across the world
competing this year are grateful for Smithfield's continued support of the National
Conservation Foundation and our programs," said Jeremy Peters, NCF executive director.
"Smithfield's sponsorship helps
support the 50,000 high school students globally who participate
each year and makes it possible to provide opportunities like
NCF-Envirothon at the global level and in many of our partner
states."
The 2024 NCF-Envirothon competition topic is renewable energy
for a sustainable future, highlighting the ongoing work to build a
vibrant renewable energy industry. Students learn about
different sources of renewable energy, challenges facing the
transition from traditional fossil fuels to renewables,
environmental, economic and social impacts of energy consumption
and how individuals can affect change in their communities.
Smithfield is a partner in two
renewable natural gas (RNG) joint ventures: one with Dominion
Energy, known as Align RNG, and a second with Roeslein Alternative
Energy and TPG Rise, known as Monarch Bioenergy. These projects
transform methane from hog manure into carbon-negative renewable
natural gas (RNG) on farms.
The company's Grayson,
Kentucky, Sioux Falls, South
Dakota, and Tar Heel, North
Carolina, food-processing facilities also produce biogas
from wastewater that is used on-site as a replacement for natural
gas or refined to create RNG that is injected into a local natural
gas pipeline.
For more information about Smithfield's sustainability efforts and its
2023 sustainability impact report, please visit
smithfieldfoods.com/sustainability.
About Smithfield Foods, Inc.
Headquartered in Smithfield,
Virginia, since 1936, Smithfield Foods, Inc. is a U.S.
food company that employs more than 54,000 people in seven
countries and partners with thousands of American farmers. As one
of the world's leading vertically integrated protein companies, we
are dedicated to producing "Good food. Responsibly.®" to
feed a growing world population. We believe in the power of protein
to end food insecurity and have donated hundreds of millions of
food servings to food banks, disaster relief efforts and community
outreach programs in all 50 U.S. states. Smithfield boasts a portfolio of high-quality
iconic brands, such as Smithfield®, Eckrich®,
Gwaltney® and Nathan's Famous®, among many
others. For more information, visit
www.smithfieldfoods.com and connect with us on Facebook, X,
formerly known as Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and
Threads.
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,
China and Singapore. 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 experience 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 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.
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SOURCE Smithfield Foods, Inc.