Smithfield Foods donated 64,576 hams in December to food banks in six states through its Helping Hungry Homes hunger-relief program. 

“Millions of people in the U.S. don’t have enough food to eat, and this is especially tragic during the holiday season,” said Steve Evans, vice president of community development for Smithfield Foods. “We’re honored to be able share these hams with our neighbors in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah and Wisconsin, where more than 13,000 of our employees live, work and raise their families.”

Smithfield delivered hams with a net weight of more than 286,000 pounds to the following food banks in the Feeding America network between Dec. 15 and 20:

• Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Wisc.: 8,760 hams (37,000 pounds).
• Feeding South Dakota – Sioux Falls, S.D.: 8,400 hams (35,000 pounds).  
• Food Bank for Central & Northeast Missouri – Columbia, Mo.: 8,584 hams (37,700 pounds).
• Food Bank for the Heartland – Omaha, Neb.: 7,152 hams (30,700 pounds).
• Food Bank of Iowa – Des Moines, Iowa: 8,936 hams (38,000 pounds).
• Food Bank of Lincoln – Lincoln, Neb.: 5,396 hams (30,500 pounds).  
• Second Harvest Community Food Bank – St. Joseph, Mo.: 9,744 hams (42,800 pounds).
• Utah Food Bank – Salt Lake City, Utah: 7,604 hams (34,500 pounds).

According to Feeding America, 44 million people in the U.S. face hunger, including 13 million children, and 100% of U.S. counties lack access to enough food. In 2022, 49 million people turned to food assistance for extra help.

Smithfield also recently made several significant food donations to aid in hunger relief during the holidays. In December, the company distributed 7,300 free Smithfield Spiral Quarter Hams to individuals and families in the St. Charles, Ill., area, and donated more than 32,000 pounds of protein to the Northern Illinois Food Bank. Smithfield also held a “Hams for the Holidays” food distribution event in Smithfield, Va., distributing 1,000 free Smithfield Hickory Smoked Spiral Sliced Hams and holiday sides from Kroger to those facing hunger in the local community. 

In November, Smithfield donated 65,000 pounds of protein to Feeding Southwest Virginia and the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and donated 50,000 pounds of ham, bacon, sausage and other products during the Mayflower Marathon to benefit the Virginia Peninsula Foodbank and the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore. 

Smithfield has been committed to fighting hunger and food insecurity since 2008. The company’s hunger-relief program, Helping Hungry Homes, has provided hundreds of millions of servings of protein all 50 U.S. states, as well as in Poland, Romania and Mexico. In 2022, Smithfield donated nearly 25 million servings of protein to food banks, disaster-relief efforts and community outreach programs across the U.S. and has pledged to donate 200 million servings of protein by 2025.

Visit here for more information about Smithfield’s programs to support local communities.

Source: Smithfield Foods Inc.