Smithfield Foods says it will cut emissions

Smithfield Foods, the company behind Nathan’s Famous hot dogs and Smithfield hams, announced Monday that it will slash its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% over the next nine years.

For Smithfield, the biggest pork processor in the world, reaching that goal would have the same effect as permanently parking 900,000 cars. The effort will impact every step of its operations, from the efficiency of its refrigerators to the transportation of its hogs.

Calling the changes “environmentally beneficial and economically feasible,” Kenneth Sullivan, Smithfield’s president and CEO said in a statement that “while we will have unique challenges meeting this goal as the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer, our size and scale also means that, if successful, we can make a significant, positive impact.”

Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, which is helping Smithfield with some of these environmental efforts, added in the statement that “success will require collaboration with farmers and others in the agricultural industry,” but “it’s important that the private sector play a role in protecting our natural resources.”

To make a dent in unhealthy emissions, Smithfield is making changes at its farms and facilities, as well as to the journey that connects the two. It is working with the Environmental Defense Fund to boost the vitality of soil on grain farms to cut down on the amount of nitrous oxide released into the atmosphere. The company will employ technologies on at least 30% of its hog farms that will tap into renewable energy. And it will cut carbon emissions and the use of fuel by becoming more efficient ferrying its animals and products.

Greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide raise average temperatures and are considered by many scientists to be a prime culprit behind climate change. And environmental advocates have criticized the animal- based food industry for draining energy and water resources.

While some question the legitimacy of claims human activity is playing a role in the world’s shifting climate, a growing number of companies are taking actions similar to Smithfield to reduce their environmental footprint.