Smithfield Grudgingly Embraces 'Sustainability'

by Katherine Gustafson · 2010-02-19 10:00:00 UTC
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At the National Meat Association's annual conference last week, Smithfield Foods CEO Larry Pope ruminated on the difficult circumstances industrial meat companies face, according to the N.C. Agribusiness Council. He groaned about federal policies, low-price demands from major retailers, grilling by the media and growing public skepticism about food safety and quality.

It seems like the public and media attention he is so bothered by is having its effect. "Just this week I promoted somebody — and I can't even believe I'm saying this word here, folks — to a chief sustainability officer," Pope said.

The audience laughed, but this move is a serious one: Smithfield is the world's largest pork producer, and was raked over the coals last year as a subject of the tell-all documentary Food Inc.

One wonders, however, how empowered this "sustainability officer" will really be, given Pope's remarks. Will Smithfield just get better publicists and tighter security, or will the company actually do what's right? As the head of the industry leader, Pope is the most powerful man in industrial pork, so he should be held in part accountable for whether or not the industry begins to clean up its act.

At the moment, I'm not sure the lesson has penetrated. Pope sniffed that it's not fair how mega-buyers like Wal-Mart are putting the screws to meat processors, demanding that they maintain rock-bottom prices, which makes it difficult for producers to afford a focus on sustainability and animal welfare.

Well, if that's the case, shame on Wal-Mart for not living up to the sustainable image the company likes to espouse. But it sure sounds like Pope is using the all-purpose claim that changing practices will force higher prices onto consumers as an excuse to scoff at reform ideas that would ultimately improve his industry, public health and the planet.

Mr. Pope, did you ever think there might be a reason that the feds, the media and the public are concerned about your product and your practices? Now, be the leader you're supposed to be and do something about it.

Photo: titanium22 via Flickr

Katherine Gustafson is a freelance writer and editor with a background in international nonprofit organizations.
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