The Profit with a Purpose award sponsored by World Sustainability was presented to Smithfield Foods at a ceremony on October 13th. The company was honored for developing a system of capturing methane from hog waste lagoons to be used to generate power. Smithfield Foods has entered into a joint venture agreement with Roeslein Alternative Energy and Dominion Energy to produce 5.3 million dekatherm equivalents of gas that would represent removal of 600,000 vehicles from roads when fully implemented.
In commenting on the award, Stewart Leeth, Chief Sustainability Officer for Smithfield Foods stated, “As a leader in the food and agriculture industries, Smithfield has worked to ingrain sustainability across its value chain over the last two decades.” 
He added, “Through our RNG and agronomics programs we are responsibly using our resources, expertise and market access to amplify proven technologies that benefit the environment and simultaneously foster growth for our company and our partners, suppliers and communities.”
It is a matter of record that Smithfield Foods has been the subject of adverse verdicts in Federal lawsuits in North Carolina resulting from allegations of nuisance arising from conventional waste lagoons. Development and implementation of the methane capture technology has turned a situation with profound financial implications into a positive outcome with benefits to hog farmers, residents of the communities in which they operate and the environment.