Smithfield Claims To Be ‘Sustainable’ While Making Its Heavy Pollution Newly Profitable

02.11.21

We’ve all most likely seen them, commercials from company polluters that sound like they may have been written by an environmental safety group. This tactic, referred to as greenwashing, has grow to be all the fad with a few of the largest polluters to cowl up their poisoning of the atmosphere and hurt to communities. And Smithfield Meals is a chief instance, pushing an aggressive greenwashing marketing campaign so that buyers will overlook that it is among the largest industrial polluters in america.

As a substitute of cleansing up its act by really making its merchandise with out destroying the atmosphere and well being of these unfortunate sufficient to reside close to its vegetation and the manufacturing facility farms that elevate its pigs, Smithfield is investing in slick tag traces and doubling down on its devastating manufacturing facility farm mannequin. Day in and time out Smithfield will get wealthy whereas spewing harmful pollution into our water, air, and soil. And now Smithfield is partnering with fossil gas firms to push manufacturing facility farm “biogas” schemes to monetize its deliberate mismanagement of the almost unfathomable quantities of waste it produces yr after yr. Manufacturing unit farm biogas is a false resolution that expands and entrenches the worst points of mega-factory farms and the soiled pure gasoline business. However all through Smithfield’s advertising and marketing — on its web sites, social media accounts, and elsewhere — it tells shoppers that its pork merchandise are environmentally pleasant and that it’s a sustainability chief and local weather champion. It’s grade-A greenwashing at its most interesting. 

Not solely is that this deception unhealthy for shoppers and household farmers, it’s unlawful. That’s why we’re calling on federal regulators to carry Smithfield accountable and put a cease to its false and deceptive promoting. 

Smithfield Is One of many Greatest Industrial Polluters, Making a Mockery of Its Sustainability Claims

Smithfield is among the most dangerous industrial polluters in america. It constantly places income over folks and the atmosphere, with manufacturing facility farms and processing amenities all through the nation that rack up dozens of environmental violations yearly. That is why Smithfield has been hit with tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in damages as impacted communities have efficiently taken the mega-polluter to courtroom for inflicting circumstances that make their houses almost unlivable. The federal judges didn’t mince their phrases, recognizing that “interlocking dysfunctions” are attribute of how Smithfield produces its merchandise, and that the corporate willfully and wantonly harmed its neighbors to maximise income.

Smithfield’s Claims About Manufacturing unit Farm Biogas Are Quintessential Company Greenwashing

Smithfield’s newest scheme to cover its hurt to public well being and the local weather is its promotion of anaerobic digesters to supply so-called “biogas.” These digesters are tanks or lagoons that create an oxygen-free atmosphere the place microbes eat a part of Smithfield’s manure and emit a combination of gases, largely methane and carbon dioxide, that the digester captures. This manufacturing facility farm biogas can then be refined and burned identical to fossil pure gasoline. Removed from displaying a “longstanding dedication to sustainability,” as Smithfield claims, constructing new manufacturing facility farms and entrenching its irresponsible waste mismanagement to extract biogas solely perpetuates the myriad harms attributable to its manufacturing facility farm manufacturing mannequin. In actual fact, Smithfield’s digesters could make its waste much more dangerous to waterways than what it began with.

What Smithfield is admittedly doing is doubling down on its legacy of maximum air pollution, as a result of its manufacturing facility farm biogas scheme essentially is dependent upon the worst components of the way it has chosen to supply its pork merchandise on a budget. Smithfield promotes digesters as decreasing its methane emissions and producing “renewable” vitality, however fails to say that this methane is the direct results of Smithfield’s most well-liked waste administration apply, the place it liquifies huge portions of manure and shops it cheaply in rudimentary “lagoons” (pictured within the picture above throughout a flood). In distinction, when animal manure breaks down naturally, on a pasture for instance, it doesn’t generate methane. Methane is a potent greenhouse gasoline that’s 90 instances extra dangerous to the local weather than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time interval. Merely put, Smithfield misleadingly tells shoppers its pork is environmentally pleasant and that it’s a chief in sustainability as a result of it’s slapping a bandaid over the local weather destroying air pollution that it intentionally created within the first place. However we aren’t letting this deception go unanswered.    

Taking the Smithfield Greenwashing Case to the Federal Commerce Fee

Meals & Water Watch and a coalition of environmental and sustainable, household farming teams* have filed a criticism with the Federal Commerce Fee (“FTC”) calling for enforcement of federal regulation towards Smithfield’s false and deceptive advertising and marketing. Below the FTC Act, firms are prohibited from selling their merchandise in any approach that’s prone to mislead cheap shoppers. As our criticism makes clear, Smithfield’s sustainability advertising and marketing tells shoppers that its pork merchandise have environmental attributes which can be in stark distinction to the fact of how Smithfield does enterprise, duping them into shopping for its merchandise.

This unfair and unlawful apply not solely harms shoppers, but additionally harms actually sustainable household farmers who make investments the time, effort, and cash into producing merchandise that truly match what conscientious shoppers count on. By illegally advertising and marketing its merchandise, Smithfield makes it almost not possible for these trustworthy producers to compete within the market, and for shoppers to inform the distinction.

Smithfield reportedly introduced in additional than $11 billion in income in 2020, so it might afford to scrub up its act and transition away from the manufacturing facility farm mannequin that takes such an amazing toll on the atmosphere and native communities. However as a substitute, it has opted for false options like manufacturing facility farm biogas so it might wring extra money out of its harmful and polluting manufacturing amenities. Smithfield’s merchandise should not “sustainable” or “environmentally pleasant,” and the FTC should act to carry this mega-polluter accountable for mendacity to the general public and its prospects. 

*Together with Meals & Water Watch, the FTC criticism is joined by Cape Worry River Watch, Dakota Rural Motion, Household Farm Motion Alliance, Institute for Agriculture and Commerce Coverage, Iowa Residents for Group Enchancment, Missouri Rural Disaster Heart, Pennsylvania Farmers Union, and Socially Accountable Agriculture Undertaking.