As part of Farmland’s Honoring the Heartland Tour, the food brand recognized the Nebraska FFA Association and its positive impact in the community and across the state through a donation of $5,000.
This donation to Nebraska FFA will go toward the organization’s mission to develop its students’ potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success. With so many Nebraskans directly employed in agriculture, institutions like this are vital in creating the next generation of leaders and ensuring a positive future for the category.
The gift is part of the 2021 Honoring the Heartland Tour, an initiative launched by Farmland (a part of Smithfield Foods) in June to show appreciation for the honest work and tireless commitment in Midwest farming communities, agriculture industries, and retail establishments, and to support the next generation of farmers.
The brand’s 13-week mission will honor the unsung heroes of our agri-food chain and highlight the fundamental role the heartland plays by delivering grab-n-go lunches and providing monetary donations to support the future of farming. The Farmland Honoring The Heartland Tour food truck will complete two to three stops per week at various locations rooted in Midwestern neighborhoods. In addition to distributing meals, the brand will be donating to the National FFA Organization and state-level FFA Associations throughout the tour to assist them in their vision to grow leaders, build communities and strengthen agriculture at the local, state and national levels.
In addition to supporting local farming and agriculture communities, Farmland is simultaneously working to keep these neighborhoods strong by alleviating hunger. In its efforts, the brand is partnering with Hy-Vee grocery stores to help fight food insecurity across Omaha, Nebraska, through a donation of more than 40,000 pounds of protein to the Food Bank for the Heartland. This is the equivalent of more than 160,000 servings of protein.
The food donation is part of Smithfield Foods’ Helping Hungry Homes initiative, which was created in 2008 to fight hunger and food insecurity in local communities across the country. Since then, the company has donated more than 215 million servings of protein to food banks, community outreach programs, and disaster-relief efforts in all 50 states. Click here too learn more.
As part of the donation event at Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha, Neb., a Farmland food truck also supplied meals to essential food bank employees and volunteers — a token of the brand’s gratitude for courageously working during this past year to ensure neighbors still had access to fresh food.
