ATLANTA – The North American Meat Institute (NAMI) presented awards to members of the meat industry during a luncheon Jan. 31 at the International Production & Processing Expo (IPPE). In addition to various industry recognitions, NAMI also recognized various member companies for their environmental achievements.
Barry Carpenter, CEO and president of NAMI, and Michael Townsley, president of Bob Evans Foods, presented the following awards:
- E. Floyd Forbes Award – Greg Benedict, former COO and president of American Foods Group
- Industry Advancement Award – Michael Gangel, president of The Chad Company Inc.
- Edward C. Jones Community Service Award – John Link, founder and chairman of Jack Link’s
- Supplier of the Year – Provisur Technologies
- Foundation for Meat & Poultry Research & Education Scientific Achievement Award – Dr. Keith Belk, professor of animal sciences at Colorado State Univ.
- Harry L. Rudnick Educator’s Award – Dr. Jeff Sindelar, associate professor and extension meat specialist at the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison.
The NAMI Environmental Achievement Awards were also presented to member companies during the ceremony. According to NAMI, the awards are given to companies “that go beyond environmental compliance by designing and successfully implementing an innovative plant upgrade or environmental program.”
The following companies and plants were presented with environmental achievement awards in various categories.
Environmental technology, outreach and training:
- First place – Smithfield Foods, Springfield, Massachusetts
- Second place – Keystone Foods LLC Equity Group, Reidsville, North Carolina and Smithfield Foods – Premium Pet Health, Denver, Colorado
Pollution prevention:
- First place – Smithfield Foods, Kinston, North Carolina
- Second place – Smithfield Foods, Sioux Center, Iowa
- Third place – Smithfield Foods, Denison, Iowa
Resource conservation:
- First place – Smithfield Foods, Fresh Division, Salt Lake City, Utah
- Second place – Hormel Foods Corp., Beloit, Wisconsin
- Third place – Banner Creek LLC, Holton, Kansas
Social and economic sustainability:
- First place – Perry Way Foods LLC, Sheboygan, Wisconsin
- Second place – Smithfield Foods, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
In addition, a number of companies and plants were recognized with NAMI’s Environmental Recognition Awards. NAMI’s program is a “four-tier voluntary environmental management system toolbox, coupled with an awards program that ranges from simple to complex.” Companies awarded with Tier 1 recognition have a basic environmental program in place and those awarded with Tier 4 honors have completed an ISO 14001 environmental management system.
