Christensen Farms’ Donates 200lbs of Pork to South Central MN Food Recovery

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Courtney Malone

Office: 507-385-6657

Mobile: 612-718-5068

cmalone@greatermankato.com

MEDIA INVITATION

Christensen Farms’ Donates 200lbs of Pork to South Central MN Food Recovery

MANKATO, MN (August 8, 2022) – GreenSeam’s annual Celebration of Ag took place, Thursday, July 21, 2022, at the ISG Field in Mankato. In addition to the program, baseball game, booths, and networking, there was a new activity that sparked the interest of that evenings’ guests. Christensen Farms brought two 35 pound nursery pigs to the game and for every pig or agricultural question that their staff received, Christensen Farms would donate a pound of pork to South Central MN Food Recovery.

“Protein is more difficult to come by and is highly coveted by our food recovery initiative. The pork will be utilized to create ready-made-meals to be distributed to food-insecure individuals and families throughout the greater Mankato area.” – Sheri Sander-Silva with SCMNFR

We would like to invite you to Wooden Spoon Monday, August 15^th at 4:30pm, where 200 pounds of ground pork will be delivered to South Central MN Food Recovery. The ground pork will be turned into ready-meals, and with the help of partners it will be distributed to people who are low-income and/or Black, Indigenous, or people of color. 

“At Christensen Farms, we are proud to serve the noble purpose of providing safe, nutritious pork to families across the country,” said Amber Portner, Christensen Farms Communications Manager. “For many families in the Midwest and throughout the country, putting food on the table can be a daily challenge, and providing a key source of protein is not just a daily luxury, it is essential.”

Sam Ziegler, Director of GreenSeam states “Every year the Celebration of Ag gets bigger and there are new ways that businesses within the GreenSeam region can create engaging ways to step up and lead by example. This opportunity with Christensen Farms and South Central MN Food Recovery is the first of hopefully many opportunities that GreenSeam will be able to assist in.”

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About GreenSeam:

GreenSeam is not only a region that spans across southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, but also a nonprofit organization dedicated to strategically building and connecting the region’s extensive agricultural business assets to the world by enhancing collaboration and investment with public and private sector partners. We are committed to the long-term prosperity of southern Minnesota and northern Iowa by strengthening collaborations and partnerships, growing businesses and their workforces, as well as communities they call home. GreenSeam is a business unit of Greater Mankato Growth, Inc.

About Christensen Farms & Feedlots, Inc.

Christensen Farms is one of the largest, family-owned pork producers in the United States, marketing approximately 3 million hogs per year. Headquartered in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, the company operates throughout the Midwest with facilities in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois and South Dakota. Christensen Farms owns three feed mills, manages 143,000 sows on 44 farms, and oversees more than 350 nurseries and grow finish sites. The company employs nearly 1,000 people and maintains 1,500 contract partnerships.

The company is vertically integrated with a strong presence across the pork value chain – from farm to fork. Christensen Farms is the largest shareholder of Triumph Foods LLC, a producer-owned primary pork processing plant in St. Joseph, Missouri. In turn, Triumph Foods own 50 percent of Daily’s Premium Meats, a specialty pork processor of bacon and other premium pork products. Triumph Foods also holds a 50 percent partnership in Seaboard Triumph Foods, LLC of Sioux City, Iowa, a primary pork processing plant.

About South Central MN Food Recovery

South Central MN Food Recovery (SCMNFR) was developed in 2019 and is designed to provide nutritious meals to families in need by using high quality food that would otherwise be going to the landfill. SCMNFR accepts large quantities of fresh produce and meats, makes into ready-meals, and works with partners to distribute to people who are low-income and/or Black, Indigenous, or people of color.  

SCMNFR is an organization working to reduce food insecurity and food waste in the community.  Wooden Spoon is a commercial restaurant, caterer and bakery committed to partnering with local organizations to help increase food security. There is a need for low cost or no cost, nutritious, ready-to-eat meals for people in South Central Minnesota and food is being turned away from retailers and not being consumed.  To address these challenges, SCMNFR and Wooden Spoon collaborate in utilizing recovered food as available to prepare meals that are distributed to community members in need through local organizations. Meals are provided free of cost.