August 15th, 2024
Mankato — GreenSeam’s annual Celebration of Ag took place on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, at ISG Field in Mankato. Christensen Farms, a prominent supporter of GreenSeam, had a booth at the event educating attendees on modern pork production practices with a virtual reality experience. Thanks to all the Celebration of Ag attendees and fans at the Mankato MoonDogs game engaging with their booth, they pledged to donate 300 lbs. of pork to South Central MN Food Recovery.
“At Christensen Farms, we’re deeply committed to nourishing our communities, and we’re honored to support South Central MN Food Recovery once again. With this donation of ground pork, we’re proud to provide over 1200 meals, offering a reliable source of high-quality protein to families and individuals who need it most.” said Amber Portner, Communications Manager at Christensen Farms.
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 them into ready-meals, and works with partners to distribute to people who are low-income and/or Black, Indigenous, or people of color.
Trisha Anderson at South Central MN Food Recovery expressed their appreciation: “South Central MN Food Recovery extends our warmest gratitude for the ongoing partnership with Christensen Farms and GreenSeam as we collaborate for the third year to provide healthy food resources to our community members facing food insecurity through this generous donation of pork.”
Sam Ziegler, Director of GreenSeam states, “While celebrating the success of agriculture and food in our region and reflecting on the past year, we recognized that many families in need are facing challenging times. Christensen Farms stepped up by offering to donate ground pork based on the number of people who engaged with their booth at the event and experienced a virtual reality tour of a pig barn. This initiative presented a unique opportunity for consumers to learn about Christensen Farms’ operations while contributing to a good cause.”
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About GreenSeam
GreenSeam is an economic development organization for food and agriculture in southern MN and northern IA on a mission to elevate this region as the world-class food and agribusiness epicenter. Its work is guided by four focus areas: business attraction & creation, business retention & expansion, talent development & retention, and regional branding & promotion. As a community brand, GreenSeam’s work is made possible by its business and community investors and committee volunteers with a passion to see the food and ag industry continue to prosper and fuel communities.
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 140,000 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 them 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.