Philanthropy

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Fighting Hunger

We are compassionate about the issue of hunger at Hormel Foods and committed to helping families that struggle to put food on the table. As a leader in the food industry, we feel fortunate to be in a position to help alleviate hunger in our communities.

Product Donations

Jeffrey M. Ettinger, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer, accepts an award from Channel One for being the 2007 Donor of the Year.

In both fiscal years 2007 and 2008, our efforts through product donations and thought leadership have helped struggling foods banks keep their shelves stocked with much-needed protein products. We were honored when Channel One Food Bank and Food Shelf named us the 2007 Donor of the Year for our contributions. This organization serves individuals throughout southeast Minnesota and western Wisconsin, which includes the community of Austin, MN, where Hormel Foods’ headquarters is located.

In fiscal year 2008, we offered assistance to Feeding America (formerly known as America’s Second Harvest), which continued our support for the organization since 1979. The donation included more than 81,000 pounds of protein that provided meals to nearly 430,000 people in need during the holiday season.

Thought Leadership

To stay at the forefront as a thought leader on the topic of hunger, we commissioned our second annual and third annual Hormel Hunger Survey in fiscal years 2007 and 2008, respectively. The study continues to explore the attitudes and behaviors of the American general public relative to the key domestic issues of poverty and hunger. The results have been used to raise awareness of this growing concern in American communities. Key findings from the 2008 survey include:

• Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of the general public believes hunger is getting worse
• Six percent of Americans said they or someone in their immediate family has gone to bed hungry in the past month because they could not afford enough food
• More than half (58 percent) of Americans have cut back on either the types of food they buy or the amount of food they buy because of higher food prices
• One in seven Americans (14 percent) said that they or someone in their immediate family have received food from a food bank, shelter or other charitable organization in the past year because of lack of money for food
• Fifty-seven percent agreed with a statement that using corn to produce ethanol makes the hunger problem worse

Visit the Hunger Research section of our corporate Web site for key findings from past surveys and more information.

As we further our efforts and take a leadership position to end hunger, we also have the opportunity to share our learnings with the industry. In October 2008, Jeffrey  Ettinger, chairman of the board, president and chief executive office at Hormel Foods, presented at a symposium sponsored by the Food Industry Center and the Center for International Food and Agricultural Policy on the topic of future food scarcities.

To read a copy of the speech, visit http://www.hormelfoods.com/ newsroom/events/foodscarcitiesfall2008.aspx