Hunger Summits
To raise awareness for the prevalence of hunger and to discuss ways of alleviating hunger, Hormel Foods brought together leaders from the public and private sectors as part of one-day hunger summits in Minnesota and Ohio.
Minnesota Hunger Summit
The first-ever Minnesota Hunger Summit, held Dec. 4, 2006, in downtown Minneapolis, brought together corporate, government, religious and not-for-profit representatives to discuss the Minnesota hunger issue and outline a vision to eliminate the problem.
Hormel Foods partnered with America’s Second Harvest (now known as Feeding America) and Second Harvest Heartland for the summit. The event featured high-profile speakers such as Jeffrey M Ettinger, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer at Hormel Foods;
U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman; Vicki Escarra, president and chief executive officer at Feeding America and R. Jane Brown, executive director of Second Harvest Heartland.
At the summit, panels of community leaders and experts discussed the ramifications of hunger among the state’s population and why the issue deserves attention from all audiences.
Speakers Included:
- Jeffrey M Ettinger, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer at Hormel Foods Corporation;
- R. Jane Brown, executive director, Second Harvest Heartland Food Bank;
- Carla Johnson, executive director, Channel One Food Bank;
- Shaye Moris, executive director, Northern Lakes Second Harvest Food Bank;
- Rev. Peter Rogness, Bishop, Saint Paul Area Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America;
- Dr. Diana Cutts, Pediatrician, Hennepin County Medical Center;
- Paul Anton, executive director, Wilder Research Foundation;
- Doug O'Brien, vice president, America's Second Harvest;
- Sen. Norm Coleman, United States Senate; and
- Vicki Escarra, president and chief executive officer, America’s Second Harvest.
To illustrate how the private sector can make a broader commitment to end hunger, Hormel Foods donated the entire production run of one eight-hour shift that makes its 5-ounce Hormel® chunk ham product at its Austin, MN facility—a total of 85,000 cans in all—to the six Feeding America food banks serving the state.
Ohio Hunger Summit
A second forum to address hunger, the Ohio Hunger Summit, was held Oct. 29, 2007 at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The summit brought together leaders of the for-profit, not-for-profit, religious, educational and legislative sectors to discuss the Ohio hunger issue and outline better solutions.
Sponsored by Hormel Foods in partnership with Kroger, Proctor & Gamble, Feeding America and FreestoreFoodbank, the summit featured speakers from a variety of disciplines including:
- Jeffrey M Ettinger, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hormel Foods;
- Bill Dankworth, Vice President, Direct Store Delivery, Kroger;
- Gov. Ted Strickland (via video);
- Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, Executive Director, Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks (OASHF);
- Ariel Miller, Executive Director, Episcopal Community Services Foundation;
- Dr. Charles Schubert, Pediatrician, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and Founder of Crossroads Medical Center;
- Dr. George Vredeveld, Professor and Director, Economics Center for Education and Research, University of Cincinnati; and
- Ralph Gildehaus, Director, Ohio Benefit Bank, Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
As part of the Ohio Hunger Summit, Ettinger pledged that Hormel Foods would make a special donation to the member food banks of OASHF in honor of the event. Ettinger stated the donation would be considerable and constructed in a manner to allow Ohio-based Hormel Foods employees the opportunity to directly assist those in need throughout their home state through special product donations and by donating their time.
On Dec. 18, 2007 Hormel Foods announced a donation of 81,000 pounds of protein products to benefit Feeding America food banks as part of the company's ongoing commitment to end hunger following the Ohio Hunger Summit.
The donation included nearly three truckloads of protein products that provided meals to nearly 430,000 people in need for the 2007 holiday season, providing a much-needed supply of protein.
View our 2008 Hormel Foods Corporate Responsibility Report to learn more about our efforts to end hunger.
View Jeffrey M Ettinger's speech at the 2007 Ohio Hunger Summit, on the WCET (Cincinnati Public Media) Web site.