Smithfield Foods is a U.S. company that provides more than 40,000 American jobs and partners with thousands of American family farmers... Your inquiry references a call from investors on publicly traded companies with U.S. operations to“demonstrate how they will meet the dual challenges of maintaining meat production while prioritizing worker protection and safety in the coming months and beyond.” We want to be clear that we can only speak on behalf of Smithfield Foods, which is not a publicly traded company. However, in response to your inquiry, you should know that we want the same thing: to protect employee health and safety while also safeguarding America’s food supply. And that is exactly what we are doing.

... At the core of Smithfield’s COVID-19 response is an ongoing focus on employee health and safety and continued adherence with – at a minimum – CDC and OSHA guidance for Meat and Poultry Processing Workers and Employers... Since the earliest days of this pandemic, Smithfield has highlighted the importance of our nation’s food workers... This is why we have dedicated $120 million to providing Responsibility Bonuses to all our production and distribution center team members. Employees who miss work due to COVID-19 are receiving the Responsibility Bonus... We currently pay employees for their entire COVID-19 related leave without a limit on total time off.. [W]e also are paying employees, including any and all bonuses, when they are quarantined as a result of COVID-19 diagnosis or exposure, and have a paid leave benefit for all employees age 60 or above and for those at high risk for serious complications from COVID-19...