ADM Employees Donate 111 Metric Tons of Food

By CnAgri Print

In recognition of World Food Day, employees of Archer Daniels Midland Company around the globe donated the equivalent of more than 245,453 pounds (111 metric tons) of food to help those in need in ADM communities. Donations were made in 29 communities in six different countries.

"These are not just the communities where we happen to have facilities; these are the places we live and work," said Matt Jansen, ADM corporate senior vice president and president, Oilseeds. "We depend on the economic health and vitality of these communities, not just for our business, but for the wellbeing of our colleagues, their families and neighbors. With these donations, our colleagues around the globe are giving something back."

The donations were coordinated through ADM Cares, the company's social investment program that directs funds to initiatives and organizations that drive meaningful social, economic and environmental progress worldwide. ADM Cares comprises three distinct focus areas: supporting the responsible development of agriculture, improving the quality of life in ADM communities and fostering employee giving and volunteer activities.

ADM's World Food Day donations align with other major ADM efforts to help the needy--particularly those suffering from hunger--in rural communities. In October, the company announced that it was contributing $1 million to Feeding America to fund 30 mobile food distribution units in 21 states in which we live and work. And in April, ADM partnered with Feeding America and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to create the Invest an Acre Program, in which farmers can choose to donate part of the profit from their crop at ADM elevators to help feed their neighbors in need (for more information, see www.InvestAnAcre.org).

For more than a century, the people of ADM have transformed crops into products that serve vital needs. Today, 30,000 ADM employees around the globe convert oilseeds, corn, wheat and cocoa into products for food, animal feed, industrial and energy uses. With more than 270 processing plants, 420 crop procurement facilities, and the world's premier crop transportation network, ADM helps connect the harvest to the home in more than 160 countries.

Founded in 1945, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations celebrates World Food Day each year on Oct. 16. The objectives of World Food Day are to encourage attention to agricultural food production and to stimulate national, bilateral, multilateral and non-governmental efforts to this end; encourage economic and technical cooperation among developing countries; encourage the participation of rural people, particularly women and the least privileged categories, in decisions and activities influencing their living conditions; heighten public awareness of the problem of hunger in the world; promote the transfer of technologies to the developing world; and strengthen international and national solidarity in the struggle against hunger, malnutrition and poverty and draw attention to achievements in food and agricultural development.