Source:  Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 3/7/11

Smithfield Foods, Inc. announced today that it is launching a new, educational series of videos providing an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at pork production and sustainability practices at the company's Murphy-Brown hog farms.

The seven videos can be viewed on YouTube, SchoolTube and www.murphybrownllc.com. Murphy-Brown LLC is Smithfield's livestock production subsidiary based in North Carolina. The videos, which run from three to 10 minutes each, were shot at Murphy-Brown facilities across the United States.

“These video tours give viewers a close look inside our hog farms and lets people see firsthand how we put our commitment to product quality, food safety and animal care into practice,” said Don Butler, director of government relations and public affairs for Murphy-Brown. “Our goal is to take the mystery out of pork production by answering many of the questions that people ask us,” Butler said.

The videos show how piglets begin their life on a sow farm, what happens when they are moved to a nursery farm, and then to a finishing farm. Murphy-Brown employees also talk about the company's ISO 14001-certification, the international gold standard of environmental management, and offer unique insight regarding how the company cares for its animals.

Animal handling expert Dr. Temple Grandin, professor of animal science at Colorado State University, provides commentary for the series.

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