Dear Fellow Employee:

By now you may have seen "Good Food. Responsibly™" on our company's Web site or on some of our printed materials.  We believe this statement best describes our way of life at Smithfield Foods.  We understand that it's not enough to simply make good food — we must also make it in a responsible manner. It also captures, in just a few words, the essence of our mission statement and core values, which serve as our guiding principles:

Mission Statement
To be a trusted, respected and ethical food industry leader that excels at bringing delicious and nutritious meat and specialty food products to millions every day while setting industry standards for corporate social responsibility.

Core Values
We will constantly strive:

1. To produce safe, high-quality, nutritious food.
2. To be an employer of choice.
3. To advance animal welfare.
4. To protect the environment.
5. To have a positive impact on our communities.

In recent years the concept of doing the right thing — Corporate Social Responsibility as many call it — has been embraced by businesses worldwide. Growing awareness on the part of key stakeholders — customers, consumers, investors, government officials and the media — has resulted in legislative and social pressure on businesses to ensure they act in a socially responsible manner.

I'm proud to say that as a family of companies, we at Smithfield Foods have a long history of doing the right thing and have been putting these principles into practice for some time now.  As a result, we continue to make tremendous strides in many areas of corporate social responsibility, including:

• Replacing individual gestation stalls for pregnant sows with group housing
• Implementing environmental training and performance programs, resulting in fewer Notices of Violations received across the company.
• Kicking off Helping Hungry Homes™, our new initiative to provide food for low-income families across the country.
• Implementing new policies on human rights and food safety, and forming a diversity advisory committee.
• Expanding our Learners to Leaders™ educational program to include more schools and individuals.
• Augmenting the Smithfield-Luter Foundation scholarship program to include three historically black colleges.

Together, we will advance our mission of setting industry standards for social responsibility — Smithfield Foods is truly a leader in this area. By being a leader we will ensure the success of our business by operating efficiently, building the reputation of our product brands and enhancing the communities where we live work and raise our families.

I invite your feedback and continued ideas for helping us go above and beyond to provide good food responsibly. These are ambitious goals, but with your support and commitment, I'm confident of our continued success.

Sincerely,

Larry Pope
President and Chief Executive Officer
Smithfield Foods, Inc.