WHO WE ARE IS OFTEN DEFINED BY WHAT WE DO June 25, 2019 At OSI, social responsibility is a fundamental part of how we do business and connect with our communities around the world. We operate more than 60 facilities in 17 countries worldwide, and being involved in so many communities provides us the unique opportunity to give back and positively impact the lives of thousands of men, women and children, while aligning our social responsibility efforts with all of our core business values: integrity, partnership, teamwork, improvement and innovation. That is why we have supported a variety of organizations, targeting those concerned with food research focused education, food related health, charities supporting children and families, and other charitable causes. EDUCATION AND FOOD RESEARCH We are dedicated to nurturing and developing the future leaders of our business and our industry, challenging ourselves with new ideas and taking on the responsibility as leaders of supporting research and development for continuous improvement within our industry. Around the globe, we partner with our local universities, secondary schools and area youth clubs to improve the capacity of the agriculture industry, so we can help feed the world’s growing population. OSI has also made charitable contributions to schools across India to benefit more than 250 students. These contributions have helped provide books and improve infrastructure for students in rural areas and assist deaf and differently abled school children.
Transcript
WHO WE ARE IS OFTEN DEFINED BY WHAT WE DO June 25, 2019 At OSI, social responsibility is a fundamental part of how we do business and connect with our
communities around the world. We operate more than 60 facilities in 17 countries worldwide, and being
involved in so many communities provides us the unique opportunity to give back and positively impact
the lives of thousands of men, women and children, while aligning our social responsibility efforts with
all of our core business values: integrity, partnership, teamwork, improvement and innovation. That is
why we have supported a variety of organizations, targeting those concerned with food research
focused education, food related health, charities supporting children and families, and other charitable
causes.
EDUCATION AND FOOD RESEARCH
We are dedicated to nurturing and developing the future leaders of our business and our industry, challenging ourselves with new ideas and taking on the responsibility as leaders of supporting research and development for continuous improvement within our industry. Around the globe, we partner with our local universities, secondary schools and area youth clubs to improve the capacity of the agriculture industry, so we can help feed the world’s growing population. OSI has also made charitable contributions to schools across India to benefit more than 250 students. These contributions have helped provide books and improve infrastructure for students in rural areas and assist deaf and differently abled school children.
Opening our doors for career days, job shadowing opportunities and apprenticeships has been a highlight of educating the next generation of industry leaders. We also look to these partnerships to join us in tackling real-world problems like climate change or investigating the best solutions for issues like animal welfare. From our local midwestern universities in the United States to our longstanding academic partners in Europe, we have supported many research studies and targeted university initiatives to lead the way in innovation. Our employees step forward as advisors to prepare local students or aspiring farmers with hands-on training and practical understanding of global food supply. We are helping create a diverse workforce that can add value up and down the supply chain with new ideas and interesting perspectives. This not only provides benefits to the community by growing a more educated, skilled workforce in the meat industry, but will also help ensure the viability and growth of OSI’s business in the future.
HUNGER AND NUTRITION
In the United States, one in six adults and one in five children are not sure where they will find their next meal. We at OSI look up and down our supply chain to see how we can utilize our own expertise and transform excess or unused food in a way that helps feed the hungry in our communities. This is why so many of us at OSI work with local food banks. In addition to donating more than 140,000 meals since 2013 to local food banks and people in need, employees from OSI lead volunteer efforts to ensure local communities have access to healthy and affordable food. It is no coincidence that OSI North America has boosted food donations during the same time we increased our efforts in reducing the amount of excess food going to waste and waste going to landfills.
This April, during National Volunteer Week, OSI’s North America Corporate Outreach team partnered with a great organization that delivers food and products to children in need throughout the United States. Blessings in a Backpack is a non-profit organization feeding more than 87,300 children in nearly 1,092 schools in 45 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, including children in our own neighborhoods.
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
Focusing on the children and families in the communities in which we operate is more than a CSR initiative, it is an integral part of the services we provide and speaks to the heart of OSI employees. For many years, OSI has been a strong supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC), which provides housing to families of seriously ill children, so they can be close at hand during long hospital stays. Over the years, RMHC has provided a convenient “second home” for some of our OSI family and friends. We are proud to support this charity for much of our long history, with our chairman and CEO, Sheldon Lavin, also serving as a member of the RMHC Board of Trustees.
Creating social impact across our communities has taken the combined effort of OSI employees, company operations and impactful contributions. We are proud of this demonstration of teamwork and of OSI values in action because it highlights the importance we place on our communities and provides us with regular opportunities to give back to the places where we live and work.
Turosi Giving is a proud example of how an OSI company-backed charitable initiative in Australia produced real, impactful results through important partnerships within communities and renewed energy in the workplace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxjFsM7f6ic
Community initiatives that work towards positive impacts within the OSI network bring just as many benefits to the volunteers within our company as they do to the communities and people we work hard to help. We have found that aligning our CSR objectives to our core business values has strengthened the impact we are able to achieve. Additionally, making social impact a cornerstone of our mission enriches our culture, our mission and our identity as not just a business and job creator, but a contributing member of the community, wherever we have facilities and employees.
