Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper Executive Director, Jay Ford, will be attending the Tyson Foods annual stockholder meeting to speak for the Water Stewardship Resolution being considered by the company owners. The ‘Policy to Address Water Impacts of Business Operations’ was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on behalf of the Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment and would direct the company to adopt a stewardship policy that would reduce the risks of water contamination at Tyson processing facilities as well as along their supply chain.
Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper Executive Director, Jay Ford issued the following statement:
“Shorekeeper is proud to represent Virginia and our waters for the shareholders and senior management team at Tyson Foods. We appreciate the important role that poultry plays in the economy of the Eastern Shore and Virginia at large but we also recognize that the industry has a significant impact on our seaside and Chesapeake Bay waters. As Tyson continues to expand in Accomack County it is essential that we prevent excessive nutrients from entering waterways and setting back the progress made in cleaning up our Chesapeake Bay. Additionally, we need plans to mitigate the impacts to our delicate sole- source aquifer on the Eastern Shore, which provides our drinking water.
We are proud to support this water quality resolution because this is a win-win for Tyson and Virginia’s waters. Tyson customers, like Walmart, have increasingly strict expectations of their suppliers when it comes to natural resource stewardship. Companies are responding to the growing customer demand that food should not be produced at the expense of our environment. On the Eastern Shore, clean water is paramount, supporting our fisheries, tourism, and aquaculture businesses. Our community can simply not afford for this pollution to go unaddressed.
Tyson’s facilities in Virginia and around the country continue to pollute our waters, incurring significant financial penalties that hurt their profits and public image. Adopting this resolution will pay for itself by avoiding continual fines, enhancing the companies’ reputation, and allowing Tyson to keep pace with the shift in consumer preference towards environmentally sustainable products. Tyson has an opportunity here to demonstrate their commitment to, ‘Being a Good Neighbor,’ is genuine. We will urge stockholders to honor that pledge and embrace this important resolution.”
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