Hormel Foods Corp: Disclosure of Waste Lagoon Harm Mitigation Practices

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WHEREAS:  Use of waste lagoons in industrial livestock production contributes to adverse human and environmental health impacts, raising reputational, litigation, and long-term financial viability risks.

Waste lagoons are open pits, often as large as an acre, that hold wastewater containing urine, feces, and other waste materials from concentrated animal feeding operations. Problems with these lagoons are a source of material risk to Hormel’s business. Waste lagoons:

  1. Make Workers and Communities Sick. The noxious gases and pollutants released into the air[1] from waste lagoons, and especially from spraying their contents onto surrounding fields,[2] can cause asthma, cancer, lung inflammation, and other harms to workers and nearby communities.[3], [4]

  2. Contaminate Drinking Water. Waste lagoons often overflow or leak into groundwater, releasing pollution into nearby drinking wells. Ingesting water contaminated by waste lagoons can cause cancer, endocrine disruption, blue-baby syndrome, and antibiotic resistance.[5]

    Waste lagoon pollution also drains into surrounding rivers, lakes, and wetlands, creating algal blooms that can cause fish fatalities and harm local economies.[6] Such harms are worsened by climate change, which increases precipitation patterns, superstorms, and hurricane frequency, making waste lagoon overflows more likely.

  3. Cause Reputational, Litigation & Regulatory Risk

    Hormel discloses that “discharge of materials into the environment and the handling and disposition of wastes” is a material risk factor.[7] In 2015, Hormel received eight notices of environmental non-compliance and was fined $2,600,000 for a water-related violation.[8]

    Our company notes that “maintaining and enhancing the perception of the reputation of the Company and its key brands is critical to business success.”[9] Yet, meat processing companies have faced intense public scrutiny[10] over harms from waste lagoons, by communities, consumers, and other stakeholders, calling on them to reduce, end, or mitigate controversial and harmful practices like use of waste lagoons.[11]

In 2022, Hormel was a lead sponsor of the Ecosystem Services Market Consortium’s (ESMC) pilot project focused on changing agricultural practices to improve water and air quality and report progress.[12] While Hormel agreed to work with ESMC to protect water quality, the Company has not disclosed whether it will extend ESMC practices to waste lagoons, or whether it will report publicly on progress, representing an important blind spot and a significant risk to investors and our Company.   

In a competitive marketplace that increasingly demands safe food and reduced harm to stakeholders and the environment, understanding, assessing, and reporting on progress in reducing waste lagoon impacts reduces risk for shareholders and our Company.  

BE IT RESOLVED:  Shareholders request that Hormel issue a report, at reasonable expense and omitting proprietary information, disclosing any steps the Company is taking to address environmental and human health harms from waste lagoons in its owned facilities and pork supply chain.

Resolution Details

Company: Hormel Foods Corp

Lead Filer: 
As You Sow 

Year: 2026

Filing Date: 
August 2025

Initiative(s): Antibiotics and Factory Farms

Status: Resolution Withdrawn, Engagement Ongoing

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Environmental HealthAs You SowAntibiotics and Factory Farms, Antibiotics, Meat, Supply Chain, Factory Farms, Hormel Foods, Hormel