Food Processing Awards Two Processors Green Plant of the Year status for 2015

A funny thing happened on our way to having you pick our sixth annual Green Plant of the Year. As we've done in the past, we asked you to choose among the two contenders via a web-based poll …

This year, the contenders were so well represented and loved, that we're introducing our very first co-Green Plants of the Year.

Back in June, we whittled the nominations down to two: Kraft Heinz's Planters facility in Fort Smith, Ark., and Tasteful Selections, a potato processor in Arvin, Calif. We asked them for 200-word essays to help familiarize you with their efforts. Then we put both essays and a poll on our website during July, and 899 of you voted. (Thank you!)

This year's co-honorees join our previous winners: Campbell Soup-Napoleon, Ohio (2014); Anheuser-Busch-Fairfield, Calif. (2013); Hormel-Dubuque, Iowa (2012), ConAgra Foods’ Lamb Weston sweet potato facility in Delhi, La. (2011), and the 2010 honoree, Kettle Foods’ Beloit, Wis., plant.

In nominations and the final vote, we listed several points we were looking for in a Green Plant of the Year:

• Is it energy efficient?
• Does it use innovative or alternative sources of energy?
• It is minimally polluting?
• Does it minimize water use?
• Were green building materials and practices used in its construction?
• Is the design innovative?
• Is it economically sustainable?

Read more about our 2015 Green Plant of the Year Winners: Tasteful Selectionsand Planters.