Celebrating Professional Wellness Month at Tyson Foods

Celebrating Professional Wellness Month

Throughout June, Professional Wellness Month is celebrated by employers and organizations across the globe as a time to reflect on existing wellness programs and encourage team members to adopt practices for balanced physical, mental and emotional well-being.

This month’s celebrations come at a time when holistic wellness is top-of-mind for both employers and team members. According to consulting and global research company Gallup, employee well-being extends far beyond how individuals feel. It encompasses five distinct elements that allow people to thrive throughout their lives: career, social, financial, physical and community well-being.

That’s why at Tyson Foods, we have made considerable strides to put well-being at the heart of our team member experience, positively impacting our team members, their families, our company and the communities we serve.

Most recently, we debuted Living Well at Tyson Foods, a holistic enterprise-wide program powered by Limeade’s digital platform that allows us to support our team members throughout their well-being journeys. The program includes health and wellness programs and access to benefits and resources that support emotional, physical and work well-being, among other aspects.

In January 2023, we also announced new investments aimed at intensifying team member relationships and enhancing workplace culture, including extended parental leave, additional mental health support and other wellness and health benefits.

Building Team Member Wellness from the Ground Up

This month, we’re celebrating several of our plant and facility teams that have fostered a communal sense of well-being by creating on-site community gardens.

This spring, Tyson Foods Newbern planted sweet corn in its community garden located on the facility’s 161-acre plot of agricultural land. The crop has continued to grow, with most recent progress from June 2023 pictured in the top photo.

Facility leadership in Newbern, Tennessee, was the first to bring the community garden initiative to life, with 2023 marking more than 20 years since the garden’s inception. Located on the Prepared Foods facility’s 161-acre plot of agricultural land, the garden is home to a variety of nutritious crops throughout the year, including sweet corn in the spring and turnips in the fall. These are available to team members and their families post-harvest. Newbern Environmental Manager Holli Moore says their community garden initiative has consistently piqued the interest and appreciation of team members, with 100+ participating in the planting, maintenance and harvesting each year.

Newbern’s community garden success and team member engagement inspired our team in St. Joseph, Missouri to start their own community garden in 2021. Nestled behind the Tyson Foods St. Joseph facility on a 1.5-acre plot of land, the community garden has been fully operational for two years, with facility team members leading harvesting.

In 2021, team members planted three acres of sweet corn, resulting in about 10,000 ears of corn after harvesting in late August. St. Joseph team members and their families could take home about 15 to 20 ears of sweet corn each – a turnout that the facility’s senior human resource manager Morgan Arbelo says inspired a sense of unity and camaraderie among team members.

Recently, St. Joseph continued this tradition by planting 1.5-acres of corn in May with hopes of leading a “Harvest of Hope” in late August.

“At Tyson Foods St. Joseph, we value the input of our team members in creating a safe, respectful and engaging work environment,” said Jamie Frye, plant manager at Tyson Foods St. Joseph. “Our community garden is just one way we inspire a sense of community, and we look forward to continuing the tradition this fall with our annual Trunk or Treat event.”

Tyson Foods’ St. Joseph team members harvested three acres of sweet corn in August 2021. Harvesting resulted in about 10,000 ears of corn total, with facility team members taking home 15 to 20 ears each.

Tyson Foods’ commitment to team member well-being continued this spring with Wilkesboro’s launch of a new wellness initiative encompassing educational workshops, connection to resources and on-site support. The holistic initiative launched this past April includes a weekly produce truck and a community food pantry in which team members are encouraged to take home goods as needed. Future projects, including the installation of a community garden inviting team members to grow vegetables and herbs to take home and a friendly gardening competition, are also in the works.

Tyson Foods’ Wilkesboro team members participated in an herb gardening workshop led by Wilkes Recovery Revolution where they learned tips and tricks for growing and using herbs for stress relief at home. The workshop was one of several offered to team members in April 2023 as part of the facility’s new wellness initiative.

“Our hope is that through this new wellness initiative, our team members will feel engaged and supported professionally and personally,” said Laken Blankenship, the Tyson Foods Wilkesboro team member spearheading the program. “I’m excited to continue to bring resources like the produce truck to life and see our team members flourish.”

Tyson Foods St. Joseph’s community garden spans a 1.5-acre plot of land behind the facility. The facility’s first harvesting was in 2021, with plans to continue the tradition this year with a “Harvest of Hope” in late August.

This month and every month, we commend our local team member wellness efforts and continue to provide accessible benefits and programs that support team member holistic health. We’re excited to take our next step in becoming the most sought-after place to work through the opening of a new on-site childcare facility at our Humboldt, Tennessee, poultry processing plant later this year.

To learn more about Tyson’s career paths, team member benefits and employee well-being initiatives, visit http://www.tysonfoods.com/careers.