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This meeting will follow the request being sent to tobacco farm organizations (see enclosure for the full letter) for their concerns and ideas along the following lines:
1) If there were funding to provide some sort of compensation for declining production, how could such funding best be spent to ensure the future of tobacco farming families and communities?We invite you to call or write to the Southern Tobacco Communities Project with your answers to these questions, or to offer any other ideas that you may have. If there are individuals with particular expertise or ideas that you think ought to be at the Dec. 17 meeting, by all means let us know.2) What are the best ways, if any, that you see and would recommend to provide such funding? In your state, who should administer any such moneys so that the farm communities will receive the most help?
3) What is the best way of educating policymakers and the public about the needs of tobacco farming families and communities?
As many of you know, a good bit of work has already been
done over the past few years concerning investment in tobacco farming communities.
A plan that was developed by many participants in these discussions is
included in this mailing for review.
| Logistics: The meeting will
be held on Dec. 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Holiday Inn-Central,
1501 Rhode Island Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20005 (the same hotel for the
12/3/97 and 1/28/98 Roundtable meetings).
A block of 25 rooms has been reserved for the evening of December 16 under the name of the Southern Tobacco Communities Project. You can let us know that you are coming and that you require a room, and we will allocate one of the rooms for you. If you do not need a room but plan on attending, please let us know of your intentions for our planning purposes. If you need to make your own reservations,
the hotel number is 1-800-248-0016.
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| Outreach
to the Public Health Community...
The 1998 National Conference on Tobacco and Health in St. Paul, Minnesota saw two events concerning the plight of tobacco farming communities. A dinner that attracted some 80 health advocates included presentations from leading public health advocates who have been involved in these discussions. A workshop session titled "Developing a Core Principles Statement Between Public Health Advocates and Tobacco Farming Communities," included presentations by active Project participants Rod Kuegel, Dr. Claude Whitehead, Amy Barkley, Scott Ballin, and Rebecca Reeve. |
Briefs…
The prices of tobacco products are skyrocketing,
with increases in the price of cigarettes expected in the next few months
that would mean a total of about $.40/pack increases in a little more than
a year’s time… Rumors and speculation about a possible settlement
between the states’ Attorneys-General and the industry continue, with most
people expecting a deal after the election noise clears… According to
a report by Ellen Hickey and Yenyen Chan of the Pesticide Action Network
titled "Tobacco, Farmers and Pesticides: The Other Story," Dr. Judith Mackay,
Director of the Asian Consultancy on Tobacco Control, predicts that there
will be virtually no tobacco grown in the U.S. by the year 2025
as manufacturers assist production capability overseas. Hickey and Chan
argue that one reason for the low cost of imported tobacco is that "much
of the direct and indirect production costs are quietly absorbed by farmers,
their families and the environment in Southern countries where tobacco
is grown. A general lack of environmental, pesticide and labor regulations
make developing countries fertile ground for expansion of the tobacco industry.
Even in countries where such regulations do exist, governments often lack
resources for implementation and enforcement."
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December:
4 - South Carolina Tobacco Forum. Contacts: Ada
Lou Steirer (864) 656-0213, Ellen Saltzman (864) 656-0219.
11 - Tennessee Tobacco Working Group Roundtable. This meeting in Nashville will involve representatives from the Attorney General's office, the Governor's office, the Commissioner of Agriculture, the Commissioner of Health, the Burley Stabilization Corporation, and farm and health organizations. Contact: Kelly H. Tiller, Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, University of Tennessee, (423) 974-7407, ktiller@utk.edu.
17 – Southern Tobacco Communities Roundtable (see above).
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