• Replace inflammatory rhetoric, stereotyping, and automatic enmity in favor of civil, problem solving dialogue;
• Understand each others' needs, values and concerns;
• Identify areas of common ground and even interdependence, while acknowledging areas of difference; and, finally,
• Work together to create realistic, sensible and sustainable options for communities and families facing pressures associated with transition.

Greetings - One of the goals of the newly formed National Tobacco Agricultural and Health Alliance is to increase the awareness of, signatories to, and enactment in real policy of the Core Principles Statement between Tobacco Producers and Health Advocates.  Other individuals and organizations throughout the region share that goal.  In order to heal develop leadership and to coordination, we have been asked to convene a Roundtable meeting to share information about what has already been done so far with the Core Principles and to develop plans for further distribution and signing of the Core Principles.

In order to have the Core Principles have their biggest impact, it has been suggested that we need to have this meeting well before the fall elections.  But scheduling a time when people who want to participate can attend such a meeting has been difficult.  Therefore, in order to provide for the best attendance and the most convenience for participants, we are planning to have two separate meetings - one Tuesday, September 22nd, and one the following week, Tuesday, September 29th.  Each meeting will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with lunch provided.  Both meetings will be in Charlottesville, Virginia, which is 2 hours by car from Washington, DC and 4 hours from Raleigh, and which has good access from further away through US Airways, Delta, United (several direct flights from Cincinnati and Charlotte to a convenient airport).

• PLEASE let us know if you are coming, and which date, and, if you are spending the night, when you are arriving (we might arrange a dinner/reception if there is enough interest). See bottom of next page for contact information.
• PLEASE let us know beforehand if you need reimbursal for travel expenses. There are limited funds available.
• PLEASE make your hotel reservations immediately! If Omni rooms are not available, or you wish to stay elsewhere, you might check the English Inn (includes breakfast) at $54 plus tax for one person, $59 for 2 (1-800-786-5400); The Hampton Inn at the University (1-800-426-7866) at $78 plus tax including continental breakfast; or the Red Roof Inn at the University (804-295-4333) at $60 plus tax.

Farmers and health advocates have had a warm reception from Kentucky's state elected leadership, many of whom are enthusiastic about the Core Principles... Again in Kentucky, thanks to a Grant from the Attorney General's office, the Commodity Growers Cooperative has funded a number of diversification projects/enterprises for individual farmers and groups of farmers. Health groups have supported this effort financially and by serving on the advisory group which reviewed the proposals and selected the projects to be funded... The Tennessee Tobacco Working Group met on Aug. 12 at the Agricultural Experimental Station in Greenville, TN, a location that allowed a hands-on demonstration of tobacco production. The morning demonstration was followed by a lunch and lively discussion.
 
 

8 - Meeting of the Kentucky Health and Agriculture Forum. The educational component will be a discussion of agricultural diversification in Kentucky. There will also be discussion about getting more KY organizations to sign on to the Core Principles. In Frankfort, KY, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. at the State Centralized Laboratory building.

11 - First Meeting of the South Carolina Tobacco Forum. The agenda includes an update on tobacco legislation, A Profile of Tobacco Farming in South Carolina, and information about S.C. Health Groups and Tobacco Policy. QUESTIONS? Call Ada Lou Steirer 864 656-0213, Ellen Saltzman 864 656-0219, or Joyce Bridges 864 656-4700

22 and/or 29 – Southern Tobacco Communities Roundtable, a meeting to assist in developing leadership and coordination, both regionally and in individual states, to share information about what has been done so far with the Core Principles, and to develop concrete plans for distribution and signing of the Core Principles. In Charlottesville, VA.
 

7 - Tennessee Tobacco Working Group Roundtable. Contact: Kelly H. Tiller, Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, University of Tennessee, (423) 974-7407, ktiller@utk.edu.

8 - South Carolina Tobacco Forum. Contacts: Ada Lou Steirer (864) 656-0213, Ellen Saltzman (864) 656-0219.

13 - Kentucky Health and Agriculture Forum. Meetings are always the second Tuesday of the month from 9:30-11:30, and they are generally held in Frankfort. Contact: Amy Barkley, 606-, BARK106W@cdc.gov.

15 - “Peace building in the Tobacco Wars,” a presentation at the annual meeting of the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution. In Portland, Oregon.

25 – “Developing a Core Principles Statement Between Public Health Advocates and Tobacco Farming Communities,” a workshop at the 1998 National Conference on Tobacco and Health. In St. Paul, Minnesota.