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Greetings! The cooperation among tobacco farmers and health advocates has reportedly been rewarded once again. Members of both groups suggest that good communication and understanding contributed to halting congressional efforts earlier this month to put an immediate end to the tobacco crop insurance program.
Most observers believe that it is unlikely that any significant national comprehensive tobacco legislation will be passed this session in Congress. But there are discussions underway now to find a way to allow for quick joint response when issues of shared concerns around national policy arise. One step that has just been taken is a decision by those actively working on national policy issues to form an informal coalition to be called the National Tobacco Agriculture and HEalth Alliance. The purpose of the alliance would be to continue to expand the already existing working relationships between growers and health organizations at the national level in implementing the objectives of the Core Principles Statement between Tobacco Producers and Health Advocates.
We also anticipate other efforts to broaden support for
the Core Principles. Suggestions for ways to recruit additional signatories
and supporters are welcome - and look for news in a few weeks as we report
on ideas and activities.
| Tobacco Farming: Current Challenges and Future Alternatives, Southern Research Report #10, Spring, 1998, Academic Affairs Library, Center for the Study of the American South, Southern Historical Collection, was sent out to all southern state legislators and all federal legislators and tobacco-related public health and farming interests. The publication includes 13 articles, many pictures, and an insert of the Core Principles Statement between the Public HEalth Community and the Tobacco Producer Community. The senior editors, Adam Goldstein, M.D., and Davis Moltke-Hanson, and assistant editors Carter Steiger and Rebecca Reeve hope that it will contribute in a small measure to discussions concerning the future of tobacco growing regions. For more information, contact Dr. Goldstein at 919-966-4090. |
NEWS FROM THE STATES...
The July 14, 1998 meeting of the Kentucky Health and Agricultural Forum had some 25 members and observers. Besides catching up on news concerning national tobacco legislation, Forum members heard a full presentation about issues of youth access to tobacco products. Members agreed to send letters of concern to Governor Paul Patton and President Clinton urging them to pay attention to the need to protect tobacco farming communities as well as to prevent youth access to tobacco products. Members urged the Governor to include a representative of the Kentucky Health and Agricultural Forum on his Family Farm Commission and to establish the special commission to examine the needs of rural communities in order to avoid the economic devastation that might occur if tobacco production declines.
Kentucky will host the 12th annual tobacco briefing tour, led by the Council for Burley Tobacco, in mid-August. While this tour is designed for congressional staffers, particularly those from farm communities, there may be some room for health advocates interested in learning more about tobacco production. For more information about the Kentucky Health and Agricultural Forum, contact Amy Barkley at 606-873-4779.
The South Carolina Tobacco Forum, convened by the Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University, arranged a tobacco farm visit for health advocates in June. The tour was graciously hosted by the family of Albert Johnson, the South Carolina Director of the Flue-Cured Tobacco Stabilization Corporation, at his farm in Galivants Ferry. The Johnsons not only hosted the tour, they provided a tasty lunch for some 30 hungry visitors. For more information about continuing dialogue about the future of South Carolina's tobacco growing communities, contact Ada Lou Steirer or Ellen Saltzman at 864-656-4700.
Upcoming... Tennessee Demonstration and Meeting - The Agricultural Policy Analysis Center at the University of Tennessee is hosting discussions about the future of Tennessee's tobacco farming communities. The next meeting of the Tennessee Tobacco Working Group is schedules for Wednesday, August 12th. It will be held at the Agricultural Experimental Station in Greenville, TN, a location that will allow hands-on demonstration of tobacco production. The morning demonstration will be followed by a lunch and meeting. For more information, contact Kelly Tiller, Agricultural Policy Analysis Center, University of tennessee, 423-974-7407, ktiller@utk.edu.
| Alaska?
A meeting of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded "Smokeless States" projects, held outside Anchorage, Alaska, featured a plenary session about the dialogue between tobacco farmers and health advocates sponsored by the Southern Tobacco Communities Project. The word from the public health community members who attended the meeting is that many health advocates became newly aware of the concerns of tobacco farming families and communities. They also reported that J.T. Davis, Secretary, Concerned Friends for Tobacco, received a standing ovation for his participation. |
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