Different participants will bring a variety of motivations and objectives to this project. This project is intended to be responsive to those differing objectives. Nonetheless, the project organizers offer the following general purposes and goals as the basis for their work:

Even the most optimistic predictions from tobacco interests recognize that increased need for economic diversification, and even transition for some families and communities away from tobacco, has begun.

Given this outlook, we are working to create constructive relationships among tobacco producers, health advocates, and others concerned with changes facing these families and communities, to enable them to:

• 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.

 1. A regional "roundtable" of tobacco, health and economic and community development interests to develop policy options;

 2. Support for initiatives in each of the six states to examine these issues on a statewide level;

 3. Development of a model tobacco adjustment matrix of economic development opportunities and options;

 4. Development of lasting, realistic, productive relationships among the differing interests to carry on the work beyond these structured activities.

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