The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has agreed to provide a four-year grant to the University of Virginia, to support the Southern Tobacco Communities Project. The Southern Tobacco Communities Roundtable A variety of representatives from the six leading tobacco-growing states will convene to explore concerns of tobacco growing communities and develop ways to strengthen these communities. The Roundtable will consist of committed, experienced, credible representatives from all those groups who hold a stake in these communities. This will include representatives of growers and agricultural advocacy groups, community development groups, community health groups, environmental and land preservation groups, researchers, and legislators. About two dozen individuals will meet up to eight times over a period of about two years, with time in between meetings to explore concerns and ideas with experts and various constituencies as appropriate.
Funding is available for travel and meeting costs for members.
The Roundtable agenda will be determined by the members and thus is open. Initial interest has been expressed in exploring questions of economic diversification, the tobacco program of price supports and quotas, and funding options for economic diversification. The goal is to determine the range of choices available for sustaining these communities and the support for those choices. Facilitating the Roundtable will be Frank Dukes and Richard Collins of the Institute for Environmental Negotiation, University of Virginia. Dukes and Collins served as convenors and facilitators for the two-year Virginia Tobacco Communities Project, which led to legislation supporting Extension funding, access to capital, and rural development strategies.