response

The poultry industry thrives on isolation, misrepresentation and threats. Each group within the Alliance is fearful of other groups and talking among the groups is actively discouraged by the industry. Environmentalists have perceived farmers as the cause of the pollution that threatens the environment, while farmers have perceived environ-mentalists as seeking the enactment of regulations that will put them out of business. Farmers believe that plant workers "have it made" because they get a paycheck every week while plant workers feel that farmers are rich because they see farms that look prosperous.
Added to the general mistrust between the constituencies is the racial and cultural divide between the White, African-American, Latino and Vietnamese communities that make up the people of the poultry industry.

Divided by fear and misperception, each group impacted yb the poultry industry has labored alone for reform. Environmental organizations have petitioned for stronger regluations over waste management; the growers have organized for contract reform; and workers have sought to enforce existing labor laws. Each group struggled separately, operating under the assumption that no common ground existed among these groups.
As each group worked to achieve what appeared to be distinct goals, two truths became evident: the poultry industry refuses to take responsibility for the impact that it has on the community, and any attempts tochange this approach is met with an industry with extensive power in the State of Georgia. With the dawning recognition that eahc group seeks to hold the industry responsible for its impact on the community, and the understanding that any desired change cannot be achieved alone, the Georgia Poultry Justice Alliance was formed.

The Georgia Poultry Justice Alliance brings together the communities within the industry and educates policymakers, community leaders, the media, as well as the general public about the issues related to a vertically integrate system of poultry production.

     The Alliance seeks to educate and empower the constituents about the sources and causes of environmental degradation, the economic pressures facing rural Georgia, and to understand the national dimensions of the existing system of poultry production. Specifically, the Alliance works to:

    Develop environmental regulations to prevent waste runoff from polluting our waterways;
     Educate the community regaridng the ehtical, moral and theological dimensions of the poor environmental controls, unfair grower contracts and low wages;
     Improve the health and safety conditions in poultry plants through enforcement of existing standards and passage of new needed regulations;
     Build momentum for extensive Congressional hearings in Washington, DC; and
     Establish the Alliance as a permanent vehicle to address the needs of those whose lives are touched by this giant agribusiness.

    To attain these ends and the goal of achieving a borad constituency committed to protecting the watersheds of Georgia and Georgia's human resources against abuses wrought by the poultry industry, the Alliance will:

    Hold informal educational events throughout rural Georgia to introduce the work of the Alliance and to bring various constituencies together to recognize and talk about common issues;
     Influence the development of policy in the state to protect the natural and human resources. Through a common understanding of the issues and working otgether, true democracy will be achieved and will benefit all of the people of Georgia;
     Educate the poultry industry's constituents to become legislative advocates for hcange within the industry by teaching members how a bill is passed in the state legislature, how to follow legislation through committees and how to communicate with their own legislators; and,
     Provide technical assistance in the form of lawyers, environmentalists, physicians, industrial hygienists and others to those in need of those services.