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Paula Deen V. the Pork Packers
Monday, June 4, 2007

A friend forwarded me this press release. It seems Paula Deen, the Food Network superstar from Savannah, is in hot water with the pig processors.

A peaceful vigil will be held outside Paula Deen's June 2nd 4pm cooking show in front of the Century Tel Arena, 2000 CenturyTel Center Drive in Bossier City, to ask the chef to end its relationship with Smithfield, the abusive pork processing company. A "Smithfield, Tar Heel -free" fish fry for the community will follow.

Concerned community members from will attempt to deliver a letter to Paula Deen written by Smithfield workers from the company's massive pork plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina seeking a meeting with Ms. Deen. Organizations across the country are vowing to follow the chef during her tour until she accepts the letter and agrees to hear the concerns of the families working at Smithfield. Shreveport is the first in that tour.

The letter explains the injustices that Tar Heel's predominantly African American and Latino workers have to face everyday by the sponsor of Deen's national tour, Smithfield Foods. They will also be giving out literature to the public to raise consumer awareness about the abuses the workers suffer. The company was found in various legal rulings to have assaulted, intimidated and used racial epithets against its workers. Many workers say that they suffer crippling injuries, are fired when they can't keep up with the work and then left without health insurance or the ability to earn a living.

During a recent April appearance by Deen in Washington, DC a mother of three who was injured while working at Smithfield, attempted to peacefully deliver the letter asking Deen to meet with her and other Smithfield workers and was escorted out by security.

"We want to be able to cook for our families just like you do, but if you have had your finger cut off from working at Smithfield, you can?t" said former Smithfield worker Lenora Bailey who had been injured on the job and was subsequently fired. "We are just asking Paula to not support a company that is causing so many of our families to suffer. We want her to do the right thing. She should use her influence to ask the company to stop abusing us. "

Labels: Food

Posted by B Feiler at 7:03 AM
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