Celeb Chef Paula Deen Stirs Controversy in Atlanta

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Rev. Lowery, Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, Judge Greg Mathis, National Hispanic Leadership Conference and others have mounted national campaign to support Smithfield workers

Paula Deen will be met by a coterie of ministers and their supporters at the Cobb Galleria Centre cooking show she is headlining asking the celebrity chef to honor her promise to meet with Smithfield workers who have organized to fight for a voice on the job at the worlds largest pork processing plant located in Tar Heel, North Carolina. Atlanta churches involved represent tens of thousands of congregants including Rev. Michel Wright of Concerned Clergy of Metro Atlanta and Pastor of New Life Christian Church, Rev. Richard Coble, Rev. David Hooker of First Congregational United Church of Christ and many others.

Deen, in previous interviews on Larry King Live and the syndicated radio show Diane Rehm, promised to meet with these Smithfield workers who have been fighting for over a decade to improve the working situation in Tar Heel North Carolina.

At the Smithfield Tar Heel plant workers suffer crippling injuries. They endure excessive line speeds and receive inadequate training to do their jobs. A 2007 Research Associates of America report, using company data from federal safety and health reports, reveals that injuries at Smithfield Tar Heel went up 200 percent between 2003 and 2006.

In 2006, a federal appeals courts enforced the National Labor Relations Board decision that found that the company assaulted people, harassed and threatened violence against the Tar Heel workers during an election in 1997. Human Rights Watch, an organization that normally documents abuses by foreign governments, published two reports, in 2000 and 2005, decrying the dangerous conditions and numerous abuses that workers faced at the Tar Heel plant

Similar to the Kathie Lee Gifford controversy, the ministers want Paula Deen to meet with workers and are appealing to her sense of morality and faith to ultimately speak out on their behalf.

Kathie Lee eventually ended the use of sweatshops to produce her clothing line and spoke out forcefully against sweatshops.

For information contact Leila McDowell at 202 728 1829 or Eric Wingerter in Atlanta at 202 243 9995.
For immediate release 5/1/08 Contact: Leila McDowell 202 728 1829

Celeb CHEF PAULA Deen to be met by prayerful protesters

Atlanta area churches join campaign to get Paula Deen to meet with injured and abused workers from Smithfield, the company she promotes
Saturday, May 3rd 2:30pm Cobb Galleria Centre

Rev. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Rev. Lowery, Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, Judge Greg Mathis, National Hispanic Leadership Conference and others have mounted national campaign to support Smithfield workers

Paula Deen will be met by a coterie of ministers and their supporters at the Cobb Galleria Centre cooking show she is headlining asking the celebrity chef to honor her promise to meet with Smithfield workers who have organized to fight for a voice on the job at the world’s largest pork processing plant located in Tar Heel, North Carolina. Atlanta churches involved represent tens of thousands of congregants including Rev. Michel Wright of Concerned Clergy of Metro Atlanta and Pastor of New Life Christian Church, Rev. Richard Coble, Rev. David Hooker of First Congregational United Church of Christ and many others.

Deen, in previous interviews on Larry King Live and the syndicated radio show Diane Rehm, promised to meet with these Smithfield workers who have been fighting for over a decade to improve the working situation in Tar Heel North Carolina.


At the Smithfield Tar Heel plant workers suffer crippling injuries. They endure excessive line speeds and receive inadequate training to do their jobs. A 2007 Research Associates of America report, using company data from federal safety and health reports, reveals that injuries at Smithfield Tar Heel went up 200 percent between 2003 and 2006.

In 2006, a federal appeals courts enforced the National Labor Relations Board decision that found that the company assaulted people, harassed and threatened violence against the Tar Heel workers during an election in 1997. Human Rights Watch, an organization that normally documents abuses by foreign governments, published two reports, in 2000 and 2005, decrying the dangerous conditions and numerous abuses that workers faced at the Tar Heel plant

Similar to the Kathie Lee Gifford controversy, the ministers want Paula Deen to meet with workers and are appealing to her sense of morality and faith to ultimately speak out on their behalf.

Kathie Lee eventually ended the use of sweatshops to produce her clothing line and spoke out forcefully against sweatshops.

For information contact Leila McDowell at 202 728 1829 or Eric Wingerter in Atlanta at 202 243 9995.