BLAKELY, GA. — More than half a century ago, residents of rural Early County erected a stone monument topped by an oversized peanut on the courthouse square here as a tribute to the region's signature product.
In this self-proclaimed Peanut Capital of the World, people credit peanuts with the area's growth and prosperity. But now they fear the fallout from the salmonella outbreak -- which has been linked to eight deaths and 575 illnesses in 43 states and has prompted nationwide recalls of more than 1,000 food products -- will have a devastating effect on their livelihood.
"Peanuts have been the cornerstone of our rural community," said Hilary Halford, president of the Blakely-Early County Chamber of Commerce. "We grew up here with the nostalgic smell of peanuts. . . . It's a way of life here, and it would be devastating if there is a long-term impact from this."
Farmers, already hit hard by high fuel costs, said contracts for next season's crop have been slow coming in from processing companies and manufacturers, leaving them unable to determine how many, if any, peanuts to plant in May.
Most of the approximately 50 employees at the Blakely peanut processing plant owned by Peanut Corp. of America -- which the Food and Drug Administration has pinpointed as the source of the salmonella outbreak -- have been laid off, exacerbating unemployment in an area already hurt by the recession.
"We're in hot water," Blakely Mayor Ric Hall said of the county, where the median household income is about $26,000 a year. "We're already struggling with high poverty and a struggling agricultural economy, and this will impact not just our community, but this entire region of the state."
Though Hall said Peanut Corp. was a "small niche" player in the peanut industry, the controversy has cast a shadow over the town that has long taken pride in its peanut production. The shutdown, the mayor said, has come at a time when Georgia-Pacific, the county's largest employer, is laying off at least 100 workers from its paper production plant.
"That's a total of about 150 to 170 people who have lost their jobs," said Hall. "Being the small agricultural community that we are, the prospect of finding new employment is virtually impossible. People here don't have much, and the layoffs make it even more devastating."
