FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Sharon Zecchinelli 
(802) 933-6709
henwhisperer.blogspot.com
“First They Came for the Cows: An Activist’s Story” first novel about NAIS
February 6, 2009 – Enosburg Falls, VT – In the late summer of 2004, at a raw milk ice cream social on a neighboring farm, a middle aged woman and Vermont homesteader learns about the National Animal Identification System (NAIS), a program by the United States Department of Agriculture to tag and track every livestock animal in the country. Her life changes in an instant as she is brought face-to-face with the biggest threat to food safety, property rights, and rural living anyone could imagine, and she finds herself thrust into the world of grass roots activism.Sharon Zecchinelli’s new book, First They Came for the Cows, a winner in the 2007 National Novel Writing Month, is a fictionalized account of the real fight against NAIS by tens of thousands of ordinary people all over the country. Through the internet, farmers, homesteaders, pet owners, and consumers find each other and learn what it means to be politically involved.
What makes this book different from any other is that it is the first novel ever written about this struggle against the USDA-Corporate alliance that is pushing NAIS, a real David and Goliath story. The inspiration for the book comes from Zecchinelli’s actual experience as Vermont’s leading national anti-NAIS activist. “The heart of the book is right out of real life,” Zecchinelli explains, “with names changed to protect the innocent.”
Zecchinelli, a retired chef, lives in Enosburg Falls, Vermont on a 12 acre homestead with her husband, 19 laying hens, 6 heritage breed turkeys, seasonal meat animals, a horse, and two dogs.
For more information about First They Came for the Cows, or to schedule an interview, contact Sharon Zecchinelli at 802-933-6709 or by email at henwhisperer@gmail.com.
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First They Came for the Cows (978-1440454431, Trade paperback, 204 pp, 9 x 6 $19.99)
The PPJ Gazette 