Dear Secretary Vilsack,
I am sure you have been given a good look into the mindset of the average
Joe small farmer today since we have learned of the NAIS money in the
budget. I am another one, an average Joe, homesteader in northwest Vermont,
who is adamant that I will not participate in NAIS.
I've been studying NAIS for 6 years. In fact, I wrote the first novel,
historical fiction, about the grassroots fight against NAIS. I've read every
document, every memo, all of it. I've been to several NIAA meetings having
to do with NAIS. I know what I am talking about. Congress, on the other
hand, and you too I'll guess, hasn't read any of the documents. You and they
only know what you have been told, which is all marketing spin. It is funny
that we, the grassroots folks, are constantly accused of putting out
misinformation, when in truth, it is USDA/APHIS/VS/NIAA that does.
NAIS might be a good idea for CAFOs if it were managed and funded by them.
To put today's small farmer, homesteader and hobbyist into the same basket
as industrialized agriculture is an insult to us.
If you have any sway whatsoever with Congress, stop the Senate vote and
prevent the bill from legitimizing NAIS. NAIS is still a mandate and very
mandatory (not voluntary) but not a law of the land. Do not let it move
closer to being a law. I fear what will happen in the countryside all over
this country should NAIS move forward much more. We are standing at a line
drawn in the sand.
If I can be of any assistance to you in wading through the difficult waters
of understanding why so many will simply not comply, I am at your service.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sharon Zecchinelli
Enosburg Falls, VT
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First They Came for the Cows: An Activist's Story
An excellent resource for people who don't know about NAIS
My novel, orders being taken now.
Henwhisperer.blogspot.com
