By Dawn Yokoe / For The Herald
As a physician, I follow closely the news about bird flu (H5N1) outbreaks and was saddened to learn that at least seven people in Washington have developed bird flu. With help from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, our Washington state Department of Agriculture and county health officials are doing a good job of monitoring poultry farms and testing for the virus.
Regardless of these efforts, bird flu is taking a serious physical, psychological and financial toll already on farmers, their workers and animals, especially chickens. At just one poultry farm in Pasco recently, 800,000 birds had to be killed in an effort to keep the virus from spreading.
Poultry farms aren’t the only operations at risk. In California, bird flu has spread to more than 233 dairy herds. Just a few days ago, officials announced the disturbing news that bird flu has infected a pig in Oregon, a troubling development that health officials say could mean a more transmissible and virulent virus.
I commend our public health officials for doing a good job of dealing with the immediate crisis, but it is also time to take a hard look at the food production system that puts farm workers in close contact with sick birds and cows, the Standard American Diet that demands it, and the health ramifications of both.
Facilities with large numbers of animals in a small space are a threat to public health because they provide ideal conditions for viruses to spread, evolve and possibly acquire the ability to infect people. Research shows that intensive animal agriculture has been implicated in influenza viruses jumping from animals to people, and some believe this bird flu could be the source of our next pandemic. In fact, Washington health officials have expressed concern that the virus could mutate in ways that allow it to spread more easily from person to person.
Consumers and farmers who want to be part of a more healthful future may wonder about alternatives to intensive animal farming. If you’re a poultry farmer and bird flu has wiped out your flock, you may be considering a change. In addition to bird flu flare-ups, farmers face other hardships, and some are repurposing their chicken houses to grow crops. In North Carolina, former chicken farmers Paula and Dale Boles converted their poultry barns to greenhouses to grow organic vegetables.
Dairy farmers also encounter significant challenges, and many are choosing to exit the business. Some of these farmers are likely thinking about phasing out the cow’s milk operation and transitioning to plant-based milk production, or growing crops or orchards. In fact, this trend is already underway.
A former dairy farmer in Iowa, Denise O’Brien, sold the cows when milk prices were low and transitioned to growing crops including strawberries, asparagus and apple trees. But these transitions involve costs and Washington should support farmers who choose to do so. We should also help dairy farmers who transition to growing oats for oat milk, used by companies like nutpods based in Bellevue; or any other crop they find profitable.
Shifting away from animal agriculture helps our environment and improves worker safety. I have found for myself and my patients that it also improves health. A plant-based diet focused on fruits, veggies, legumes and grains grown in Washington can help maintain healthy weight, lower blood pressure, and improve heart health.
I know this from my own personal experience and from treating patients with diet-related diseases, and the scientific literature tells the same story. A recent study with 22 pairs of identical twins found that a plant-based diet improves heart health in as little as eight weeks. The twins following a plant-based diet experienced lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, and they lost more weight than the omnivore twins.
While our public health officials try to control our current crisis, I am hopeful Washington will transition to a way of eating and growing food that is safer and more nutritious.
Dr. Dawn Yokoe is a board-certified obstetrician gynecologist who practiced in Everett for 20 years. She received her medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine and is a member of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a public health nonprofit of more than 17,000 doctors.
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