Word traveled fast among public health professionals when testing confirmed the fourth case of H5N1 bird flu in a farm worker.
As a Michigan primary care physician with an additional degree in public health, I’ve followed the news about bird flu outbreaks in laying hens, dairy cows, and people.
In Michigan, officials are doing a good job of dealing with the immediate crisis, but it’s also time to take a hard look at the food production system that puts farm workers in close contact with sick cows and birds.
Michigan is offering serious cash to farmers to participate in further study—knowing more about the behavior of the H5N1 virus, gives us a better chance to keep it from spreading further. Michigan should also provide funding for dairy farmers who want to transition to growing oats for oat milk, hazelnut trees for hazelnut milk—or any other crop they find profitable.
Bird flu prompts changes in agriculture
In recent years, dairy farmers have encountered significant challenges, and many are choosing to exit the business. Now, the bird flu outbreak among dairy cows is presenting yet another problem. Some of these farmers are likely considering phasing out their dairy operations and growing crops or orchards.
In many parts of the country, 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, raspberries, asparagus, and apple trees.
In Wisconsin, former dairyman Greg Zwald now runs a pick-your-own-berries enterprise. But these transitions involve costs and our government should provide funding. The transition program in Michigan could be modeled on the one in Vermont.
You may consider a change if you’re a poultry farmer and bird flu has wiped out your flock. In addition to bird flu flare-ups, poultry farmers face other hardships, and some repurposing their chicken houses to grow crops. In North Carolina, former chicken farmers Paula and Dale Boles have converted their 500-foot-long poultry barns to greenhouses to grow organic vegetables.
If there are fewer laying hens because of bird flu and the price of eggs is on the rise, what will people eat for breakfast? Hot cereal with blueberries, oat milk, walnuts, and cinnamon is a hearty meal that provides protein, calcium, iron, and fiber. You might prefer a protein-packed breakfast bowl of black beans, salsa, potatoes, and corn topped with mushroom “bacon.”
Plant-based diets can help you stay healthy
A plant-based diet focused on fruits, veggies, beans, and greens grown in Michigan can help you maintain a healthy weight, lower blood pressure, and improve heart health. I know this from my experience treating patients with diet-related diseases; 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.
In Michigan, there are about 292 large-scale livestock operations that should be phased out and replaced with sustainable farms. Facilities with large numbers of animals in a small amount of space threaten public health because they provide ideal conditions for viruses to spread, evolve, and possibly acquire the ability to infect people. According to research published in Frontiers in Microbiology, intensive animal agriculture was implicated when influenza viruses H1N1, H5N1, and N7N9 jumped from animals to people.
Transitioning from livestock to orchards is especially beneficial for the environment because trees pull in carbon dioxide from the air and provide oxygen for us to breathe. Fruit and nut trees provide income to the farmer and healthful food to everyone. Almonds and hazelnuts, for example, are good sources of calcium without the artery-clogging saturated fat found in cow’s milk.
According to the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the new budget in October provides $3 million to assist small farmers. Transition grants should be offered to dairy farmers, egg farmers, and others who wish to plant orchards or transition to growing crops. In Michigan, visiting your local pick-your-own fruit and berries farm is a favorite summertime activity. Peaches will be ripening in August, and even if you live in the city, there might be a farm nearby.