Opinion: California bird flu outbreak spotlights the risky ways we produce food

As a physician, I am closely following a bird flu outbreak that is hitting our Central Valley dairy farms hard, especially since the California Department of Health reports at least 26 human cases. This number seems to increase each week in our state, which has more dairy cows than any other. Bird flu has spread to at least 294 dairy herds in California.

As a board-certified doctor in internal and lifestyle medicines, I support the health department’s efforts to monitor and test for bird flu, I appreciate those calling for additional protections for California’s dairy workers, and I commend our public health officials for doing a good job of confronting 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 cows and birds, 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 even become the source of our next pandemic.

Recently officials announced the disturbing news that bird flu has infected a pig in Oregon, a troubling development that health experts say could mean a more transmissible and virulent virus.

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 fact, some are repurposing their chicken houses to grow crops.

California dairy farmers also encounter significant challenges, and many already were choosing to exit the business. Now the bird flu outbreak among dairy cows is presenting yet another problem.

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. Actually, this trend is already underway. Just a few years ago, the Giacomazzi family of Hanford, owners of California’s oldest dairy farm in operation of more than 125 years, switched from cow’s milk to almond milk.

This transition couldn’t come at a better time. The plant-based milk industry, a $2.9 billion business, is booming. Almond milk is the most popular plant-based milk. California produces 80% of the world’s almonds and the most almond milk in the United States.

But these transitions involve costs, and California should support farmers who choose to make these changes. We should also help dairy farmers who transition to growing oats for oat milk, like Califia Farms in Bakersfield, for example, or almond or soy for milk sold by San Diego Soy Dairy — or any other crop they find profitable.

Shifting away from animal agriculture helps our environment and our economy 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, beans and greens grown in California 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. While our public health officials try to control our current crisis, I am hopeful California will transition to a way of eating and growing food that is both safer and more nutritious.

Dr. Seema Policepatil specializes in internal medicine and lifestyle medicine and is a member of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. She wrote this column for CalMatters.