How healthy eating can protect us from extreme weather

Hurricane season starts June 1, and many of us in the Southeast and along the Gulf Coast are stocking up on bottled water and other supplies. As a physician focused on preventive medicine and public health, I recommend filling your pantry with healthful plant-based foods like black-eyed peas, sweet potatoes, pecans, canned soups, peanut butter, oat milk, and apples. Many plant-based foods can withstand a loss of refrigeration if the power goes out during a summer storm or hurricane.

Many of us have vivid memories of recent hurricanes, including Hurricane Michael, one of the strongest hurricanes to hit the U.S. Hurricane Michael made landfall near Panama City, Florida, where my parents live. In the storm's aftermath, I drove to Panama City from Montgomery with a generator, 20 gallons of gasoline, and building supplies to patch their roof.

An interesting study was published about a year after Hurricane Michael hit the Gulf Coast. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Huntsville found that agricultural fields and wetlands can reduce the intensity of hurricanes and storms that travel over these lands. Could those same agricultural fields that provide us with healthful foods also help buffer against summer storms?

After retiring from the Army six years ago, I’ve made Alabama my home, and I was heartened to learn that Alabama will receive $43 million in federal grants to make our coastline more resilient to storms and sea level rise made worse by climate change. Some of those funds will go to nature-based solutions for protecting the coast from flooding, and that usually involves planting trees.

According to a study by scientists in the United Kingdom, land planted with trees was 60 times more effective at taking up water than soil on land grazed by animals. During heavy rain events, water flows quickly over land that is grazed, causing rivers to rise. Orchards and woodlands, by contrast, can slow floodwaters and prevent damage to roads and houses.

Commercially valuable trees like hazelnut and apple can provide flood management while providing income to farmers. In the Southeast, farmers grow many kinds of fruit and nut trees, including pecan, peach, and apple. Trees produce oxygen for us to breathe, and their fibers store carbon dioxide — reducing the negative effects of this heat-trapping gas.

Fruits, nuts, beans, and greens are part of a healthful plant-based diet that can help people lower blood pressure, improve heart health, and maintain a healthy weight. Studies published in peer-reviewed medical journals tell us that diabetes patients who follow a plant-based diet can see improvements in blood sugar levels, and many are even able to reduce or discontinue medications. If you’re in good health, you can help others during extreme weather events.

Senator Tommy Tuberville and others on the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry are in a position to assist farmers who grow healthful foods. These senators are currently crafting the Farm Bill, and they should make sure there's funding for programs that help farmers who want to phase out livestock while planting orchards and growing crops.

There should be more government funding for programs like the one in North Carolina, which helped farmers who wanted to phase out large-scale hog operations that were located on the floodplains. The farmers who took the buyouts shut down their hog waste lagoons and now grow crops and plant trees along the rivers to help control flooding.

In many areas, this transition is already underway. A Wisconsin dairy farmer, Paul Jereczek, is planting hazelnut trees because he’d like his children to stay on the land, and he doesn't see a future in dairy farming. In North Carolina, hog farmer Tom Butler is working with his son Will to transition the family farm from raising swine to growing mushrooms. Mushrooms can be moneymakers for farmers because they produce a high yield on a small plot of land.

In the U.S., there are about 21,237 large-scale livestock operations, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these industrial livestock facilities contribute to climate change because they generate methane and other planet-warming gases.

When I recommend a plant-based diet, patients often ask about protein, but mushrooms, for example, provide plenty of protein. Mushroom "steaks" are perfect for summertime grilling. Black-eyed peas are a favorite here in the South, and they provide protein as well as calcium and iron. And for even more calcium, it doesn't get better than collard greens. For dessert, there are strawberries, peaches, watermelons, blueberries, and other fruits that are abundant in summer.

R. Jason Newsom is an occupational health physician.

Tagged as: Public Health & Policy

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