Response to CBC's Avian Influenza report on Sounds LIke Canada, April 23/04

To: Sounds Like Canada
April 23/04
RE: show in Fraser Valley on the impact of Avian Influenza on industry and community

Dear Shelagh:
I listened to your show this morning on Avian influenza and its impact on the community of the Fraser Valley, and I must say that my feathers are severely ruffled!

You presented a good picture of the large-scale, highly intensive conventional poultry industry that makes up most of the Fraser Valley’s poultry production. Yes, this industry has been hard-hit by the outbreak of Avian Influenza, mainly because of the high concentration of poultry farms in the Fraser Valley and also because of the nature of this type of production: lots of birds with a narrow genetic base and little to no immune systems crowded inside barns with artificial environments, fed the cheapest feed ingredients available, doctored with coccidiostats and other drugs.

I was very unhappy to see the other side of poultry production not represented on your show, that is the small scale free-range, certified organic and backyard producers. We (Margot and Alyson) are both small scale producers and the disease itself hasn’t devastated us, but rather the treatment: CFIA’s “depopulation” strategy. Given a chance to run its course, some free-range birds would die of the flu, but most would recover and be producing again in no time. This is how disease ran its course in the past and in the past, most flocks were vaccinated against flu. Therefore the disease is not devastating because of what it does to chickens but because of what it does to a specific part of the industry that is inherently unsustainable and unable to stand up to challenges from the natural world.

It was terribly disappointing to hear the whole of the small scale industry summed up by your interviewee in one word: detractors. The word has very negative connotations and the implication was an unfair criticism of a wonderful alternative to factory farming that provides jobs, superior products and DIVERSITY in our food system.

The big solution that seemed to come out of the interview was that we need more and greater biosecurity (stronger footbath solutions?) The farmer being interviewed seemed to be leading towards the belief that all poultry in the future should be kept locked up under the tightest biosecurity conditions. This holds terrifying implications for people who want to have some degree of self sufficiency in their food production. Just imagine if we had to rely on factory farming as our sole source of poultry products. A disease comes along and we can lose everything, whereas small flocks ranging outdoors will have some immunity to disease and will survive outbreaks, given sensible government policies. Diversity is what will protect our food system, not stronger chemicals and tighter security.

Margaret Gallagher, though she hails from this part of the world, didn’t seem to have made an effort to find anyone in the Bradner area who wasn’t a factory farmer, when there are hundreds of backyard/organic flocks who advertise eggs for sale along the roadsides and are not hard to find at all.

The report was very unscientific and the danger of this is that you’re perpetuating erroneous and biased beliefs. It is typical of some conventional farmers to blame small producers for this outbreak when it has been proven that the disease is spread by people moving from farm to farm, not by poultry being in contact with wild birds.

Manpreet Grewal from Abbotsford Community Services represented something greater than the Bible Belt side of the region and for this I am grateful. I want to thank her for putting lots of emphasis on how the financial impact will be felt long after this story leaves the media. It was very well presented. It was good to hear something from the community level rather than from just one side of the industry.

To sum up our concerns, we did not feel there was much of an effort to present a complete picture of our whole community. The view presented to Canada on your show was a narrow, biased and misleading view of poultry production issues and solutions in the Fraser Valley. The outbreak of Avian Influenza should be giving us a wake-up call: our current production methods are unsustainable and we have to look at better ways of producing our food. Tightening up biosecurity is no solution. This is like using a small bandage to cover a huge, suppurating wound. Yes, it looks like we’re doing something but we’re really not solving the innate problem. Please, when covering such a huge issue with such far-reaching consequences (ie. the sustainability of our food system), make sure you go beyond the conventional and seek out other sides to the discussion.
Thank you for listening.

Margot Popplewell, backyard chicken raiser, Abbotsford District
Alyson Chisholm, certified organic egg producer, Abbotsford District

PS – for an eloquent response by an organic farmer to the Avian Influenza situation, please visit organics.bc.ca and look for Fred Reid’s posting