The swine flu is here and it’s serious this year. It will make some sick, some so sick they need to be hospitalized, and sadly some will die. Because there are no uniform reporting requirements in Washington, and because most will tough it out at home, it’s hard to get reliable statistics, but we do know that already 6 people in our state have died from it, and in the Spokane alone, for instance, 70 have been hospitalized. Oregon has been hit even harder and neighboring Idaho even harder than that. In fact, the swine flu is sweeping not only across America but throughout the entire world. And the flu season hasn’t even peaked yet.

The question is what can be done about it? Must we endure this every year? Is the only-partially-effective flu shot the only answer? And what does being a vegetarian have to do with it? The answer is that cutting out meat has what we could do about it. In fact, since the flu epidemic is born and bred on super-crowded animal “factory farms,” we could get rid of the flu once and for all by the widespread adoption of the vegetarian diet. To understand why, please see our flu posting.