A Conversation with Dr. Milton Mills.
Dr. Milton Mills, MD is a practicing urgent care physician in the Washington DC area, with a focus on the use of nutritional measures to reduce the risk of major chronic diseases. He is an Associate Director of Preventive Medicine and a member of the National Advisory Board for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), where he has been a major contributor to position papers presented to the United States Department of Agriculture regarding Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Dr. Mills has published several research journal articles dealing with racial bias in federal nutrition policy and has been the lead plaintiff in PCRM’s class action lawsuit that asks for warning labels on milk. He is also a frequent volunteer at free medical clinics and travels widely, speaking at hospitals, churches and community centers throughout the country. Dr. Mills was featured in the documentary “What the Health” and will also appear in the upcoming film “The Silent Vegan”. He is a strong advocate for plant-based eating and addressing cultural disruption in the food system, particularly in communities of color. Through his work, Dr. Mills aims to empower individuals to make informed decisions about their health and to promote the use of sustainable, plant-based diets for both personal and planetary health.
“Subjected to relented trauma and abuse, all of these things combine to exacerbate perpetuate the disease that we see. I have absolutely no patience for arrogance, ignorance and racist habit of blaming victims for the abuse and trauma that we visit on them, that create the problems that we see them struggling with.”
Dr. Mills discusses the impact of cultural disruption on plant-based eating and health in the BIPOC community in Nicolette’s seventh PhD Podcast. Dr. Mills explains that BIPOC communities have become dumping grounds for agricultural excess, leading to food scarcity and a lack of access to nutritious food. He advocates for the use of core crops, such as the Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash), which provide good calories and adequate nutrition while also being sustainable and renewable.
Dr. Mills highlights the historical impact of Western culture on the diets of POC, including the use of commodity crops, and how it has resulted in systemic and structural racism. He argues that Western medicine operates from a disease model and must change the way it practices medicine, as band-aids will not cure diseases. Dr. Mills emphasizes the importance of decolonizing our diet, mindset, and way of relating to the world to protect the planet and ourselves. He advocates for narrative medicine to address trauma and abuse and for doctors to unlearn bad habits and become part of the solution.