Another celebrity has walked away from eating meat and dairy. Although we prefer to call it 4-Leaf, she calls it vegan, and she did it for only one of the five primary reasons covered extensively in our book.  She did it for her personal concern for the welfare of animals. But, if everyone knew enough about the other four compelling reasons as well, how could they possibly not want to make the same dietary choice as Ellen?

Eating 4-Leaf means eating mostly whole plants. Being vegan means not eating animal products. Simply not eating animals will do a lot of good things for our planet but will not necessarily make you healthy and trim. Click logo above for more information.

• Health. Promoting our own health, wiping out mass obesity, slashing the cost of health care, etc.
• Environment. Land, water, trees, climate change, biodiversity and the sheer unsustainability of our Western diet-style.
• Finite Fossil Fuels. The single largest waste of our precious fossil fuels is the production of animal calories — requiring 20 times more energy than plant calories.
• World Hunger. Another unsustainable situation — it takes 20 times more arable land to produce animal calories. Widespread famine is on the way unless we stop the madness soon.

Just watched a Katie Couric interview with Ellen DeGeneres from 2010. After reading Diet for a New America by John Robbins, Skinny Bitch, and watching the movie Earthlings; Ellen decided to become a vegan about two years ago. She said that she could no longer be a part of a system that tortures billions of animals a year so that we may eat them. Like me, she watches her many friends and family members continue to eat this horribly destructive, cruel and unsustainable diet.

She talks candidly in this video about her primary reasons being her genuine care for the welfare of animals — saying that like all other creatures on this planet, they have a right to be left alone. Ellen also mentions the environment and the fact that her health and mental attitude have both improved since she began eating only plants.

Asked by Couric how she felt about the movie, Food Inc., she replied, “It was like a Disney movie compared to Earthlings, which you can view in its entirety for free on this site. A link to that movie is shown below, but first the Katie Couric interview with Ellen —  a little over 4 minutes.

If all 300 million meat eaters in this country were required to see Earthlings and HOME, there would be many more millions of people who would adopt the Earth- and animal-friendly plant-based lifestyle. But for now, it’s out-of-sight, out-of-mind for the vast majority. We’ve got a long way to go, but with more influential people like Ellen Degeneres speaking out, we will gradually gather some momentum.

I was at a yacht club awards party for the junior sailors last night. Guess what they served? Hamburgers from the outdoor grill. Out of 100 people, I was the only one who opted only for the extensive assortment of side veggies and salads. But, if the other 99 read our book AND watched Earthlings and HOME, I bet at least ten of them would join me in my corner. And six of those ten would probably be under 20. Once again:

• Preview of our book
• “Earthlings” — A documentary that we all NEED to see
• HOME – a 2009 film — a powerful eye-opener

J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

Thank you Ellen for being a leader of the essential change that is now beginning to gather momentum. Since two of your favorite authors (John Robbins and Kim Barnouin) endorsed our book, maybe you’d like to do the same and help give that momentum a shot in the arm. Better yet, I would love to join you on your show — anytime after October 1, 2011, when our book launches.

If you like what you see here, you may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4-Leaf page. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

If you’d like to order our book on Amazon,  visit our BookStore now.

—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com

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