Arguably, the most powerful brain trust in the world

Surely most of their partners know that we don’t need to eat animal protein to be healthy. Not. You see, they are consultants to businesses, governments and institutions; and none of their clients ask them to solve the world’s most crucial problems–such as:

1. World hunger
2. The emerging energy crisis
3. Skyrocketing cost of health care
4. Global warming

No, they don’t work on those kinds of things because there is simply no money to be made. Take health care for example. The closest that McKinsey comes to working on our nation’s largest problem, the cost of health care, is helping their big pharmaceutical clients sell more drugs and make more money. They end up being part of the problem simply because there are no clients willing to pay them money to be part of the solution.

Sadly, like Warren Buffett, the mighty McKinsey organization, with few exceptions is part of the 95 percent of  Americans who believe that we need to eat animal protein to be healthy. Too bad we can’t harness the incredible brain power of this premier organization. From Wikpedia:

McKinsey & Company, Inc. is a global management consulting firm that focuses on solving issues of concern to senior management. McKinsey serves as an adviser to many businesses, governments, and institutions. It is recognized as one of the most prestigious firms in the consulting industry and has been a top employer for new MBA graduates since 1996.

McKinsey has about 9,000 consultants in 97 locations in 55 countries, working with more than 90% of the 100 leading global corporations and two-thirds of the Fortune 1000 list. Forbes estimated the firm’s 2009 revenues at $6.6 billion.

Dr. Shawn, my nephew and fellow 4Leaf health enthusiast

Let’s Back up. Why am I writing about McKinsey? While in New York this week, I had coffee with my nephew Shawn, who is a member of the McKinsey consulting team. A very bright young man, he has a PhD in electrical engineering AND, like his Uncle Jim, he is a 4Leaf plant-based eater. He started his healthy dietary regimen almost overnight 6 or 7 years ago after reading Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s book, Eat to Live, that I gave him for Christmas.

This week I was talking to him about our Harmony Project and asked about the possibility that some of their McKinsey Brain Trust might be inclined to help develop the message, recruit the messenger and raise the funds necessary to get that project off the ground. I asked him if he knew of any partners that might be enlightened on the power to plant-based eating to help solve those four major problems listed earlier. He knew of no one.

The emerging Lifestyle Choice of health-seeking people everywhere

Surely, out of close to 10,000 colleagues, there must be at least one partner of the firm who understands that we don’t need to eat animal protein to be healthy—and that an aggressive move in the direction of plant-based eating could not only save our lives, but could very well end up saving the planet. I was thinking that a high-powered McKinsey partner might be the ideal person to help President Clinton connect the dots regarding the “big picture” of our Western diet-style and thereby plant the seeds of interest in his becoming our lead messenger for the Harmony Project. But how do I identify that partner?

Shawn suggested that I search through the McKinsey Quarterly, an online publication  that is free to the public. By digging up articles about food, health, etc., he thought that I might find out which partners (the authors of those articles) might be the right people to contact. So, this morning I did just that and thought I was on to something when I found an article entitled Organizational health: The ultimate competitive advantage. I was thinking that it might be about healthy employees, but it wasn’t.

I did find one article entitled Three imperatives for improving US health care, a 3100-word article that didn’t mention anything about how our food choices are driving up to $2 trillion  of our $2.7 trillion cost of health care in this country. Yet the 2008 article began with…

Making health care more affordable is the key to making the US system sustainable. We can bring three of the largest sources of underlying costs and their growth under control.

So, I will keep looking and will ask Shawn to do the same. Maybe in another ten years or so, he will be that high-powered McKinsey partner that can lead a high-level project aimed at saving the planet with two words—Whole Plants. And what client would pay for that project? Maybe a consortium of ten nations who fear that the world could slip into anarchy as billions of hungry people do what they have to do to feed their families.

J. Morris Hicks, author and activist. Working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

Do you know any McKinsey people? How about sending them this blog? Maybe they’ll help me find that hot-shot partner there that’s ready to change the world.

Want to learn more about Shawn’s experience with plant-based eating? You can find him on page 44 of our book. So you don’t believe that whole plants can save the world? You might want to watch a powerful world-changing movie this afternoon.

Get yourself some popcorn, or some celery, and treat yourself to the seductive voice of Glenn Close as she narrates this exceptional film. She was on CBS Sunday Morning just now—very impressive indeed.

HOME- a great 2009 film; a powerful eye-opener It’s a 90-minute movie that is likely to leave you feeling differently about the role of the human race on our precious planet. Here’s a comment that I copied from YouTube.

This movie has really changed my view on the world. I mean, I’m sure we all knew this stuff, but the amazing high definition angles and inspiring words really help shake things up in my mind. This is one of those movies where you wake up the next morning and see everything in a completely different way. I am no longer a working gear in a consumerist machine, I am an awareness in a sea of human beings. With an equal love for life, and an equal goal of the survival of the species.

Handy 4-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com

• The movie that’s changing the lives of millions: Forks Over Knives DVD 
• Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
• An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell
• Dr. McDougall’s new book, The Starch Solution, with lots of great recipes.

Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Diagnostic Survey. It takes less than five minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com

International. We’re now reaching people in over 100 countries. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter or get daily blog notices by “following” us in the top of the right-hand column. For occasional updates, join our periodic mailing list.

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

For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page or some great recipes at Lisa’s 4Leaf Kitchen.

Got a question? Let me hear from you at jmorrishicks@me.com. Or give me a call on my cell at 917-399-9700.

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Blogging daily at hpjmh.com…from the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation