Our children probably think that pigs have a pretty nice life.

Delicate topic—but necessary

Our book has eleven chapters—and one of them is entitled “Hell on Earth.” We chose that title because it best describes the entire lives of the 60 billion food animals that we humans consume each year on this planet.

Granted, most people believe that we truly “need” to eat animal protein, and they’re really not interested in learning all about what goes on behind the scenes to deliver that meat to their plates three meals a day.

But, what if everyone did know that we don’t actually “need” to eat meat? What if they knew that by eating mostly whole plants that they could reverse their own heart disease and/or type 2 diabetes? What if they also knew about the staggering impact our meat and dairy habit is having on our natural resources?

John Robbins, one of my greatest heroes since 2003; the author of Diet for a New America and many other eye-opening books

If they knew all of the above, they might very well be more interested in exactly what goes on behind the scenes. But, most people today simply have no idea.

So in our book, we tried to gently share some disturbing information without driving them away. We included a quote by John Robbins in Chapter 7—a quote that might help people better understand what life is like for 99% of the laying hens in the USA:

Picture yourself standing in a crowded elevator. The elevator is so crowded, in fact, that your body is in contact on all sides with other bodies. Even to turn around in place would be difficult. And one more thing to keep in mind—this is your life. It is not just a temporary bother, until you get to your floor. This is permanent. Your only release will be at the hands of the executioner.

Two-minute video. One more thing before we share the following “Sunny Acres” video with you. After 393 consecutive days of blogging, there have only been fifteen posts that deal with the suffering of our food animals—less than 4% of my blogs. We don’t dwell on this topic all the time—but that doesn’t mean that it is any less important.

And don’t kid yourself, free range and grass fed are almost non-existent—accounting for around 1% of the total of all the animals that we eat. For the other 99%, this is a short story of their lives at the delightful Sunny Acres Farms. (Want to learn about a zillion more facts on this horrible topic, read Eating Animals by Jonathan Saffron Foer).

Welcome to Sunny Acres Farms

Can’t imagine yourself in that situation? Try imagining your children in there–for their entire lives.

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Thanks go out to Rory Freedman, co-author of Skinny Bitch, for sharing the above video with me. You can follow her on Twitter @RoryFreedman

Also, 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.

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

And if you like what 4Leaf eating is doing for you and your family, you might enjoy visiting our new “4Leaf Gear” store. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

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

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J. Morris Hicks -- Member of the Board of Directors -- Click image to visit the foundation website.