Wonder when we’ll have similar images on meat & dairy in the USA?

Our friends in Australia are way ahead of us when it comes to ending the deadly habit of smoking in their country. In a story that broke earlier this week (8-15-12; see link below), the Washington Post article began:

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s highest court upheld the world’s toughest law on cigarette promotion Wednesday, prohibiting tobacco company logos on cigarette packs that will instead show cancer-riddled mouths, blinded eyeballs and sickly children.

Here are the some of the images they plan to use:

Can you imagine these kinds of images on packages of hot dogs, Happy Meals or cartons of milk?

Starting in December, packs will instead come in a uniformly drab shade of olive and feature dire health warnings and graphic photographs of smoking’s health effects. The government, which has urged other countries to adopt similar rules, hopes the new packs will make smoking as unglamorous as possible.

Bravo for the citizens of Australia for having the courage to put the health of children ahead of profits. Bravo for telling the truth about the horrible consequences of smoking.

But what about the horrible consequences of consuming the typical western diet? That’s the diet that is consumed by most of the world’s wealthiest people—the meat & dairy diet that is consumed in the USA, Australia, Europe and other developed areas of the globe.

Although a deadly habit, the collective damage of smoking pales in comparison to the incredibly harmful typical western diet.

Maybe we’ll see the day when similar grotesque images will appear on packages of hot dogs, burgers and frozen beef patties—throughout the western world. And why shouldn’t they? Compared to the consequences of consuming a meat & dairy western diet, the consequences of smoking cigarettes are minor. Consider:

When you smoke, you really hurt no one but yourself—as long as you’re smoking outside or in your own home.

But by consuming the western diet, you’re not only promoting chronic disease for you and your family, but you’re also contributing heavily to global warming, world hunger, water shortages and a host of other environmental horrors that will affect every living creature on this planet.

The typical western diet; a disaster for your health, your environment and the long-term sustainability of the human race.

Your children. And by teaching your harmful, wasteful and unsustainable diet-style to the next generation, you’re contributing heavily to the long-term unsustainability of the human race. 

Toward the end of the source article, Attorney General Nicola Roxon told reporters after the court ruling, “Many other countries around the world … will take heart from the success of this decision today. Governments can take on big tobacco and win and it’s worth countries looking again at what the next appropriate step is for them.”

The Bottom Line. Without a doubt, our current western diet style is unsustainable for very much longer—for a host of reasons. The question is this:

Which country will be the first to “take on big food and win?”

• Source article in the Washington Post. Australia’s highest court upholds world’s toughest law banning logos on cigarette packs
• A related blog. Why are the “world’s greatest thinkers” missing the boat…
• A related blog. Forget “saving the planet.” Think great grandchildren.

Fortunately, you don’t have to wait for the grotesque images on the “Happy Meals,” before you decide to take charge of your own health and give your children and all future generations the gift of life.

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

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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