The Right Person — at the Right Time — at the Right Place

Chelsea Clinton as she appears on the Clinton Foundation website. A vegan herself, she may have had a major influence on her father’s dietary change.

Leadership. In the past two years, I have posted almost 800 blogs. And get this—a whopping 176 of them have been about Leadership. That’s because my entire background of consulting, general management and executive search—has been all about getting the right leaders in the right place at the right time.

No matter what the problem, the challenge or the goal; nothing much happens without the right leadership. Right now, at this point in history, we’re facing the most serious problems in the history of the world. We’re running out of land. We’re running out of water. We’re running out of energy—and next, we’ll be running out of food. We already have in many parts of the world.

Yet, despite the dire future predicted by many, I am clinging to a single ray of hope: a plant-based pathway out of the horrible mess that has been created by our species in just the last hundred years or so. The problems are complex, yet the solution to many of them is simple. We just need to get everyone to move quickly to a diet consisting of mostly plants.

No easy task. With a diet-style that’s as wildly popular as the Standard American (or typical western) Diet, change will not come easy. But with great leadership, coupled with enough money, power and credibility—it can happen. It all begins with leadership and I have concluded that young Chelsea Clinton might be the key that unlocks the door.

Power parents. Has it dawned on you that she is very likely to become the ONLY person (past and future) with both parents serving terms as president of the United States? Couple that with the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative—and you’ve already got the mechanism in place that can quickly raise billions of dollars and launch a sixty year “asteroid” type project described in an earlier blog.

Co-authors J. Stanfield (Jason) and J. Morris Hicks hiking in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

My letter to Chelsea is the first step in putting this process in motion. If we can pique her interest in this essential, world-changing project, we will be halfway there.

Today, July 12, 2013, I sent the following note and letter to Chelsea along with a copy of our book and a picture of the co-authors shown here. If we get our requested meeting, I want Jason to accompany me. 

Dear Chelsea, 

My son Jason and I encourage you to take a look at our book and read the enclosed letter carefully. The urgent topics in both are among the most important in the history of humankind.

We feel that you are in a unique position to play a huge role in our future as a species. We look forward to meeting you soon.

Sincerely, J. Morris (Jim) Hicks

My 7-12-13 formal letter.

• Ms. Chelsea Clinton
• Clinton Foundation
• 77 Water Street
• New York, NY 10005

Subject: Leadership, our food choices and our future as a species

Dear Ms. Clinton,

After becoming curious about the optimal diet for humans in 2002, I started reading everything I could find on the subject. After reading over thirty books on human health, I read two books in May of 2003 that focused more on the social and environmental consequences of our food choices. And that’s when I had my blinding flash of the obvious—saying to myself, “Oh my God, we’re eating the wrong food!”

Since that time, I have published a book, Healthy Eating, Healthy World (enclosed) that was endorsed by the three experts (Campbell, Ornish & Esselstyn) who influenced your father to adopt the whole foods, plant-based diet in 2010. Maybe you were also part of that influence. Since launching my blog in early 2011, I have mentioned our former president in at least 100 of my nearly 800 blog-posts at hpjmh.com.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta with President Clinton—scene from “The Last Heart Attack.” Mr. Clinton has first hand knowledge of plant-based eating to promote health.

Why do I mention him so often? Because I believe that both he and the CGI are ideally positioned to lead the most important revolution in the history of humankind—the return to the natural diet for our species.

Not only does our toxic western diet drive most of our chronic disease, it is also bankrupting our nation and is most responsible for squandering our most precious natural resources: our land, our water and our fossil fuels—requiring more than ten times as much of each for every calorie produced. The implications for global issues like world hunger, water shortages and climate change are staggering.

And despite the noble efforts of many, the situation continues to worsen. While we’re adding 200,000 to our population every single day and losing an area the size of South Carolina to erosion every year—millions of people in the developing world are just now beginning to eat this horribly harmful, incredibly inefficient and grossly unsustainable diet-style that was born in the USA.

The only way out of this mess is leadership—indeed powerful leadership. You could be that CGI champion that would get the full support of your father, the Clinton Foundation and indeed the entire world. It’s not about saving the planet; she will be just fine. It’s our future as a species that’s in jeopardy.

Hillary Clinton as she appeared yesterday in the New York Times. I would say she has better than a 50% chance of becoming our 45th president.

I am writing to request a meeting with you in New York to discuss this topic in detail. If you prefer, I will arrange for Dr. T. Colin Campbell to join us for that meeting. I look forward to hearing from you soon. 

Sincerely,

J. Morris (Jim) Hicks

• Board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation, Scientific Integrity for Optimal Health.
• Enclosure: Copy of our book, Healthy Eating, Healthy World

This letter is now on its way to New York via Priority Mail.

July 13 at 7:15 a.m. Update.  Sally posted a comment below that included an NBC article written by Chelsea on June 20, 2013. An interesting read, with videos, that provides an update on her lifestyle as well as her earlier life. She is definitely someone who has grown up caring very much about the environment, animals, etc. Apparently, Chelsea has started eating meat again but, faced with a host of compelling facts, I predict that she could climb aboard our “save the species” train very quickly. Thanks Sally for sharing.

• The NBC article by Chelsea Clinton (6-20-13)
• The blog with the Asteroid Project. Are humans the “infestation” of planet Earth?
• Blog about Bill Clinton. 5 reasons why Bill Clinton should be the Global King of WFPB.
• Source article by Dr. Emmott. Humans – the real threat to life on Earth
• Earlier blog, Oct. 2012. Too many people, wasting resources, eating the wrong food

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