Bill Clinton, the natural leader for the “great food revolution”

Posted on 10/16/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

Global Recognition, Credibility, Knowledge, Partnering Skills, Resources and a burning desire to make a huge difference in this world

As a former corporate executive, management consultant and executive recruiter, I know a thing or two about the importance of having the right person in the right job at the right time. The most important aspect of any project is having the right leader in charge. And when it comes to leading the “great food revolution of the 21st century,” there is no one better suited than the former president of the United States; William Jefferson Clinton.

He told the world on TV that he cured his heart disease by switching to a plant-based diet -- Now he needs to tell the world why they must all do the same.

In an interview with David Letterman this week (See video below), Mr. Clinton talked about improving the lives of 400 million people around the world through the efforts of his foundation over the past decade. While noble and impressive, that statistic pales in comparison to what his Clinton Global Initiative could accomplish in the next ten years if he focused the majority of his efforts on one new initiative: leading all of humankind back to the natural diet for our species — the diet that nature intended for us to eat in the first place.

Although Mr. Clinton has personal knowledge of the power of that “natural diet” to reverse his own heart disease, he has not yet connected the dots when it comes to the “big picture” of exactly what is at stake here. As reported in the great PPR film “HOME” (2009), humankind has inflicted more damage on the harmony of Nature in just the past fifty years than all previous generations of humans for the past 200,000 years. And our single best opportunity to reverse that deadly trend is to aggressively move away from the toxic, harmful, wasteful, cruel and grossly unsustainable Western diet.

While we consider ourselves the smartest of all the millions of species on this planet, we’re the only species in the history of the world that has practically abandoned the “natural” diet for our species. No one needs to tell the animals in the wild what they should be eating. On the other hand, we have millions of people in academia, medicine and government who spend billions of dollars studying food — and they’re still recommending a diet-style that is killing us and destroying the planet at the same time.

Once Mr. Clinton realizes the staggering magnitude of what we’re talking about, he may very well want to focus 100% of his own time on this single initiative. When he considers that comparing our typical Western diet to a whole foods, plant-based diet on a per calorie basis, we find that it requires

We need a few billion more people on our team of promoting health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

  • Twenty times more land
  • Twenty times more water
  • Twenty times more energy

The numbers are staggering. And what do we get in return for all that waste and environmental damage? The sickest and most overweight peoples with the highest cost of “disease” care in the history of the world.

And why does this madness continue? Because an estimated 95% of the Western population of over two billion people truly believe that we “need” to eat animal protein to be healthy. 

Job One – Education. So, the first step in Mr. Clinton’s new initiative will be to spread the word about our widely misunderstood need for protein, which is no more important than our need for carbohydrate and fat in our diets. We get calories from all of them and, just like all other creatures, we can get just the right amount of all three by simply eating the “natural” diet for our species. In order to accomplish this first task, it will probably require a ten-year relentless campaign of never ending messages from some of the most heathy, most beautiful and most popular people in the world. They need to replace those milk mustaches with fist-fulls of broccoli, oatmeal and apples and start showing our children how to be healthy.

With a powerful organization already in place, who better than Bill Clinton to lead the world's most important global initiative...beginning with "discreet nudges," then gradually picking up the tempo.

Job Two – Marketing. People need to learn to have the same craving for the healthiest diet that they currently have for the toxic diet that most of us are eating. This will involve enlisting the support of the top 10,000 chefs in the world. Quite simply, the food is going to have to taste good and we already know that great chefs know how to make that happen. Don’t believe me, just stop by the Candle Cafe or Candle 79 on the Upper East Side of Manhattan the next time you’re in New York. No matter how much meat and dairy you are used to eating; I can almost guarantee you will be happy with your meal — the array of delicious options are simply amazing.

Job Three – Incentives. Recognizing that the majority of the people may not willingly give up their burgers and pizza even after they have learned the truth about nutrition; Mr. Clinton’s international team must figure our a way to make it very attractive for everyone’s pocketbook. This may involve a different combination of a number of initiatives in each and every country — initiatives like ending the governmental subsidy of unhealthy food, shifting that subsidy to health-promoting food, environmental tax, and penalties for food producers and restaurants who don’t meet the targets for the percentage of calories from whole plant-based foods, etc.

Water -- our most precious resource -- is finite and we're currently using twenty times more than we should to feed humankind.

The Bottom Line. People must learn the truth, the food must taste great and it must cost far less than the harmful and wasteful foods that we’re eating today. When a cheese pizza costs $40 and a healthy & delicious meal with the same amount of calories costs only $10, then we’ll see some real momentum in the direction of a health-promoting, environmental-friendly, whole foods, plant-based diet.

And, if all goes well, by 2050, when the world’s human population hits nine billion, we’ll be able to easily feed them all on far less than half the acreage of arable land that we’re using today. That freed-up land can be returned to forests, there will be far less pollution, the waters of the world will become pure again and the needless suffering of sixty billion animals a year will be eliminated. All of the above will help Mother Nature restore the biodiversity and repair the environmental damage that humankind has been inflicting while running roughshod over the planet for the past century. Ultimately, as we return to living in harmony with Nature, the historians of the 22nd century may very well ask themselves…

What were they thinking back then when the smartest and wealthiest people in the world were making themselves sick while savagely eating billions of animals and practically destroying life on this planet for themselves and for all the other millions of creatures with whom we share our home? And they might then record for all future generations, Thank God for William Jefferson Clinton, the great leader of the early 2000’s who deftly guided them back to the right way of life.

Video of Clinton on Letterman. For your convenience, here is a clip from Mr. Clinton on Letterman last week. While he doesn’t sound exactly thrilled with his vegan lifestyle, he’s very happy that his new “Esselstyn inspired” diet has healed his heart and probably added years, if not decades, to his life — maybe enough decades for him to get that “great food revolution of the twenty-first century” up and running.

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

A few earlier posts featuring the 42nd president of the United States:

“Discreet nudges” from a powerful leader…President Clinton

Matt Lauer to Bill Clinton, “Does being a vegan suck?”

Bill Clinton — social change, urgency and activism

Thank you President Clinton…but there’s one more thing

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

SHARE and rate this post below…One more thing, occasionally an unauthorized ad may appear beneath a blog post. It is controlled by WordPress (a totally free hosting service). I do not approve or personally benefit whatsoever from any ad that might ever appear on this site. I apologize and urge you to please disregard.

Posted in Activism & Leadership, Big Picture, Bill Clinton, Celebrities | 2 Comments

New London, Connecticut — October 12, 2011.

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

New book issues the ‘4-Leaf Challenge.’ You are what you eat: simple solution to a complex problem. (Link to article below)

By Amy J. Barry, Special to The Day

Some people are better at seeing the big picture than others. J. Morris (“Jim”) Hicks is one of those people. The Stonington resident’s new book, “Healthy Eating Healthy World: Unleashing the Power of Plant-Based Nutrition” (written with his son J. Stanfield Hicks) connects the dots between what we eat, escalating rates of obesity, heart disease and diabetes, animal cruelty, world hunger, and the degradation of our ecosystem.

It also provides an incredibly hopeful and simple answer to a very complex problem over which we all have control: the food we choose to put in our mouths.

Hicks doesn’t have a stake in the game; he’s not a doctor, scientist, nutritionist, farmer or celebrity chef. He’s a former management consultant and senior corporate executive with Ralph Lauren in New York, and is used to analyzing issues through a wide-angle lens.

Hicks talked about the book and his “4-Leaf Challenge” in a recent Daybreak interview.

Q. Scientist T. Colin Campbell, author of “The China Study,” says in the book’s foreword: “Too often we rely solely on people who’ve established themselves as the inside experts, yet sometimes the most interesting perspectives come from outside the field.” Can you talk about your “outside view” and passion about this issue?

A. I was trained as an industrial engineer; to make things more efficient. I later got a master’s degree in business. I streamlined operations, always looking for things that were inefficient that I could fix…maximizing profitability of the organization. I kind of stumbled on this topic by accident. I was interested in health. But I became obsessed with it, finding out things we’re never told about optimal health for humans. I read 40 books (on the subject) in a very short time. I had a blinding flash of the obvious; it all clicked — the whole, interconnected big picture. Looking at a global feeding model of how we feed ourselves, I (realized) we’re eating a very inefficient, wasteful, harmful, cruel and unsustainable diet. It became crystal clear that we’re eating the wrong food, and doing a number on the planet.

Q. What is unique about this book?

A. I’ve always tried to make complex things simple in business, so the least educated person in the room could understand it. Essentially I’m a reporter here. I’m reporting on what I consider the most important system in the world and offering the greatest process improvement opportunity, by improving our feeding model.

Q. Your “4-Leaf Challenge” requires people to shoot for an 80 percent or better whole food, plant-based diet. Is that realistic?

A. We felt it was our responsibility to tell people what is optimum. As long as nobody knows the best way to eat, they’ll eat anything, they’ll eat food with salt, sugar, fat, whatever. There’s so much confusion. The government favors confusion over clarity. It’s real simple. The gorilla eats whole plants; it’s really what we should eat. Also not make it all or nothing. We came up with the ‘4-Leaf’ program-it’s so simple, clear and positive. It’s not focusing on what you should avoid, but what you’re trying to get the most of. It’s not a vegan diet. The focus is on what your mother told you: eat more fruits and vegetables. Doctors stress that eating a whole lot of whole-plant foods is more important than not ever eating meat.

Q. Can you talk about “the protein myth”?

A. There are three things calories come from: fat, protein, carbohydrates. All three are as important. Protein isn’t more important. Conveniently, most plants have some of all three — in just the right proportions. We’re eating way too much protein, and animal protein is a killer. Cow’s milk is one of the most powerful carcinogens ever. The strongest animals in world eat nothing but plants and get plenty of protein.

Q. What are most important things individuals can do to effect positive change?

A. Read the book, make a commitment, make a promise to yourself-for example, get the 4-Leaf Challenge going; get employees, businesses, restaurants, everyone on board. What you eat is a very personal choice, but people are making this choice with too little or no information. We say throughout the book that we’re hoping we give you the information you need that no one has ever given you before. We’ve said as clearly as we possibly could why you should do this for your family, yourself, your future, the future of mankind and all the animals. We’re about to run over a cliff here, it’s really a sad situation. I’d like to see people inspired to say, “I’m going to do this.”

Q. You’re not a nutritionist or scientist or environmentalist. How do you see yourself?

A. By focusing on this bigger picture, I’m really an activist for change on planet Earth — for something that’s bigger than all of us. And I think it’s worth all of my energy for the rest of my life.

“Healthy Eating Healthy World” by J. Morris Hicks with J. Stanfield Hicks (Benbella Books, Inc.) is $14.95, softcover. For more information, and “4-Leaf Challenge” tips and daily updates, visit http://www.HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com.

SAILOR’S SUPER 4-LEAF CHALLENGE LUNCH

This is a quick, easy, healthy and delicious lunch (or dinner) featuring almost 100 percent of its calories from whole plants. From the time I walk into the kitchen, this cooked meal can be ready to eat just like this in roughly five or six minutes.

One of the staples of this meal is a mixture of grains and legumes that I prepare in advance on a weekly basis. With a one-serving portion of these calorie-dense starches always ready to go, I can easily whip up a complete meal within minutes. In addition to this key item, I also include generous portions of things like broccoli, spinach, eggplant, mushrooms, carrots, tomato, cucumber, olive and avocado.

A very healthy "4-Leaf" meal, deriving well over 80% of its calories from whole plant foods.

This delicious meal contains between 400 and 500 calories and derives less than 20 percent of its calories from fat, and delivers 29 grams of fiber; more than many people get from whole plants in a week.

Preparation

  • Pre-cook (up to five days) a mixture of legumes and grain. My favorite mixture is black beans, red beans, brown rice and wild rice. Cook both rices together at the same time in a rice cooker. Soak both beans overnight and cook them together on simmer for about 90 minutes.
  • Package the above in small plastic containers, each with enough for one serving.
  • Fill a large salad bowl with a mixture of raw spinach & kale; squeeze some lime juice on top. Cook in microwave for 30 seconds. Put a half pita (preferably Joseph’s brand) on top and cook for another 30 seconds.
  • While spinach cooks, cut into bite-size pieces the broccoli, eggplant, and mushrooms and assemble on a dinner plate.
  • Sprinkle some low sodium seasonings on top and microwave for 2 minutes.
  • While that’s cooking, spread a little hummus inside the half pita; then stuff it with the spinach, kale, olives and sliced avocado.
  • Add raw tomatoes, raw carrots and raw olives and other raw items to garnish the plate.

That’s it; I then put my meal on a tray like the one pictured above and carry it to a place of beauty inside my cozy cottage or outside on the private brick garden behind my home. If someone is joining me, I just add one more plate and the whole process takes about 7 minutes; that’s because I only have one microwave oven.  -Jim Hicks

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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

The Day – New book issues the ‘4-Leaf Challenge’ | News from southeastern Connecticut

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Posted on 10/15/2011 by J. Morris Hicks | 1 Comment

“All or nothing” doesn’t fly for most people.

Posted on 10/14/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

Although most people seem to like the flexibility of our 4-Leaf Program, occasionally I hear from someone who questions why we would “allow” or condone ANY animal products whatsoever. The short answer — we want to make a huge difference in this world. Our health and our planet are both in real trouble and we’ll need to see positive dietary changes by billions of people in order to get things back on the right track — back to living in harmony with Nature.

Leveraging the simple, yet powerful concept of maximizing the percent of your calories from whole plant foods -- still in nature's package

Let’s face it; trying to get the masses excited about becoming a vegan anytime soon is just not going to fly for most people. Matt Lauer said it best when he incredulously asked Bill Clinton on NBC’s Today Show recently, “Does being a vegan suck?”

The mainstream population of the Western world think of vegetarians and vegans as being a bit weird, and most people have no intention of ever becoming one. But, if they had the “big picture” information regarding the global impact of their food choices, they might very well begin to move in the direction of a diet-style that is not only better for their health, but also crucial for the planet. From a reader last night:

I was very excited to find your blog on the internet.  It is amazing that someone with your background has turned towards trying to save the world with the help of a plant based diet. I read with interest several articles (started with the one about Steve Jobs, that’s how I got on your blog).  But the 4 Leaf program confused me a little bit.

I simply cannot support occasional pieces of animal products as it says in the 4 Leaf Program. I just wanted to find out for myself if you currently think that it is OK to occasionally eat animal products. Lidia

Hi Lidia, Thanks for your note. In answer to your question about 4-Leaf; I never recommend ANY animal products and never plan to have any myself. But I have observed that most people are averse to anything with an “all or nothing” restriction. In the 4-Leaf Program, the optimal diet would be 100% of your calories from whole plant-based foods. With that in mind, each individual will decide how far and how quickly they wish to move in that direction.

We need a few billion more people on our team of promoting health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

Based on numerous discussions with Dr. Campbell, Dr. Esselstyn, Dr. Fuhrman, and Dr. McDougall; the consensus is that it’s more important to consume an abundance of whole plants than to simply avoid ALL animal products. After all, one could eat nothing but Diet Coke and potato chips and call themselves vegan.

Would that be better (for your health and the planet) than eating 99 % whole plants and having a piece of cheese once a month? I think not.

So, we built in some flexibility; something that appeals to most people. In fact, we think that ten times as many people would be more likely to add more fruits and vegetables to their diet than those who would agree to go completely vegan. And we’d rather see two billion people quadruple their percentage of whole plant calories than see 1/10th as many — two hundred million people — stop eating all animal products. Which do you think would do the most good for our health, our environment, the conservation of fossil fuels, the suffering animals, etc?

Let’s do the math. If two billion people simply quadrupled the percentage of whole plant calories — going from 10% to 40% — the global benefit would be far greater in ALL of the above five categories than if two hundred million people went all the way to the 4-Leaf level with 80 to 100% of their calories from whole plants. To be precise, the global benefit would be almost four times greater. (60 billion improvement units divided by 16 billion; send me an email if you’d like to see more of the math.)

I hope this helps and I am glad you found our blog. Please tell everyone you know about us. Also, read our book, I am betting that you will like it. We hope it becomes the favorite book that vegetarians and vegans everywhere will want to give to their meat-eating friends and families. If that happens, we’ll have a best-seller for sure — and we just might have a fighting chance of reaching those two billion people. Be well, J. Morris Hicks

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

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

SHARE and rate this post below…One more thing, occasionally an unauthorized ad may appear beneath a blog post. It is controlled by WordPress (a totally free hosting service). I do not approve or personally benefit whatsoever from any ad that might ever appear on this site. I apologize and urge you to please disregard.

Posted in 4Leaf for Life, Big Picture | 1 Comment