NEWS FLASH: Gas and food prices rise sharply. What’s next?

Posted on 05/30/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

First things first. Happy Birthday to my only daughter-in-law, Lisa Hicks, who is coming to Stonington for a visit today — with 4 out of 5 of my grandchildren. Click below for recent post on school lunches featuring Lisa and including her picture.

Childhood Obesity — A “4-Leaf” school-teacher sounds off

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Now for the news of the day…

In a USA Today article by Martin Grutsinger (AP) on May 27, it was reported that gas and food price increases were thwarting our fragile, slowly-recovering economy. From the article:

WASHINGTON — Consumers spent more in April, but much of the increase was eaten up by higher food and energy prices. After discounting for the jump in prices, spending barely budged and after-tax incomes were flat for a second straight month. (See link to complete article below my signature.)

In the years ahead, these kinds of headlines are going become more and more common — and, in my opinion, the good news outweighs the bad news. Let me explain. Since beginning this blog in February 2011, I have gradually come to the conclusion that rising energy prices will turn out to be our friend — in the long term; although the transition will be quite painful for many as our world is forced to adjust to the “end of cheap oil.”

The "sunset" on the era of cheap oil on planet Earth. It's time to start living like we would if the price at the pump were already $10 a gallon or more.

You see, it was the discovery of cheap energy that enabled humans to adopt many incredibly inefficient, harmful and unsustainable practices — primarily how we have chosen  to eat and how we have chosen to live. As I said in an earlier post last week, it would be nice if we could somehow recognize the errors of our past and get busy correcting them — for many very good reasons. For example; here are my top five advantages associated with moving back to the natural diet for our species:

  1. Promoting our own health, reducing obesity and dramatically lowering the cost of health care.
  2. Nurturing the fragile harmony of our precious planet — our only home.
  3. Conserving energy.
  4. Feeding the world’s hungry.
  5. Ending the barbaric practice of slaughtering 60 billion animals a year for our dinner tables — having convinced ourselves that we truly “need” to eat them to be healthy. Not. See the Protein Page.

To put that 60 billion in perspective, that is the number required just to feed less than 20% of the world’s population — the wealthiest 20%. With the developing world following our “bad example,” more and more people are shifting to our wasteful, harmful and totally unsustainable way of eating. Where does this madness end? 300 billion animals? 500 billion animals? To feed just 7 billion people?

Sadly, I don’t think the human race is equipped (with enough leadership, convictions and resolve) to make the needed changes for the right reasons. I think that we will have to be forced to change. And that is why rising energy prices will turn out to be our friend in the long run. Those rising prices will force us to eat a healthier diet and consume far less energy in the way that we live.

Imagine for a minute, what would our world look like if only a modest amount of petroleum had been discovered? I would argue that the advantages would far outweigh the the disadvantages. On the positive side:

Moonglow (our Cape Dory Typhoon) tied up at the yacht club in Watch Hill, Rhode Island -- great fun with minimal fuel consumption

  • First, we wouldn’t know what we have been missing; things like indoor ski slopes in Dubai.
  • We would all still be eating a diet that is much closer to the natural diet for our species.
  • As a result of that, we would all be enjoying better health and a much lower cost of health care.
  • There would be no suburban sprawl; we would be living in more “Europe-like” villages, towns and cities — all connected by highly-efficient mass transit powered by renewable energy sources.
  • While long-distance travel would be much more expensive, our overall quality of life would be much better. How so?
  • Where would you rather spend your vacation? Houston or Paris?
  • Sure, we’ve enjoyed some luxuries that we might not have otherwise enjoyed; but what about our great-great-grandchildren? Will they be any better off because their great-great-grandparents enjoyed a brief period of living high and reckless destruction of our environment? I think not.

Bottom line. Our supply of fossil fuels are finite (everyone agrees on that), non-renewable and will be pretty much depleted within the next hundred years. So the sooner we learn how to live without them, the better off we will be.

Big Picture. Life began on this planet 4 billion years ago; humans arrived just 200,000 years ago. We settled down less than 20,000 years ago and have caused most of our damage in just the past fifty years. History will record the mere 150 years (a blink of history) from 1900 to 2050 as the “era of cheap oil” that did much more harm than good for all concerned. (Watch the HOME movie now; if you haven’t already.)

What to do NOW?. The top two things that you can do to use less energy while promoting your own health and enjoying a better quality of life is:

  • Make a dramatic shift in the direction of health-promoting, energy-friendly whole plant foods. Need some help? Do yourself a favor and start our 4-Leaf Program today.
  •  Establish your home in a dense community, walking distance to parks, schools, churches, playgrounds, shopping, restaurants, civic events and mass transit.

My little "castle" (with the flag) in the village of Stonington, CT. -- The Mercedes has been replaced by a Mini Cooper and my 900 square feet with private courtyard and wood-burning fireplace does a great job of meeting my needs. And I can walk to almost everything I need; like we say here, "The village is our living room." Happy Memorial Day!

I am already living in one of those towns, a charming village by the sea in coastal Connecticut. While my little town is a bit on the expensive side, there are two far more affordable towns less than 15 minutes from us in each direction — New London, CT (home of the USCG Academy) to our west and Westerly, RI, just a few miles to our east.

Both of these towns lost their urban vitality many years ago — now they’re both just waiting for higher fuel prices to make them look much more attractive. They both have rail service, easy access to I-95, and water access to Long Island Sound and beyond. These are my two local picks for “boom towns” of the future.

J. Morris Hicks, the "big picture guy" just trying to help everyone understand the long-term impact of our actions today -- including how we eat and how we live.

Amtrak also goes right through the middle of my little village of Stonington; the trains just don’t stop anymore. Maybe someday they will again. NOw, if any of this makes sense; you might want to think about moving your family to a place like the ones that I have described.

And don’t wait until the value of your energy-guzzling home in the boonies drops below what you owe on your mortgage. Sadly, that’s when most Americans will first get around to re-thinking their housing choices — amid the a not-so-pleasant era of chaos, during which everyone will once again blame the government for all their problems.

It’s a bit ironic that I chose this topic today — Memorial Day; a day featuring lots of energy wasted — from the gas-guzzling vehicles to the over-consumption of vast quantities of energy-guzzling meat and dairy products. And we do all of that to honor those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Maybe I will see the day when we honor this special day by doing something wonderful for our planet and our own future generations of Americans. 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

PS: 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. 

Gas and food eat most of the gain in April consumer spending – USATODAY.com.

Posted in Energy | 1 Comment

Goodbye to Food Pyramid, Hello Dinner Plate; New York Times

Posted on 05/29/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

Here we go again. Regardless of their logo, our government is still coming up way short of simply telling people what they DO need and what they DON’T need — two words for each category.

  • Whole Plants (in the DO need category)
  • Meat & Dairy (in the DON’T need category)

J. Morris Hicks

In a New York Times article on May 27 by William Neuman, you can read all about how our government has arrived at a brand new way of confusing the American public with its new food guide. A link to that article appears beneath my signature.

Can you imagine how many thousands of people there were who spent countless person-years and millions of dollars developing this latest version of the USDA’s food guide? And they still can’t tell us to simply eat the natural diet for our species — WHOLE PLANTS — nothing more.

And like the two primary versions of “food guides” before it, this one probably made no single industry happy. Once again, it is a gigantic compromise aimed at making sure that none of the following huge industries are adversely impacted: beef, pork, chicken, turkey, milk, cheese, egg, fish — all of those industries that survive on the popularity of their common name — PROTEIN. From the article:

The circular plate, which will be unveiled Thursday (6-2-11), is meant to give consumers a fast, easily grasped reminder of the basics of a healthy diet. It consists of four colored sections, for fruits, vegetables, grains and protein. 

This isn’t fair if you’re a fat or a carbohydrate; the other two macro-nutrients (along with protein) that our bodies need to survive. And the little-known fact that whole plants have some of all three of those macro-nutrients — in just the right proportion to enable our bodies to promote vibrant health, avoid disease and maintain its ideal weight.

All we need to do is eat a variety of whole plants — as close to nature’s original package as possible. And we will never have to worry about getting enough fat, carbohydrate or protein. Because if we get enough calories from those whole plants, we will automatically get enough of all three.

Here's the old pyramid that is being replaced on June 2 by a circular food guide.

But there are those eight “protein” industries who specialize in serving up dead animals by the billions, doing their part to keep our 25 million health care workers employed. But until our elite schools of nutritional science (like Cornell) tell us clearly and loudly that not only do we not “need” any animal protein, but also that it is in fact killing us — those eight industries and their millions of employees will continue to defend their turf when it comes to influencing our government to tell its citizens what they should be eating.

We need leaders like Oprah, Gates and Buffett — and we need them NOW — if we’re ever going to stop this insanity.

By the way, there is a link below to the New York Times article that inspired this post. Now that the Times is beginning to charge for its online newspaper, another advantage of visiting this site regularly is that you can always read any article linked on this post — in its entirety for no charge.

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

PS: 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. 

Food Pyramid Being Replaced With Plate-Shaped Logo – NYTimes.com.

Posted in Food Policy | Leave a comment

NYT…”Obesity Epidemic Points to Workplace” — I say Baloney!

Posted on 05/28/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

In a May 25 article in the New York Times by Tara Parker-Pope, she reports on the latest study that identifies the American workplace as the most recently identifified culprit in the war against obesity. (See article at end of this post)

J. Morris Hicks, trying my best to help you and your family take charge of your health

My question is this, “If the American workplace is causing our obesity epidemic, why do we have so many fat children?”

I say BALONEY and enough is enough already. When are we going to seriously start addressing the REAL problem in our humungous problem of obesity, disease and the totally unsustainable cost of health care in this country?Quoting from the lengthy article:

A sweeping review of shifts in the labor force since 1960 suggests that a sizable portion of the national weight gain can be explained by declining physical activity during the workday. Jobs requiring moderate physical activity, which accounted for 50 percent of the labor market in 1960, have plummeted to just 20 percent.

The American "workplace" has absolutely nothing to do with this trend in our country -- a trend that is affecting young and old alike. It's time for parents to look in the mirror if they're looking for someone to blame.

Americans are always interested in blaming someone or something else for their problems: the government, their genes, food companies, computers, televisions, video-games, fast-food, the toxic environment — and now the nasty old workplace that just doesn’t provide us with enough exercise to keep the weight off.

I just returned from a trip to Florida with layovers in Atlanta in both directions. There were three things that struck me during that trip:

  • The magnificent work of the Florida organic pioneer, Frank Oakes, of Naples
  • The aerial view of endless miles upon miles of suburban sprawl that just shouts WASTE, GREED, and UNSUSTAINABILITY.
  • And last but not least, the incredible obesity that I observed on the planes and walking through the airports.

A sad situation for sure. As I have often said; the poor people are just following their natural instincts in an unnatural world -- it's up to the educated leaders to take responsibility and lead by "being the change" we must see in this world.

And I was only getting a glimpse of the “air traveling public,” the top 20% in terms of education and income level — the ones most likely to be able to manage their own waistlines AND their own health. I can only imagine what it would be like to walk through the casinos in my home town of Greenville, Mississippi — the nation’s obesity leader. 

To me, the article (and the study) like this one does absolutely nothing to correct the problem. It just further confuses the public and lessens their chances of focusing on the real problem facing our entire society in the Western world — not just the United States.

We’re eating the wrong food for our species. Every creature has a natural diet and so do humans. But, in our case, we have drifted FAR away from our natural diet — now deriving far less than ten percent of our calories from WHOLE PLANTS.

What we need is leadership to fix this mess — and that means everyone who understands what I am talking about on this site — EVERY day. We can all be leaders: Some of us will be able to reach one person with this message; others may have the ability to reach hundreds, thousands or millions. Oprah, on the other hand, has the “complete package” that would enable her to reach billions.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett; with their money and desire to do "good work" coupled with Oprah's ability to communicate and influence -- just imagine what could happen.

Imagine if the first two people she reached were Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Charisma + money + credibility = POWER. And power is exactly what we need to create some urgency to this process of returning to the natural diet for our species. 

We can’t wait for the government or the politicians. We need to address these problems now. As a footnote, we have yet to see a single person who followed our 4-Leaf Program — fail to lose excess weight without even trying. If you give your body the right fuel to promote vibrant health, it will effortlessly seek its ideal weight.

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

PS: 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. 

New Clue in Obesity Epidemic Points to Workplace – NYTimes.com.

Posted in Celebrities, Obesity | 1 Comment