J. Morris Hicks, engineer. writer. big picture guy.

The experts weigh in on what his top priorities should be.

In the 11-7-12 New York Times, nine of our nation’s best & brightest minds debated what Obama should be focusing on for his final four years in office. (See links to all nine below)

Their ideas ran the gamut from jobs creation to green initiatives to health care reform—but none of them mentioned health promotion. That’s probably because none of them have connected the dots relative to the incredibly positive chain reaction that would ensue—if we simply began an earnest effort to return to the natural diet for our species—whole, plant-based foods. As for specifics regarding that chain reaction…

Ultimately, we’re talking about the longterm sustainability of the human race.

Along with a tremendous amount of highly processed carbs, this is where most westerners get their calories—a grossly unsustainable way of eating.

This is a classic example of doing the right things versus doing things right. All of the nine experts offer good ideas that could improve things—but none of their ideas are world-changing.

That’s because they don’t see the “big picture” regarding the impact of our food choices—a big picture that goes far beyond our health. You see, our planet is simply not equipped to support any further expansion of our incredibly wasteful, harmful and unsustainable western diet.

One of the experts mentioned climate change, another mentioned green goals, and yet another mentioned avoiding the financial cliff without spending cuts. All are probably good ideas, but none are going to address the underlying most crucial problem affecting not only the USA, but the entire world. And that multi-faceted problem is being driven by our food choices.

Living where I do, I get to see a lot of water. But I just recently learned that we’ve been using the very SAME water for billions of years. But lately, we’ve started using way too much of it on an incredibly wasteful diet style.

Finite supplies of land and water. Quite simply, we’re running out of land and we’re running out of water when it comes to feeding the growing population of the world. Saving the planet sounds good, but what we’re really talking about is saving the planet’s ability to sustain life as we know it—indefinitely.

Sadly, most of the world’s “experts” simply do not understand the incredible impact of our food choices—on global warming, species extinction, energy consumption, soil erosion, and world hunger. Our collective food choices determine how the planet is used—and we’re now in the process of “using it” beyond its capacity. So how can President Obama change all of that in a second term?

Leadership. While it won’t be popular at first, Mr. Obama must pull out all the stops when it comes to what we’re eating. With the help of Bill Clinton, his wife Michelle, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and a few other enlightened experts, our President will be able to quickly understand the significance of what’s at stake.

He must then start the whole process by teaching our 300 million citizens how to take charge of their own health. He gets that ball rolling by putting together the most powerful task force in the history of the world—to start publicizing the simple truth about nutrition. As people in the USA start making better food choices, our cost of healthcare will begin to plummet—and all the worries about ObamaCare will shrink to insignificance.

After we change what we’re eating, a plethora of positive change will begin to happen as a result.

The dominoes begin to fall. Concurrently, as our cost of healthcare plummets, the corporations who’re paying most of the bills become more competitive on the world market, and that creates more jobs in America. Then, as global leaders recognize what’s happening in the United States, they begin to undertake similar initiatives in their own countries.

As all of the above begins to unfold, the western diet of meat and dairy at every meal begins to lose much of its appeal. Gradually, it becomes old-fashioned and uncool to eat meat and dairy. The domino effect continues as people in the developing world begin following the new, healthier way to eat—the way that people have started eating in the United States.

Mr. Obama must think the future family of his beautiful daughters when he establishes his priorities for his second term in office.

The Bottom Line. In my opinion, Mr. Obama should make this project his #1 priority. And if he knew just how critical it was to the future of his own great grandchildren and the future of human life on planet Earth, he would probably make it his only priority.

Not a popular move. To be sure, taking the leadership role in what historians will someday call the most important step in history—will not be popular at first. His own daughters will probably object strongly in the beginning and Congress may even threaten to impeach him.

But eventually, the entire world will realize that our 44th president literally saved our way of life. And Sasha and Malia’s children will be so proud of their grandfather—for the courage, vision, determination and leadership that he exhibited from 2012 through 2016.   —my 648th consecutive daily blog—

• Source article. A To-Do List for Obama’s Next Four Years
• 11-10-12 Blog. Congratulations Mr. President. Now you have time to fix ObamaCare!
• Details on that task force. Obama will need a lot of help to fix our cost of health care.
• Idea #1. Focus on Jobs, Not the Deficit
• Idea #2. Concentrate on the Needs of Business
• Idea #3. Climate Change Should Be Front and Center
• Idea #4. Green Goals Without Rancor
• Idea #5. Lead Others on Foreign Policy
• Idea #6. Domestic Growth and International Growth
• Idea #7. Avoid the Cliff Without Huge Spending Cuts
• Idea #8. Help People Understand the Health Care Act
• Idea #9. Get Governors to Support Health Care Reform
• Earlier blog. Doing “things right” or doing the “right thing”

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