Food. Health. Planet. Our Future as a Species

J.MorrisHicks

SWFloridaVegFestJanuary28,2018

The Most Important Topic In the History of Humanity

OurPlanetinPerspective

“Ourgalaxy,whichhas100billionplanets(NASAest.)isjustoneamongonehundredbillionormoregalaxiesintheuniverse.”

PulitzerPrizewinningprofessoratHarvard:abiologist,researcher,theorist,naturalistandauthor

E.O.Wilson

• About4billionyearsago

• Humansemergedasaspecies

just200,000yearsago

PlanetEarth

Onesmallplanetamongmanytrillionsofplanetsintheuniverse,

Lifebeganhere...

OurTimeHereinPerspective

•  Ifwecrammedall4billionyearsof

“life”onEarthintojustoneyear…

•  Humanshavebeenhereforjust

26minutesofthelasthourof

thatyear

200,000YearsofPopulationGrowtha

199,800yrs.tohitthe1billionmark

Fromtherichharmonyofnature…

Howdowefixthismess?

FourHugeGrosslyUnsustainableSituations

1.  Overpopulation

2.  GlobalEconomy&STUFF

3.  Fossilfueldependence

4.  OURFOODCHOICES

URGENTLYNeeded:CHANGEinourFoodChoices

Ourfoodchoicesgiveus…

HOPE…becauseoftheirincrediblepowerto…

PromoteHealth,HopeandHarmonyonPlanetEarth

LAND–WATER–ENERGYAFactorofTEN

WhatCanWe“Hope”For?

1.  Reducingworldhunger,oceanacidification,

speciesextinction,waterpollution…

2.  Returningmillionsofacrestoforests

3.  Greatlyreducing#1causeofclimatechange

But,wemayhavewaitedTOOLONG

CarryingCapacity

How many humans* can the planet sustain indefinitely?

•  AverageEuropeanLifestyle:TWOBillion

•  AmericanLifestyle:ONEBILLION

•  Myowncalculatedestimate:4Billion

*Source:GlobalFootprintNetwork--footprintnetwork.org

1.Overpopulation

1.  NOW:BirthslessDeaths=230,000/day

2.  ReduceBirthsto100,000/day

3.  =Annualdecreaseof22million

4.  45yearstolowertotalbyonebillion

5.  Need160yearstohit4billionmark

Details?Abovemyjobgrade

2.OverconsumptionCurrentGlobalEconomyBasedonInfiniteGrowthinaWorldofFiniteResources

1.  Currentlyproducingforprofit&growth

2.  Globaleconomymustbechanged…

3.  Sustainabilitymusttrumpprofits&growth

4.   U.N.makesandenforcesnewrules

5.  GREENcitiesarebuiltworldwide

Details?Abovemyjobgrade

FossilFuelUsage

3.FossilFuelUsage

1.  NewEconomyfavorsGREENenergy

2.  Lessforeigntrade

3.  Airtravelonlyforemergencies

4.  GREENfoodproduction,mostlylocal

5.  Fossilfuelscandropby90%

Details?Abovemyjobgrade

FossilFuelReduction?

4.OurFoodChoicesWhySoImportant?

1.  Theydeterminehowtheplanetisused

2.  Theyhaveahugeimpactonourhealth

3.  #1Driverofthe*CostofHealthCare,

deforestation*SoilErosion*Ocean

Acidification*SpeciesExtinction*Climate

Change*Andmuchmore…

*Unbridledgrowthofourcivilizedpopulation

What’sgoingonwithourFOODCHOICES?

AnimalCal/Person/DaybyRegion

SpeciesExinction

August2010ReportfromtheU.N.

“Scientistsestimatethat150to200species

ofplant,insect,birdandmammalbecome

extinctevery24hours”

CouldHumansBecomeExtinct?

Let’sLookatHistoryandScience?

First,aLookatHistory

EasterIsland—BeforeHumansArrived

After1200YearsofHuman“Stewardship”

Now,forScience

1.  Afewmore“bigpicture”scientists

2.  Narrowfieldsofstudy

3.  Fewunderstandthe“bigpicture”

4.  Mostpaidbyconservativeentities

5.  BOLDviewscanputcareersatrisk

JacquesCousteau

“Humankindmay,ormaynotbe,partoftheplanthatnaturehasfortheEarthinthefuture.Lifewillbereborn,butfirsttheworldasweknowitnowwilldie.”1997at87

Frenchnavalofficer,explorer,conservationist,filmmaker,innovator,scientist,photographer,authorandresearcher

FrankFenner,MD,Scientist,andEnvironmentalist

"Homosapienswillbecomeextinct,perhapswithin100years…It'san

irreversiblesituation.Ithinkit'stoolate."2010atage95

JamesLovelock,PhD

BBC2010“Whenyouseethewholepicture,itisreallyfearsomelybad…Ifearthatnotmanyofuswillsurvive,atbestaboutabillion--possiblyalotlessthanthat…IftheEarthimprovesasaresultofourpresence,thenwewillflourish.Ifitdoesn't,thenwewilldieoff.”

Independentscientist,environmentalist,futurist;bestknownforhisGaiaHypothesis,whichpostulatesthattheEarthfunctionsasaself-regulatingsystem.NASAcontractor,winnerofmanyawards,PhDfromLondonSchoolofHygieneandTropicalMedicine.(Aliveandwellat98)

IstheEarth“improving”here?

T.ColinCampbell,PhD

“Thecloserwegettoeatingadietofwhole,plant-basedfoods,thebetter

offwewillbe.”

Cornellprofessorwhodirectedthelargeststudyoftherelationshipbetweendiet

andhealthinhistory

“Nolessthanourfutureasaspecieshangsinthebalance.”

ProteinMyth&LockedBrains

They prevent incredibly powerful, plant-based solutions to our most serious health, hunger and sustainability issues from even making it to the

table for consideration

BillMcKibben,Activist’82HarvardGrad,Famousforclimatechange

FromApril2017video“Tobeentirelyhonest,wedon’tknowforsurethatwecanslowdownglobalwarmingenoughtomatter.We’vewaitedaverylongtimetogetstarted.”

Environmentalist,Author,Journalist,founded350.orgin2008andwontheGandhiPeaceAwardin2013

ThedatasayswehaveNOTstarted

NowinUnchartedWatersCO2PPM–Highestin650,000years

Greenland Ice Sheet Mass climate.nasa.gov

Global Sea Ice Area. Tipping Point? nsidc.org – Last data point 12-24-17

Albedo—A Case of Blue & White

2018 Data re Arctic Temps

Arethingsgettingbetter?

Runaway Luxury Train

Faster. More People. More Comforts.

Addressing the World’s Sustainability Nightmare

•  Acaseof“planetmanagement”

•  Qualityoflifeforallhumans

•  K.I.S.S--3rdGradeArithmetic

•  FoodChoicesareCRUCIAL

Details?Abovemyjobgrade

MyOwnConclusionsAbout saving our civilization and our species

1.   WeSTILLhaveachance!2.   BUT,wemustaddressFOODquickly

3.  Canmovetheneedleinfiveyears

4.   Population.Consumption.FossilFuel.

•  FocusingonwhatweDOeat•  Notwhatwe’reavoiding•  Implied“wiggleroom”

The closer we get to eating a diet of whole, plant-based foods, the better off we will be. ---T. Colin Campbell PhD, Cornell University

Notnecessarilyvegetarianorvegan

TheSurvey•  Fruits,Veggies,Starches•  WhataboutOmega-3??

•  3questionsondairy&eggs

•  3questionsonjunkfood

•  Onequestiononflesh

•  Onequestiononoil

•  4leafsurvey.com

•  Mydaughter…15yrs.later

MyDaughter– Diana(now38)

Scored 32 on the 4Leaf Survey

MoreHurdlesrePlant-BasedEating

1.  “Humanshavealwayseatenmeat.”

2.  “TheyatemeatintheBible.”

3.  “Whataboutcalciumandosteoporosis?”

4.  “Isimplycan’tlivewithoutmyburgers.”

5.  “Tooexpensivetoeatahealthydiet”

6.  “It’snotconvenienttoeatthisway.”

TooExpensive?Notconvenient?

EasyMealsatHome--“444”

4Leaf.4Minutes.4Bucks.

BUT.FoodChoicesnotEnough

1.  Tippingpoints:Waterconsumption,

climatechange,speciesextinction

2.  Stilladding230,000peopledaily

3.  ModernCivilization–MassiveHeat

Engine(RunawayTrain)

4.  Need– REALEmergency!

”Governments worldwide would marshal the

entire planet into unprecedented action.”

We handle emergencies well

ClimateChangeALARM!

"Nothingshortofaperceivedglobalemergencycaninfluenceenoughleadersingovernment,industry,academiaandreligiontojoinforcesinmakingthereversalofclimatechangetheentireworld'stop

priority.Thentheymustworkurgentlytogetherasifourfutureasaspeciesdependedontheirsuccess--

becauseitVERYlikelydoes!"--J.MorrisHicks

TimeforSoulSearching•  Howcanwelearntolivesustainably?

•  Adding230,000people/day

•  Unbridledconsumption

•  Whatwillittaketostopthemadness?

•  Whatrealprogressdoyousee?

•  Whatareyougoingtodo?Yourownresearch,career,etc.?

Populationcontrol?Greenenergy?Monetizing

CO2removal?Sustainablehousing???

Raise the Awareness

Whatcanwealldo?

Aboutthemanyunsustainablesituationswearenowfacingintheworld

•  Bethechangeyouwanttosee.Gandhi•  Eatmostlywholeplants—zeroanimals•  Liveas“green”asyoupossiblycan

LeveragingthePowerofProfitDrivenEconomythatGotUsinthisMess

“AutomaticallyReducingtheCostofHealthcare”

AsthefirstwaveofCEOsbeginstotakeadvantageofthemanybenefitsthatcomefromahealthierworkforce,othercorporationswhodon’tundertakesimilarinitiativeswillhavetroublecompetingwiththosewhodo.”–J.MorrisHicks

ARCHbyAutomatedSystem

•  4LeafSurvey

•  DynamicDatabase

•  ComprehensiveMessagingSystem

•  ManagementReportingSystem

Formoreinfo,visitarchby4leaf.com

WeMustNEVERGiveUpHope

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,

committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed,

it is the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Mead

People who are crazy enough to think that they

can change the world—are the ones who do.

— Steve Jobs 

Blog:hpjmh.com

4leafprogram.com

4leafsurvey.com

archby4leaf.com

J.Morris(Jim)Hicks

jmorrishicks@me.com

917-399-9700