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J. Morris Hicks |
Which is worse for our health? Which is worse for the environment? Finally, which is the toughest dragon to slay?
I am currently reading a 2007 book entitled,
The Cigarette Century, the rise, fall and deadly persistence of the product that defined America
.
In 2107, maybe someone will write a book entitled:
Meat Loving Century
The rise, fall and deadly persistence of the harmful and wasteful diet that almost ended civilization as we know it.
The
cigarette book stated that 100 million people died from smoking during the 20th century--and then predicted that over ten times that many will die from smoking in the 21st century.
How could that be, when cigarettes are not even "cool" anymore? It's because cigarettes "are" cool in the developing world, where the "cigarette industry" is happily supplying its new converts.
Interestingly, nine years after the the cigarette "century" ended, the world's global production of cigarettes was still setting new records, hitting almost six trillion cigarettes in 2009.
Sadly, we have a new killer monster in our midst--one that is going to be even more difficult to tame. That new monster is the world's love affair with eating meat, dairy, eggs and/or fish at almost every meal.
The
Standard American Diet (S.A.D.), like cigarette smoking, is not good for our health and is wreaking havoc with our environment. I shall now end this BSB with a list of four reasons why eliminating the S.A.D. will be SO VERY much more difficult than eliminating cigarettes:
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No one ever thought that smoking cigarettes was good for our health.
- No parent ever encouraged their children to smoke cigarettes.
- No doctor ever recommended that his/her patients smoke cigarettes.
- No schools ever displayed glossy posters urging kids to smoke. (Got Nicotene?)
More to come on this topic, but unless you're an extremely fast reader, your one-minute is up for today.
J. Morris Hicks
