Food. Climate Change. LEADERSHIP!
My latest Zoom Talk regarding the future of humanity
SOS #158 -- J. Morris Hicks -- (5-10-22)
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We have known since 2009 that the leading driver of climate change is animal agriculture. That is when two World Bank researchers published an alarming paper on WorldWatch.org.
In it, they concluded that at least 51% of climate change was driven by animal agriculture. Click on image to view the paper.
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The alarming paper by Dr. Robert Goodland and Jeff Anhang began thusly:
- Whenever the causes of climate change are discussed, fossil fuels top the list. Oil, natural gas, and especially coal are indeed major sources of human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHGs).
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But we believe that the life cycle and supply chain of domesticated animals raised for food have been vastly underestimated as a source of GHGs, and in fact account for at least half of all human-caused GHGs.
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Later in the report, they suggested that quick actions to replace livestock products can not only achieve quick reductions in GHGs, but that it would also reverse the ongoing food and water crises.
Robert Goodland died prematurely in 2013 after an accident in the Himalayas. I was just getting to know him via email at the time. The above photo is from his obituary in The Guardian.
If their recommendations were followed, they predicted that at least a 25% reduction in livestock products worldwide could be achieved by 2017, eight years later.
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Tragically, as we all know, their recommendations were not followed and the global production of animal-based foods kept on soaring for another ten years. That's when Dr. Sailesh Rao published a peer-reviewed scientific paper concluding that animal-based foods are responsible for 87% of greenhouse gases.
The main difference between Dr. Rao's findings and the 2009 Worldwatch paper has to do with how deforestation was treated. In either case, animal agriculture is, by far, the leading driver of deforestation AND climate change -- and it must be drastically reduced, or totally eliminated in the next decade if we want to maximize our chances for surviving as a species.
Want to better understand the differences between these two position papers? Watch this excellent 9-minute video by Gerard Bisshop and then decide for yourself. In either case, our desperate situation is the same when it comes to our food choices. We must grab that "low hanging fruit" soon if we want to survive much longer as a species.
That's because, our animal-based food choices comprise -- by far -- the single largest driver of climate change. Conveniently, that driver is the easiest, quickest and least expensive driver to completely eliminate. Individual citizens everywhere can just replace all animal-based foods with much healthier and less expensive whole, plant-based foods. Markets will adjust quickly and widespread re-forestation can finally begin.
Click image below for Dr. Rao's 2019 paper:
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Now, in May of 2022, the authorities at the IPCC, the various governments of the world and the marketers of animal-based foods have failed to even acknowledge the necessity of choosing more plant-based alternatives and moving rapidly away from animal agriculture.
In fact, the #1 driver of climate change, animal agriculture, was hardly even mentioned by ANY of the leadership present at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland this past December. Because of the global popularity of animal-based foods, Dr. Rao and I believe that there simply must be some kind of "code of silence" among world leaders on that topic.
Sadly, if we don't talk about it, we're never going to figure out how to make it go away.
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Surely they know the scientific truths behind both the 2009 WorldWatch paper and the more recent 2019 position paper published by Dr. Sailesh Rao in the Journal of Ecological Society. But the "code of silence" continues among the world's most powerful leaders.
But young Greta Thunberg is not afraid to speak out. Because of her "tell it like it is" reputation, she was not invited inside the building this past December at COP26 in Scotland. That's because they all knew that she would make a lot of noise about their collective lack of action when it comes to effectively addressing the leading driver of climate change.
Now, we're running out of time, when it comes to addressing the leading driver of climate change!
That said, I have prepared a 45-minute ZOOM Talk that I am now offering to deliver anywhere in the world for free. It is all about leadership, and I am not talking about the feckless world "leaders" who have made no progress in 26 consecutive climate conferences. My new talk is entitled:
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Food. Climate. LEADERSHIP!
And the Future of Humanity
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A quick anecdote. Shortly before his death in 1993, the great Dr. W. Edwards Deming was asked a question by my colleague, Bill Conway -- regarding what it will take to get humanity back on the right track.
Deming quickly answered, "It will take three things, Bill: Leadership, Leadership & Leadership."
Fast-forward another thirty years. Our situation is far more dire and the urgent need for leadership has never been more crucial.
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In my latest presentation, I talk a great deal about leadership. It begins and ends with our FOOD choices. Here is the timeline that I cover in about 45 minutes.
- In late 2002, I began learning the truth about our food choices when it comes to promoting health and reversing chronic disease.
- Six months later, I started learning about the crucial importance of our food choices when it comes to to the natural world that keeps us alive.
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Then, over the next seventeen years, I wrote three books and published over 1200 blogs or SOS Memos — all focused on the supreme importance of the same message: eating more whole, plant-based foods -- for the health of humans AND, more importantly, for the health of the planet that keeps us alive.
- Here are the first two books, published in 2011 and 2015, respectively:
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My latest book, OUTCRY, was published in April of 2020: Outcry Preview & Table of Contents (It’s an e-book that costs $7 on Amazon. An unsolicited endorsement)
- Sadly, there has been very little, if any, real progress during the past few decades as the world continues to add over six million people a month. While there may be more vegans than ever before, there are also more ex-vegans AND there are billions of people who are still primarily eating animal-based foods.
- Now, we have a bonafide emergency on our hands. Tragically, the IPCC, the UN, the environmental NGOs and the heads of state all over the world are failing us as they continue to completely ignore the leading driver (BY FAR) of climate change.
- I have recently concluded that we have to bypass all of those organizations and, leveraging the awesome power of great leadership, we must urgently go directly to the people of the developed world; imploring them to do just one thing: Stop Eating ALL Animal-Based Foods NOW!
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I wrote in last week's SOS Memo about the process of Overcoming the Suppression of Truth re Climate.
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The Bottom Line
Talking loudly and continuously about eliminating the primary driver of climate change:
Animal Agriculture -- Is Long Overdue!
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And I plan to do my absolute best to help launch and promote that long overdue conversation.
Just today, I sent this letter to the new president of my alma mater, Auburn University, who took office yesterday. He was formerly the Dean of Engineering at Auburn and, therefore, has the requisite respect for following the data, regardless of how unpleasant the journey might be. That journey must start somewhere. Why not at Auburn under the leadership of the new president: Dr. Christopher Roberts?
There is a desperate need for a group of well-informed, highly respected, capable and thoughtful leaders with integrity, courage and funding -- to step forward and tell the world what we humans must do to survive. (See last week's SOS Memo)
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After giving this envisioned process a great deal of thought over the past few years, I sincerely believe that such a world-changing intervention could be started with a single great leader who is open to studying and understanding the many truths shared in this SOS Memo and in my latest Zoom presentation.
Toward the end of that presentation, I explain how the four phases of my career have provided me with a rare "big picture" understanding of what we must do:
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First Phase. In my 20's and 30's, I wore many hats in a number of corporations -- from factories to boardrooms -- while working for an engineering and strategic planning consulting firm that was later acquired by Accenture.
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Second Phase: In my 40's and 50's, I held senior executive positions at several well-known corporations, like Polo -- where my role for Ralph (7-year stint) was kind of like Tim Cook's role with Steve Jobs. I explain what that means in my talk. This slide features the:
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Third Phase: In my 50's and 60's, my executive search career began with Swiss-based Egon Zehnder in 1987 and picked up again when I founded my own executive search firm in 1999. I refer to this phase of my career as earning my PhD in the "Leadership Business."
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Fourth & Final Phase of my career. In my 60's and 70's, I have been leveraging my rare "big picture" background as I tackle the ultimate challenge: promoting health, hope and harmony on planet Earth (my tagline since 2011, when I published my first book pictured above)
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Please contact me about delivering that talk to your group via Zoom (any size group, anywhere) for free. Your group will get a lot more out of my talk if they read my latest book in advance.
J. Morris (Jim) Hicks
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The ongoing "Big Picture" section below will provide you with handy reference materials on this most crucial of all topics.
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PS: The Prevention of Human Extinction |
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To clarify, we're not trying to preserve civilization as we know it. Because what we have now is extremely wasteful, harmful and grossly unsustainable. It's an incredibly reckless way of living that is now threatening our very existence as a species.
We're talking about replacing it with an entirely new, ultra-green civilization of the future -- and we do our best to paint a picture of that envisioned way of sustainable living in OUTCRY. For what one Ohio State professor emeritus of history had to say about that book on Amazon, click here.
The section below will provide you with an abundance of handy reference materials on this most crucial of all topics.
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"Big Picture"
Data and Info Section
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This section has been appearing at the end of my weekly SOS Memos for six months. It contains links to relevant information that form the foundation of what our options appear to be for responding quickly and appropriately to our global crises.
In order to respond appropriately, we must first grasp the all-important "big picture" regarding how we got to where we are in the first place. The various links below will help you do that.
Added to this section in April of 2022 is my list of five powerful videos that tell the whole story about the health AND the many environmental reasons we should be eating only plants.
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Film #1 in 2014
In 2014, Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn produced their first documentary film Cowspiracy. Executive producer is Leonardo DiCaprio, it runs 90 minutes and has been on Netflix since 2015. In 2020, I met Kip and Keegan in Sedona where I was honored to be able to speak at the same conference with them and other great leaders in this movement like Dr. Sailesh Rao and Dr. Michael Greger.
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Film #3 in 2021
In 2021, Kip Anderson teamed up with British filmmaker Ali Tabrizi, to produce Seaspiracy, an 89-minute film that vividly and alarmingly reveals what is at stake when it comes to the crucial importance of our oceans to our future as a species. Most people have no idea regarding the environmental horrors of commercial fishing -- a disgusting industry that kills dolphins by the thousands and tosses them back into the ocean. It runs 90 minutes on Netflix. Click here to view the trailer.
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Film #4 in 2021
As our situation becomes more desperate, the documentary films become more terrifying. As alluded to earlier, we are literally Eating Our Way to Extinction, a process that is vividly covered in this 2021 film (81 minutes). Narrated and produced by Kate Winslet, you can watch this great film on Amazon Prime or on YouTube for $3.99. The great ocean scientist and former head of NOAA, Dr. Sylvia Earle lends powerful credibility to such a crucial topic.
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Film #5 in 2022
This new film (89 minutes) features a young activist who travels around his country, New Zealand in an effort to find out the truth about the horrors of the dairy industry in his native land. The film uncovers alarming information about the environmental and health impacts of the industry -- leading up to the discovery that we are on the edge of the biggest global disruption of food and agriculture in history. This new film is now available for free at waterbear.com
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Next is a half-hour video that was published in November of 2021. It was produced by Michael Dowd, a non-scientific researcher like me who does a very fine job of explaining the many facets of the obstacles standing between us and our survival as a species.
Dowd has a pretty good handle on most things, but he seems to be unaware of the simple weapon that we can all use to fight the leading driver of climate change. Our forks.
That said, he does a terrific job of describing our ever-worsening dilemma. Click the link below to view this very informative 33-minute video, published November 15, 2021.
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This next item is a free 83-minute documentary film that is all about the findings that were documented in Dr. Stephen Emmott's 2013 book. TEN BILLION.
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This powerful film is still relevant and will certainly help more people grasp that all-important "big picture."
Just click on the hourglass image. Dr. Emmott delivers a very compelling message.
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More Data re Leading Driver of Climate Change.
Beginning in September of 2021, I have been including links to world-changing scientific information that thought leaders everywhere should read and and share with others.
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What can you do? For starters, you can buy the new documentary -- Eating our way to Extinction for $6 on Netflix -- and watch it often with your friends and family.
Also, you can:
- Share this SOS Memo with everyone you know.
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Get an e-copy of OUTCRY. Visit Outcry page on Amazon and get a much bigger understanding of the situation in which all humans find ourselves.
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Inform all the young people in your world that you are deadly serious about this topic. Urge them to read these SOS Memos and our latest book, OUTCRY.
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- Completely stop eating meat, dairy, eggs and fish today and tell everyone why you are taking such a "radical" step. You're doing it for the innocent children of the world.
- As noted above, do yourself a favor and make sure that your plant-based meals of the future consist of whole plants -- the kinds of foods that prevent or reverse most chronic diseases AND enable your body to effortlessly seek its optimal weight.
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A final word. Hopefully, the kind of crucially serious situationsexpressed in these SOS Memos will soon replace meaningless and trivial topics that dominate a ridiculously large percentage of all of the conversations in the world.
We must all start talking much more about what's really important. That is , we must start doing everything possible to maximize the chances of a meaningful and pleasant life ahead for the young people of the world.
I volunteer to help you do that. For Free. Invite me to collaborate with you and your group via Zoom. To help you jump-start that all-important conversation, I will be happy to present and discuss this topic at length. Here's an advance link to my standard presentation: 65 slides.
Click on the image below to view the slides that I am currently using for those kinds of sessions:
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The image above is a clue regarding the essence of my "family game plan" that is revealed only in my talks. I do not put that in writing.
Want to share some of my SOS Memos with others? Visit my SOS Memos page where the most recent ones are listed first.
Finally, I am confident that if a few million people carefully read and digested OUTCRY, that there might at least be a more robust conversation taking place about our grossly unsustainable way of living in the developed world -- and what it will take to get us focused on maximizing our chances of survival as a species.
To be sure, we must do a lot more than change what we eat -- and OUTCRY helps explain the "why" and the "how" of that proposition.
To my knowledge, OUTCRY remains the only book ever published that features an envisioned, totally-green, ultra-sustainable, super-desirable, future way of living for humans -- along with ideas for how we might get there as quickly as possible.
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Regarding the free Zoom conferences with your group,
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Our book, for a host of environmental reasons, is only available as an e-book on Amazon. As such, it contains hyperlinks to hundreds of references and videos, is less expensive, does not kill any trees and does not have to be manufactured and delivered.
The links below to earlier SOS Memos will help you understand how these ideas unfolded since 2018.
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One more thing. I first started learning about the supreme importance of our food choices in 2002. After studying the topic for eight years and getting to know many of the medical and ecological experts in the field, I co-authored the book below with my son Jason.
You can find it on Amazon in all formats by clicking on the image below:
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Promoting health, hope and harmony on planet Earth |
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