I wrote briefly during Domestic Violence Awareness Month that Breast Cancer Awareness Month gets a lot more notice, with pink ribbons everywhere and hundreds of products that donate some of their proceeds to help cure cancer. Something that stood out to me in a post on about all those pink ribbons was this, about Yoplait donating some of their proceeds to find a cure for breast cancer:
Yoplait yogurt is made with milk from cows that have been injected with a synthetic hormone called recombinant bovine growth hormone (referred to as rBGH or rBST). There are a number of health concerns surrounding the use of rBGH, and breast cancer is one of them.This brings me to something that bothers me about cancer societies. They all are constantly raising money for a cure, and while a cure for cancer would be a significant scientific discovery that will save many lives- why aren’t these cancer societies raising more awareness about what can contribute to CAUSING cancer? How come the Susan G. Komen Society isn’t pressuring dairy farmers to stop using bovine growth hormones in their cows? This doesn’t just tie to breast cancer- there are hundreds of carcinogens in our environment. Anti-perspirant, for example, uses aluminum, a carcinogen, to block the pores from producing sweat. There are many pesticides on fruits and vegetables, not to mention the vast array of cancer causing chemicals being found in our own water, which the New York Times is currently doing a lengthy expose on. Carcinogens are everywhere. So why aren’t more foundations that are looking for cure also working to stop letting carcinogens into our environment as much as possible? As we all know, cancer societies have a lot of power and influence on people and the media in this country, and I think using that power for this purpose would do a lot of good.
I am not implying here that every case of cancer is preventable if we all switch to organic milk and Tom’s of Maine deodorant. I know that cancer is a complicated disease that a lot of times is hereditary, and I do hope they find a cure. However, I also wish these cancer societies would wield their enormous power to make our food and environment more healthy and free of as many carcinogens as possible.
6 comments:
Good Stuff!!
Awesome point. I'm kind of surprised that Yoplait still uses rBGH, because most milks have stopped.
Also, I know money's always good, but what I'm really bemused by is how breast cancer societies are taking money from products that may be contributing to breast cancer. That seems like that should be dirty money, especially since I'll bet some women buy Yoplait (and presumably eat it) because of the "we care about breast cancer" marketing campaign. To not acknowledge that seems very much like lying down with the dogs.
I admit that every hormone doctor this post must be read this post. There is lot of useful information about rBGH.
Very good point Emily....unfortunately, our healthcare system is curative and not preventative...which is what ends up costing so much in drugs, treatments, hospital stays, etc. It's definitely a major change this country needs to make in it's healthcare...among others lol.
Unfortunately, I think that cancer is a big business- and a lot of people make a lot of money on curing it. Not a lot of people would make money preventing it from ever happening.
Thank you!!!
I remember reading that post in the spring while doing research at work (this was the kind of thing, of course, that my company was not interested in), and a lot of great stuff on pinkwashing. In fact, IIRC, Yoplait was being targeted for exactly that. I've soured very much on breast cancer societies since the spring, and it's only increased after reading Barbara Ehrenreich's book. I've gotten the impression that a lot of people (like her) get breast cancer because of eitegenic(sp) causes, which means environmental, and that's not so easy to suss out.
I'm going with the assumption that for Komen etc, it's extremely difficult and not very productive for them to go with the route you propose. It would involve a lot of other industries and big business, companies that would not lend their support if they were being targeted. Maybe it's their dirty secret, maybe it's a concession they make.
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