Say no to pinkwashing

I've been anti-pinkwashing for a while now for a variety of reasons (money doesn't really go to preventing breast cancer, I don't believe big pharma will ever allow a "cure" to be found, I don't agree with the political motivations of some of the groups that raise money for this "cause," money from the purchase of pinked items doesn't go to cancer prevention and precious little to finding a cure, I could go on and on and on.)

Thankfully, an acquaintance shared on Facebook a 2011 blog post she wrote about boycotting the pink ribbon. I think she says best my latest reason for avoiding the pink ribbon. Here are some points from that blog post, you can read the full post here.

[caption id="attachment_594" align="aligncenter" width="523"] Illustration courtesy of scottchan at freedigitalphotos.net, altered by me[/caption]

By Sharon McRae

Why I’m Boycotting the Pink Ribbon

Posted on October 4, 2011

My Mom died of breast cancer.  It’s still hard to say that, much less to believe it, even after two and a half years.  She was diagnosed when she was in her early 40’s, and I still remember how shocked we all were when we learned that the small lump she had found herself in the shower, the lump that the doctors were all but certain was benign, was in fact, cancer.  She initially had a lumpectomy and radiation therapy, and all was well for a few years.  But the insidious disease came back, and she had a mastectomy and chemotherapy next.  I still remember taking her for her first wig fitting and how embarrassed she was about letting me see her bald head.  She was always so brave, taking every step her doctors recommended along the way, and much to everyone’s surprise, including her radiation oncologist, who referred to her as a “walking miracle,” she fought this battle off and on for a total of 26 years.  In the end, the cancer metastasized to her pelvic area, and she had to have a double nephrostomy so as not to suffer damage to her kidneys.  My Dad stood by her every step of the way, flushing and changing her nephrostomy bags dutifully, helping her in the restroom, getting her out whenever she was strong enough to go.  She always loved to go out to eat….food was her passion in life.  And it’s a little ironic to me that although she was overweight for most of her life, no medical professional ever talked to her about her diet, or even her weight, throughout all of the years that she struggled with this disease.  Meanwhile, I was so strongly affected by watching her and what was happening to her that I began to gradually modify my own health habits and relationship with food, believing somehow that it would protect me from suffering the same fate.  I began exercising daily, religiously, for at least an hour, and I also gradually began to move towards a vegetarian diet.  I often encouraged my parents, and particularly my Mom, to eat more vegetables, to stop eating so much fatty meat and sweets, but my words had little to no impact.  I wish now that I could turn back time and refuse to allow any animal-based or processed foods into my home, but at the time, I didn’t know about the strong connection between these foods and their ability to turn on cancer genes and/or feed cancer cells, so I allowed my parents to bring their own food and eat it here when we were together for holidays and other gatherings.

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I am “fighting breast cancer” this year by informing everyone I know, in as many ways as I can, about the benefits of eating a whole foods, plant-based diet.  I truly believe that if my Mom had been given this order by her doctor, she may have made some changes and lived a better quality of life.  She may have learned how delicious real food can be, how great you can feel after you eat it, how you don’t have to worry about counting calories and controlling portions, and how it doesn’t lead to excessive weight gain and digestive discomfort the way that animal-based and processed foods do.  I’m currently working with some clients who have changed their diets gradually to include these delicious, plant-based whole foods, and they are looking and feeling amazing.  And I know that this is the best way that I can personally “Race for the Cure.”  The cure lies in knowledge and in prevention, not in a new drug with all kinds of short and long-term side effects or a new, expensive treatment that takes a heavy toll on the body and may or may not be effective.  The cure lies in informing and educating women, men, children, that what is on the end of their forks truly is medicine, and will profoundly affect their bodies and minds both immediately, and in the long-term.  We are not victims of our genes; genes may load the gun, but it’s the choices we make that pull the trigger.  I lived for years in extreme fear that I would find a lump or get a bad report after a mammogram.  I was terrified to go through what my Mom endured.  And now I feel secure that by making the dietary and lifestyle choices that I have, I am doing the very best for my body, my mind, my spirit, and my family.  I want to find the cure and fight this disease every bit as desperately as I did when I participated in the walks and purchased every product I could get my hands on that displayed the pink ribbon.  But I know now that it’s not about making more money for these companies that are not really in it to win it.  It’s about taking responsibility for my health, educating myself and others about the reality of where the breast cancer risks really are, and making whatever changes are necessary to minimize exposure to these risks.  If we all work together and inspire each other to move towards a healthier lifestyle, then maybe we won’t need to race anymore, other than for the thrill of it.

I wrote a similarly-themed post about my mom a few months back.

(I had a conversation with a work friend about this issue Wednesday, and we both agreed, they might as well just add pink ribbons to cigarettes to raise awareness. The same friend shared this post with me by a breast cancer patient who is no longer alive.)

Another friend posted THIS about the pink ribbon campaign.