I am not feeling too hopeful. And honestly I am sick of people selling hope when everyone except  the pharmaceutical or cancer treatment industry is looking for Less Cancer -less incidences of cancer not more treated cancer.

How many of us have been by a loved ones side only to hear someone from the treatment center say “you never want to give up hope”?

Hope!

We don’t need hope we need strategies for cancer prevention.

In 1971 Richard Nixon’s efforts to launch the War on Cancer, the problem has not been solved and in fact has multiplied. Nearly a lifetime and countless billions later, identifying and treating cancer has become its own economy. While I am grateful that so many researchers are looking for the cure, we are living in a time of unprecedented increases in the number of friends and family battling cancer or dealing with the issues that cancer survivorship brings.

While there is no evidence to say a Toaster Strudel (which I a have eaten) causes cancer – we do know that some fast/processed foods can contribute to illnesses such as obesity. During the last two decades, the percentages of obese adults and children have been steadily increasing and, in turn, increased the risk for health effected outcomes including coronary heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Obesity also increases the risk of cancers of the breast, Endometrium (the lining of the uterus), colon, kidney, and esophagus (NCI).

We live in a time when cancer has become so commonplace that the news of new cases seems almost expected. We as a culture are working every day to find new ways to fund big dollar cures and cancer treatments. While I applaud those efforts, and would have done anything to see my sister , brother and mother and several friends and neighbors cured, the larger issue is that little if anything is being done in the area of cancer prevention.

Using survivors to sell  risk increasing foods not only does not serve the cause but for me personally rubs me in the wrong way knowing that there are other choices that can work to reduce cancer risk.

Oh and just as a side bar General Mills, owners of Pillsbury are funding and fighting your right to know what’s in your food by donating money to fight Prop 37 (the California Right to Know Act, a.k.a. Label GMO). One of the world’s leading food companies, General Mills operates in over 100 countries and markets more than 100 consumer brands, including Cheerios, Haagen-Dazs, Nature Valley, Betty Crocker, Pillsbury, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Progresso, Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen, and more. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A., General Mills had fiscal 2009 global net sales of US$ 15.9 billion, including the company’s $1.2 billion proportionate share of joint venture net sales.

General Mills is a huge and powerful company and in my own kitchen have products from them. Can you imagine if they put all those resources into cancer prevention? What would that look like?