Health Flash! Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008
October is “Breast Cancer Awareness Month,” so you will be seeing lots of pink-clad walkers raising money for breast cancer research However, I have an alternative which I have posted before. A reminder came to me from my friend Barb Jarmoska, owner of Freshlife Foods in Williamsport, PA. Here is Barb’s recent posting from herwww.freshlife.com e-letter, reprinted with Barb’s permission. It also includes a letter she received from the executive director of BCA.
From: freshmail@freshlife.com
Date: Wednesday, October 1, 2008, 2:47 AM
In 2006, I rode my bicycle 3200 miles across America to raise money for breast cancer. The organization I chose to support was Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA), a national grass roots charity based in San Francisco and started by a group of women who had survived the disease.
The more I have gotten to know the women of BCA the more I admire their tireless efforts and, unlike other charities, such as Susan Komen, their absolute refusal to accept money from pharmaceutical companies. Charities, like politicians, are loyal to
those that support them. BCA has no ties to those who profit from cancer and is therefore free to expose breast cancer truths and lies wherever and whenever they are found.
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. If you are thinking of making a contribution that will truly make a difference, consider BCA. The message below is from Barb Brenner, BCAs Executive Director and my kindred spirit in do something besides worry.
Barb Jarmoska, Freshlife Founder
Dear Friend,
Pink ribbon products are popping up all over the place, reminding us that Breast Cancer Awareness Month is here. One of the pink
ribbon products you’ve probably seen in stores is Yoplait yogurt. Yoplait makes a 10-cent donation for every pink lid that consumers mail back to the company. Yoplait markets its yogurt as being healthy for women, but what’s actually under the lid is a different story.
Yoplait yogurt is made with milk from cows that have been injected with the synthetic hormone recombinant bovine growth hormone (called rBGH or rBST). rBGH is unsafe and unnecessary. There are numerous health concerns surrounding rBGH, and breast cancer is one of them. The use of rBGH has been banned in the European Union, Canada, Australia, and Japan.
Take Action:
Tell Yoplait to Put a Lid on rBGH! go to:
www.thinkbeforeyoupink.org/Pages/TakeAction.html
If Yoplait, a popular item with such a wide distribution, were to go rBGH-free, it would help make a safer product for millions of women. And that could truly make a difference in breast cancer helping to stop the disease before it starts. This October, instead of picking up lids, go online or pick up a pen, and ask the company to do the right thing for women’s lives: tell Yoplait to put a lid on rBGH.
Sincerely,
Barbara A. Brenner, Executive Director
Breast Cancer Action
