The Cattle Baron's Gala
The menu at this week-end’s Cattle Baron’s Gala featured smoked brisket, baby back ribs, chicken fajitas, grilled steaks, fried chicken strips, jumbo shrimp filled with cheddar cheese and crisp bacon. An avocado bar loaded with toppings including sour cream, chicken and chile con queso (cheese sauce) was available. There were also sliced sweet potatoes deep-fried and served with garlic mayonnaise and thick-sliced green tomatoes deep-fried until golden brown.
It seems that most of us are hard wired with a “helping” gene. We love to think that we are doing good things for other people and this week-end’s event showcased the effort of over 100 volunteers. They worked hard for a year to make sure the 1,800 guests had a great time because it was for a “good” cause. The hefty proceeds benefitted the American Cancer Society.
Unfortunately, after doing the research for my 2010 book, Diet and Cancer: Is There a Connection, I no longer hold the ACS in such high regard. Experimental research and even population studies have shown that a low-fat, whole food, plant-based diet can prevent 95 percent of all cancers, including those “caused” by environmental toxins.(1) Yet the American Cancer Society promotes surgical, pharmaceutical and radiological approaches to cancer treatment and prevention because it’s main source of funding comes from the pharmaceutical and medical industries.
The ACS also receives funds from the food industry so they do not take a hard stand on well-studied nutritional recommendations. When they tell people to limit certain foods rather than avoid them, that’s the equivalent of telling junkies to “limit your intake of cocaine.” It is not a serious warning and doesn’t make an impact on anyone. Nor does the American Cancer Society mention avoiding or reducing consumption of dairy products including milk and cheese in its recommendations.
If we know that a whole-foods, low fat, plant-based diet can prevent (and even reverse) many cancers, why doesn’t the Cattle Baron’s Gala serve foods based on that science?
Instead of spending so much time and money promoting what author Samuel Epstein has called “the world’s wealthiest non-profit,” wouldn’t we want to use our helping genes in a much healthier way by learning how to feed our families a healthy, whole-foods, low fat, plant-based diet? For more information read Diet and Cancer: Is There a Connection or The China Study. Both books are available on Amazon.
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(1) T. Colin Campbell, Howard Jacobson, Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition (Dallas, TX, BenBella Books, Inc., 2013), 8
