Dear America: My Breast Cancer Manifesto and Your Food Supply

Dear America, 

Before breast cancer at 38, I had no idea about your highly processed, genetically engineered (GMO) crops, pesticide-laced, growth hormone & steroid injected, arsenic feed, antibiotic ingested, chemicals in a can, artificially flavored, sugar addicted, fat free, “naturally flavored”, artificially sweetened, fake-food-colored, factory-farmed, industry slanted studies, government subsidized, franken-food supply, and I thought I WAS eating healthy!*

When I was first diagnosed, it was suggested that I seek a second if not a third opinion on the course of my treatment and for that I am truly grateful, because it lead me on my journey into your "diet of diseases."

Yes, sadly, 1 in 8 women in the United States will experience breast cancer during her lifetime. Here's the other truth: the breast cancer rate for women in rural China is 11 out of 100,000. Yep! In mainland China they call breast cancer the rich women's disease. Crazy huh! (There is zero dairy in the traditional Chinese diet.)

Who really profits?

Ask our children what I think about the "pink washing" month of October. How much $$ from a "pink" bucket of fried chicken actually goes toward diet and breast cancer research or "awareness". Or, do the sales just generate more profits for the company selling the pink sneakers, hats, shoelaces, newspapers, wristbands, and pink plastic bags? Here's another truth: there are more carcinogens in a fried chicken leg than a pack of cigarettes - chickens are fed arsenic, etc. (As noted by a friend's PhD dissertation in molecular biology.)

My mom (twice) and sister had breast cancer and they tested negative for the BRCA gene so it's "not in the genes."

Most of us stumble on to the world of "organic" and "GMO free" not because we want to question another's belief system but because we (or a loved one) are sick, and we're seeking our truth.

I'm certainly not going to convince you, America, to change what's on our plates from this one post, but I do invite you to question the mantra of "moderation" and that it might actually be fed (pun intended) by the food and beverage industries. And, if it's the lack of exercise that us so fat and lazy - check out the movie FedUp. Can't afford "organic" or to eat "healthy"? Well, what's the price of our health if a dozen organic eggs is $4.99 compared to the emergency room co-pay of $50 because the "cheaper" factory farmed eggs were tainted with salmonella and we ended up in the hospital. (The half a billion egg recall from the summer of 2011 is now a criminal case.)

As you know, much of your food supply can not be exported; so, "feeding the world " mantra doesn't work either. In fact, you have a long list of foods that are "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) that are banned in other countries but we're serving to our children on a daily basis because we believe that your food supply is safe, right?

I am truly grateful for the surgeons and caregivers but make no mistake. Breast cancer is BIG business - take a look at all the new hospital wings and treatment centers. Thankfully, the Chief of Oncology that oversaw my care supported my change to "real" food 100%. (And, when I shared my dietary change with a cardiologist, he reminded me, "the first thing I tell a patient after a heart attack . . . change your diet.")

I've been blogging and hosting a local cable TV show for a few years now because once you start to peel back the onion - there are millions and millions of us with our stories to share. Children with debilitating celiac disease and it's a lung doctor from Ireland who tells the family of Eastern Jewish descent, "Hey, this is huge in Ireland and I think your son is sick from what he's eating." Meanwhile, the pediatrician for the past four years kept saying. . . . Or, the eleven year-old baseball player that was considered "obese" and nearly diabetic and the only "food" he could eat at the "sports" snack shack wasn't even the bottled water because those are "enhanced" with chemicals. (His mom was told by the specialist to avoid "sports drinks" because they are basically dyed sugar water.)

Quite possibly, your citizens are sick and tired of being sick and tired, and we are hungry for "real" food and "real" change for ourselves and our children. I don't think you ever intentionally set out to make your citizen's sick, but I hope you can appreciate that we've never been fatter or sicker and strangely we can't seem to figure out why. Meanwhile, you keep telling us everything is fine with our food supply.

The most important breast cancer finding for me. . . . is on the end of my fork (and thankfully that was discovered over 13 years ago.)

An (organic) apple a day keeps the doctor away. - Ben Franklin

Wishing the best country in the world,

Best health always!
SuperMom-in-training
www.supermom101.com

*Two studies from Yale Cancer Center find that breast cancer survivors who start regularly exercising and *eating healthier can decrease their risk for breast cancer recurrence and death, as well as improve overall quality of life.