“Vegan Fundraising for Cancer? Uhhh… why?”

This upcoming Friday, MellowJohnny and I are holding a fundraiser for our endeavour to run a marathon for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We have had lukewarm reception about it being completely vegan. One co-worker said that her husband would not go “unless there is going to be steak.” Of course, since I am playing a huge part in making the food obviously I’m going to make it vegan. However, this is so much more than just my own personal choice.

In the documentary “Forks over Knives” the scientists and film-makers show compelling evidence around animal protein being linked with cancer rates. In fact, one of the scientists shows a DIRECT correlation between animal protein and higher cancer rates in lab rats (which I am not really cool with, but that’s for another time). Not only that, but after they changed the animal protein to plant protein, the cancer tumours actually got smaller! Plant protein was curing the cancer. I can’t believe more people aren’t outraged at our health care system and that there isn’t a demand for more research into this (that doesn’t happen on helpless animals). Or that we aren’t demanding so much more from our government, grocery stores, families, farmers, and food advocates.

The truth is, there are LOTS of studies that show there are links between cancer and meat consumption. After seeing my mother have breast cancer, listening to my boyfriend talk about his experience as a child with leukemia & lymphoma, and watching several family members waste away from the wrath of cancer, this is information that I want to spread around. However, I don’t want to tell people in a “I’m better than you because I’m vegan” (I’ve done that before and doesn’t go well for so many reasons). I want to tell people in a “look at how good vegan food can be and is a good option for everyone!”

It is for these reasons that I insisted that this fundraiser for leukemia & lymphoma be completely vegan. I mean, this is a fundraiser raising money for cancer! How could I possibly do anything else? I would like to think that even if I wasn’t vegan that I would still hold a vegan fundraiser (and that I would become vegan). In reality, I’ve been vegan for almost 10 years and feel very healthy, have no problems eating enough protein, and am an athlete. If these aren’t good enough reasons to consider a plant-based diet, or at least eating less animal protein, I don’t know what are.

Forks over Knives

The Cancer Project: Meat Consumption and Cancer Risk – “The Cancer Project has two main goals: First, we aim to make cancer prevention a top priority. Just as important, we want to improve survival after cancer has been diagnosed by providing comprehensive information about the role of dietary factors in keeping people healthy.”