October is breast cancer awareness month and we’re showing our support by bringing you products where proceeds really are donated to organizations that care about funding breast cancer research.

Titties, melons, jugs, Thelma and Louise, whatever you call your lady lumps, it’s important to remember that breast cancer is no joke! Chances are, if you don’t have firsthand experience battling this disease, then you have probably been affected by someone who has. It’s easy for the majority of us who haven’t had breast cancer to forget just how sobering the statistics are. So before we get into the products that support breast cancer research, let’s take a look at some facts and figures from BreastCancer.org:

• About one in eight U.S. women (about 12 percent) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.
• Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American women.
• For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer.
• A woman’s risk of breast cancer approximately doubles if she has a first-degree relative (mother, sister, daughter) who has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Less than 15 percent of women who get breast cancer have a family member diagnosed with it.

Now that you have a little more information, let’s also discuss your breast self-examination. You must do these! There are no ifs, ands, buts, or boobs about it! And if you don’t feel like scouring the net for an image, then here, meet your new best friend…

And finally, when October rolls around, you’ll be seeing more than just the color orange in your big box stores and other retailers. There will likely be a sea of pink products all touting their support for breast cancer awareness. And while these are visually mindful, the actual idea is often poorly executed. From cancer causing chemicals in makeup found at high-end counters, to a bunch of junk that may have been constructed courtesy of child labor, it’s easy to understand why these aren’t well thought out. Check out Think Before You Pink for additional advice, donate directly to the charity of your choice, or take a peek at our list below.

1. Breast BFFL Bag

This bag is perfect for the loved one in your life after breast surgery. The bright and cheerful Breast BFFLBag has been carefully curated to contain the essentials to transition patient from hospital to home. It contains a specially-designed axillapilla comfort pillow for the underarm area, wound and drain care supplies, Bio-Oil, toiletries, KIND snack bars, and more. The Best Friends For Life Co. has several specialty bags to choose from, including: a double mastectomy bag, lumpectomy bags, chemo packs for him and her, and many more thoughtful gifts for those undergoing treatment or after surgery. The best part is that 15 percent of the proceeds from this bag can be donated to Soul Ryeders at checkout.  

2. Organic Bouquet

From the packaging to the working conditions to the product, Organic Boutique sells a wide range of certified, eco-friendly flowers. The beautiful bouquets are perfect for sending just because, or as a thoughtful get well sentiment to a patient currently recovering from treatment or surgery related to breast cancer. Choose from either the Breast Cancer Fund Yellow Roses, or the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation Sweet & Lovely Rose Bouquet, and they will donate 5 percent of the proceeds to the named charities.

3. Karma Bliss

The online meditation and healing boutique Karma Bliss is raising awareness for the month of October with the rose quartz KB Wrap Necklace, “Love”.  Representing healing, peace, and unconditional love, this beautiful piece of jewelry invites hope and faith to its wearer. Perfect as a gift, or a remembrance piece, when purchased during the month of October, 50 percent of the proceeds will be donated to the Young Survival Coalition.

4. Babeland Vibes

Whether you’re going it alone or with a partner, sexual health is important, which why I’m loving this next breast cancer awareness buy. Purchase either the OhMiBod Lovelife Discover Mini Vibe in phthalate-free body safe silicone, or the vegan-friendly Sliquid Pink Lemonade lube that’s glycerin and paraben free, and Babeland will donate ten percent of the proceeds to the Young Survival Coalition.

Along with breast cancer research and early detection, remember to support and encourage loved ones to do those self-exams and take good care of one another. Boobies are replaceable, lives are not! Have you or someone you care about been affected by breast cancer? Share your stories with us on the EcoSalon Facebook page throughout the month of October and beyond.

Related on EcoSalon

10 Foods to Fight Breast Cancer
Is Cell Phone Radiation Causing Breast Cancer?
We Love Breast Cancer Awareness, We Hate Breast Cancer Commercialization

Image of Woman With Pink Balloons via Shutterstock

Image of Self-Examination via Sisters Network, Inc. – Chicago Chapter

The post Let’s Talk Ta-Tas: 4 Pink Products that Really Do Support Breast Cancer Research appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnOctober is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and with it comes a slew of advertising opportunities for big companies. It’s called: pinkwashing.

Pinkwashing is a term coined by Breast Cancer Action. According to the group’s definition, a pinkwasher is “a company or organization that claims to care about breast cancer by promoting a pink ribbon product, but at the same time produces, manufactures and/or sells products that are linked to the disease.”

Over the years, during the month of October, companies from Proctor & Gamble to KFC jump on board in the name of breast cancer awareness (I mean, in the name of their bottom line, because when there’s a chance to support a cause, there’s also a chance to make money) failing to point out that often the products whose percentage of proceeds goes to breast cancer awareness are full of the chemicals that cause the cancer in the first place.

Much of this discussion is focused around beauty products – like providing breast cancer care packages with beauty products laden with chemicals known to cause cancer – but there are a wide variety of food brands who get on board as well. Not to mention companies who develop and use pesticides to grow our food in the first place.

Did you know that the primary corporate sponsor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month is Astra Zeneca? Yes, the pharmaceutical company. The same pharmaceutical company who makes a profit off of its cancer treatments (the sales of their top selling breast cancer drug Tamoxifen comes in at $573 million per year worldwide), as well as parenting a successful agrochemical business, developing and selling carcinogenic pesticides.

As the Breast Cancer Fund notes, “Modern food-production methods have opened major avenues of exposure to environmental carcinogens and endocrine-disrupting compounds. Pesticides sprayed on crops, antibiotics used on poultry, and hormones given to cattle expose consumers involuntarily to contaminants that become part of our bodies. Some of these exposures may increase breast cancer risk.”

Some examples of pink food products you can get your hands on this year: pink pizzas, brownies with pink frosting, pink pancakes, a buttery chardonnay or just get completely decked out in pink Hard Rock Cafe gear and then down a Hard Rock Cafe energy drink. And for those food companies who don’t participate, consumers fail to pull back the layers on what these kind of marketing campaigns really mean, that people rally together to try to get chains like Taco Bell to launch a pink taco.

The food and cancer connection isn’t a new discussion; what we eat matters. Obesity for example has been shown to increase the risk of premenopausal breast cancer by 70 percent, which make the sales of things like breast cancer awareness pizzas and energy drinks so disgusting.

But as Breast Cancer Fund points out “tips to ‘fight cancer’ often list reducing fat intake as a crucial step, but don’t mention that one reason this may reduce your risk is because high-fat, animal based foods are a main route of exposure to cancer-causing organochlorine pesticides and dioxin.”  In other words, there are a lot of chemicals used in modern day food production that are known carcinogens, and whether or not we are watching what we eat, we may still be ingesting them.

Some of the big agricultural players and their favorite pesticides have been linked to increased in risk for cancer, like Monsanto’s Round-Up and Syngenta’s Atrazine (which is so bad the European Union banned it in 2005). You will be very happy to know that, yes, Monsanto does take part in Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and even sends volunteers to Race for the Cure. Pesticides and pinkwashing are a match made in heaven.

Considering the severity of breast cancer – today 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime – this is about more than just eating well. It is about holding companies accountable for putting chemicals into our food system. Because while huge amounts of money have poured into breast cancer awareness and research, these companies haven’t done anything to actually tackle the problem; breast cancer cases are projected to increase by 50 percent by 2030. Huge corporations make money off of the pesticides and herbicides that cause cancer, and then pharmaceutical companies reap the benefits of more and more breast cancer patients needing their treatments. It’s a vicious cycle.

“Pinkwashing has become a central component of the breast cancer industry: a web of relationships and financial arrangements between corporations that cause cancer, companies making billions off diagnosis and treatment, nonprofits seeking to support patients or even to cure cancer, and public relations agencies that divert attention from the root causes of disease,” wrote Breast Cancer Action Executive Director Karuna Jaggar in an op-ed piece last year.

Money for research into finding a cure for breast cancer is essential. Just ask any breast cancer survivor. But as we have seen, often that money is tainted, and if we want to eliminate breast cancer in the first place then we need to do more than just treat it.

We need to regulate (and in many cases, eliminate) the use of chemicals, pesticides and herbicides. As a friend of mine recently put it, “thanks to anyone who has supported cancer research – my friends and I appreciate it. We are living proof that it really does help people. Pinkwashing, however, does not.”

This Breast Cancer Awareness Month, think about what’s on your plate, and think about what companies are doing something to change the status quo of how our food is produced. Boycott the ones who aren’t. Sign a petition calling for change. Support a local organic farmer, and thank them for not putting pesticides into our watersheds.

That’s where the real change is going to come from, not from a plate of pink cupcakes.

Related on EcoSalon

We Love Breast Cancer Awareness, We Hate Breast Cancer Commercialization

Behind the Label: Avon’s Crusade Against Breast Cancer

‘Tis the Irony: Susan G. Komen Partners with Major Fracking Company

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Image: DixieBelleCupcakeCafe

The post Beware of Pinkwashing in Your Food: Foodie Underground appeared first on EcoSalon.

Avoid the pink product mania and participate in Breast Cancer Awareness Month by supporting good organizations instead.

We’re sick of the commercialization of the breast.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and for several weeks we’ve become increasingly blown away by the amount of pink junk being pitched our way in the name of “awareness.”

What does awareness really mean? Is it buying a cute pair of pink socks? Is it painting your nails with bubblegum polish? Is it downing a package of pink cookies?

Breast cancer is real. It’s not cute and it’s not fun, and much like viral campaigns have been said to cheapen real cancer fights, pink products are just another thing on the list that might us feel good about promoting a cause but in reality don’t truly engage us on the issue. And that leaves a lot of us stuck with pink fatigue.

Breast cancer has touched everyone on our staff in some way. No doubt you can say the same. We emphatically support breast cancer awareness. That doesn’t mean we have to like a good cause being pinkified in order to hawk yet more retail. Especially when the products supporting the cause are themselves toxic.

Cheap jewelry

Pink silicone rings and cheap charm bracelets probably made in a sweatshop; do we really need to be sporting these to show our support?

Pink Gemstones

Because nothing says healthy like mining the earth for toxic materials.

Perfume

According to Breast Cancer Action, Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s new perfume “Promise Me” contains chemicals “not listed on the label that are regulated as toxic and hazardous.”

Makeup and Accessories

Instead of getting sucked in by pink brushes and palettes, opt for green beauty products that are natural and toxin free.

Cookies and Cupcakes

What better way to honor breast cancer than by eating goodies made solely with processed ingredients and chemicals?

We’ll stick with our Pink Lady organic apples from the farmers’ market, thanks.

We’re all for businesses supporting good causes with their money, but let’s take a moment to think about our individual actions. Think about what would happen if instead of buying more junk we don’t really need, we gave it all to an organization doing breast cancer research and education.

Buying things we don’t need isn’t going to solve breast cancer, and wearing pink isn’t going to make someone living with cancer better. So what can you do? Here are five organizations we think are doing a good thing when it comes to breast cancer awareness and research. Support them.

1. Breast Cancer Fund – Devoted to exposing and eliminating the environmental causes of breast cancer
2. American Cancer Society – A nationwide, community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem
3. National Breast Cancer Foundation – Give a mammogram to an uninsured woman
4. Think Before You Pink – An initiative of Breast Cancer Action, a watch dog of the breast cancer movement
5. National Breast Cancer Coalition – a coalition that includes hundreds of organizations, representing several million patients, professionals, women, their families and friends

Images: Azrol Azmi, The Breast Cancer Site, Gemvara, Promise Me, Target, Pink Ribbon Shop

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October was National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But just because leaves are largely fallen and pumpkins are patching up doesn’t mean that breast cancer awareness should wait another year. The Center for Disease Control shares that breast cancer is the most common kind of cancer in all women and the most common cause of cancer death among Hispanic women. It is the second most common form of cancer among white, black, Asian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native women.

So what can we do about it? We can start by fighting breast cancer with our grocery lists. Recently, I spoke with nutritionist Mary Vance to get the 411 on top foods to fight cancer. As Mary told me, “eat a plant-based diet of whole foods and organic meats. And eat out of the box. Stay away from refined and processed foods that contain chemicals.” Done and deliciously done.

Further, Mary suggests antioxidant-rich foods that fight free radicals, the source of cellular and DNA damage. And organic foods are a must, as the chemicals used in herbicides and pesticides are stored in our body’s fat cells where they can cause hormonal imbalance and DNA damage.

But what to eat specifically?

Broccoli Yes, the green stuff your mother pushed onto your plate really might be the ultimate super food. Broccoli contains the highest levels of indole-3 carbinol, which experts report can slow cell proliferation. Researchers in Berkeley have found that broccoli can stop the growth of cancer cells – though they caution it is still in clinical trials with humans. In the meantime? Eat more broccoli.

Berries As Mary Vance shares, “blueberries and raspberries are especially high in cancer-fighting antioxidants. Antioxidants keep you looking young, too.” Strawberries and blackberries also contain ellagic acid, which is called a powerful cancer fighter.

Cod Liver Oil Not so tasty, true. But cod liver oil is an excellent source of vitamin D, a must for cancer prevention. Researchers suggest that Vitamin D slows the growth of cancer cells.

Ginger Research has shown that ginger can kill cancer cells. J. Rebecca Liu is an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor who studies cancer. As she told WebMD, ginger tricks cancer cells into “essentially commit suicide by digesting themselves.” And this is done all without harming surrounding cells.

Tomatoes The red favorite of salads is high in lycopene, which is an antioxidant that attacks those free radical baddies thought to trigger cancer. Some studies link it to a reduced rate of breast cancer. Experts suggest eating it with olive oil, as the oil serves to activate the lycopene.

Garlic Garlic contains “organic allyl sulfur components are effective inhibitors of the cancer process.”  It is also thought to stimulate the immune system.

Tea Tea is high in flavanoids, which are known for their antioxidant benefits. As WebMD reports, one study “analyzing the lifestyle habits of nearly 3,000 people, showed that postmenopausal women who got the most flavonoids were 46 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than those who got the least.” We’ll drink to that.

Mushrooms Mary Vance explains fungi “such as shiitake and reishi boost immune function and attack cancer cells.” Mushrooms contain the lectin protein, which attacks cancerous cells and prevents them from multiplying.

Leafy Greens Spinach, lettuce, and Swiss chard – oh my! These foods contain cancer-fighting antioxidants and minerals. The American Institute for Cancer Research reports that some chemicals in these foods can limit the growth of some cancer cells.

Orange Juice Orange juice is awesome. It’s tasty as all heck – and it fights cancer. Organic juice is high in folate. Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon is a researcher at the National Cancer Institute. As she told WebMD, “The thought is that when someone has low levels of folate, it’s more likely for mutations in DNA to occur.” Pour yourself a glass of orange juice and drink to good health!

Images: wishuponacupcake, jacoulter, gudmunda, bizzzarro, heymrleej, the_ewan, felipe_gabaldon, kankan, fotoosvanrobin, careytilden, mamchenkov

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