Winter 2006• Volume XV, Number 1

Cooking Up Good Health

When PCRM began offering free cooking and nutrition classes through The Cancer Project in 2003, we didn’t know we would soon have 36 instructors in 48 cities. 

Now an incorporated PCRM affiliate, The Cancer Project has held more than 500 classes around the country on how to combat cancer by cooking up delicious, low-fat vegan meals.

The Cancer Project brings instructors to Washington, D.C., for intensive two-day training sessions, after which they help cancer survivors and people interested in prevention learn how to protect their health by overhauling their diets.

During classes, cooking instructors demonstrate healthy cooking techniques; share recipes; and provide information on how fiber- and antioxidant-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains help with prevention and survival for many types of cancer. Instructors also provide copies of PCRM’s Survivor’s Handbook and colorful Healthy Eating for Life brochures, which explain various causes of cancer and the role diet and other factors play in the disease.

Community interest has been overwhelming. The Cancer Project has held classes at stores, hospitals, community centers, churches, military bases, government agencies, cancer centers, fashion shows, and Fortune 500 companies. Venues have included Whole Foods, Bloomingdale’s, Duke University’s Continuing Studies Program, Discovery Communications, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Postal Service. And now, The Cancer Project has teamed with General Electric to offer classes in a traveling van throughout the country.

To publicize the help and information available through The Cancer Project, PCRM recorded television and radio public service announcements narrated by actor Anthony Hopkins. The TV and radio PSAs have aired thousands of times, bringing a healthful vegetarian message to Americans everywhere.

As we enter 2006, raising awareness of the link between cancer and diet is more important than ever—in 2005, cancer became the number-one killer of Americans under age 85. Given our success so far, PCRM is poised to help thousands more people discover that putting the right foods on their plates can help them beat cancer.