WHAT:

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) will protest the “2004 Cattle Barons’ Ball of Greater Tampa” with a mobile billboard that reads: “Cancer: It’s What’s for Dinner at the Cattle Barons’ Ball.” The Tampa event on April 3 marks the launch of PCRM’s national campaign to stop the American Cancer Society from sponsoring Cattle Barons’ Balls – fundraisers that glorify beef- and meat-eating.

WHO:

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine, especially good nutrition. PCRM conducts clinical research studies, opposes unethical human experimentation, and promotes alternatives to animal research. More information: www.pcrm.org, and at www.AmericanCancerSocietyPromotesDisease.org

WHEN:

Thursday, April 1: Mobile billboard will be at ACS Cattle Barons’ Ball event site: A La Carte Pavilion, 4050 Dana Shores Drive (west of Tampa Intl. Airport)

Friday, April 2: Mobile billboard will tour sites in Tampa and St. Petersburg, including stops at Tampa Tribune, St. Petersburg Times, WFLA-TV, WFTS-TV, WTVT-TV, and WTSP-TV

Saturday, April 3: Mobile billboard outside the “2004 Cattle Barons’ Ball of Greater Tampa,” A La Carte Pavilion, 4050 Dana Shores Drive, Tampa. Ball will be held at 7 p.m.

In the next three months, similar mobile billboards will appear outside Cattle Barons’ Ball events in other cities, including Houston, Orlando, Harrisburg, Oklahoma City, and Austin.

WHY:

American Cancer Society literature and numerous scientific studies note that heavy consumption of beef and other animal products is linked to increased risk of cancer, particularly colorectal cancer. A 1990 Harvard study, for instance, shows that regular meat consumption poses a 300 percent greater risk of colon and rectal cancers. Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States for both men and women.