Vietnam or bust: breast cancer is coming your way.

I recently traveled with my husband to Vietnam because our daughter  is  involved in the launching of their version of Dancing With The Stars It was a thrill to see her  perform on a live TV show and to get a taste of the culture she is experiencing.  

From the bustling streets clogged with motor scooters, to the floating market on the Mekong River, to a sobering view of the Vietnam American War Remnants Museum, it was a week of surprises; some painful,  most delightful.

One disturbing sight was the proliferation of KFC restaurants.  Our guide explained that KFC is extremely popular, and that children are now rejecting traditional  healthy  Vietnamese food in favor of FAsT food.

Imagine my surprise when I came back to the US to find that KFC, world famous health food chain, has joined forces with a leader in breast cancer awareness, Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  “Buckets for the Cure”  pledges 50 whole cents to Komen for each pink bucket of chicken sold.

What is wrong with this picture?  Besides the fact that many folks are already turned off by the pink-washing of the world America, Komen ignores the contradiction between their mission to end breast cancer forever, and promoting a restaurant chain that markets the world’s unhealthiest types of food.  If Komen’s mission were simply to stop deaths from breast cancer, this campaign might make a little sense. 

BUT  ending breast cancer means PREVENTION, which in Komen's own words includes eating “...fewer high fat foods and sweets”.

You can’t have it both ways.

PS the only overweight Vietnamese person I saw was a little girl entering, you guessed it, KFC.