Nerdle Me Up!

So call me a big old nerd, but the other day on my way to... uh, the place which I was driving unto... I was listening to 88.9 on the radio when lo and behold, amidst the madness of rush-hour traffic, a commercial wafted through my radio speakers that was promoting the need for a vegetarian diet and explaining how "research has shown that people who eat a diet free of animal products and one that is low in fat have a much lower risk of developing cancer."* I squealed with glee. I am a nerd like that.

But then, to my added joy, the commercial revealed itself not to be the works of PeTA or some fringe vegetarian group that had scrounged up enough money to advertise (as I had supposed it to be)--it revealed itself to be a commercial for "The Cancer Project."

Apparently, The Cancer Project is a physician-headed organization that "has two main goals: First, [...] to make cancer prevention a top priority [and] just as important, [...] to improve survival after cancer has been diagnosed by providing comprehensive information about the role of dietary factors in keeping people healthy." In an attempt at achieving these goals, they offer vegan cooking classes for cancer patients. They offer tons of links to information on vegetarian and vegan diets. They have vegan recipes out the ass. And they offer research all over the place showing the usefulness of such a diet.

I know I am a nerd, but in order for the benefits of a veggie diet to be brought to the public in a palatable and legitimizing way, it often has to be done by folks with NO CONNECTION TO ANIMAL RIGHTS/VEGETARIAN GROUPS which in turn offers it some sort of veracity. So it is nice to see vegetarianism being endorsed by a group who's not offering up information that can be misconstrued as "veggie propaganda," who can speak fairly objectively on the subject and offer to the public objective information *showing* the usefulness of a vegetarian diet without it being accused of having a "hidden veggie agenda," who are simply seeking out a way to "advance cancer prevention and survival through nutrition education and research" and who are trying to bring this information to the general public so that they might benefit.

If my excitement over that is nerdy, then nerdle me up.




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*Source: http://www.cancerproject.org/protective_foods/index.php

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