Back in November, I picked up the newspaper and saw this front-page article: “Study Strongly Links Fat, Cancer.” I read it and thought... “Well, it’s about time!”

For those of you who missed it, this article flat-out said that a landmark study  showed that, “Every 1.7 ounces of processed meat consumed per day increases the risk of colorectal cancer by 21%…” The study referred to beef, pork and lamb. It went on to advise “limiting red meat to 18 ounces of cooked meat a week.”

This release of this study’s findings and resulting worldwide news reports had the National Pork Board & The National Cattleman’s Beef Association up in arms. Mary Young of the National Cattleman’s Beef Association said “the group engaged scientists to review the scientific literature on the topic, and they concluded there was evidence red meat causes cancer.”

So, my questions were: Can our doctors now put this important nutritional “piece of the cancer puzzle” into their practices? Will the American Cancer Society focus on this, too? Can we keep this information in the media’s focus so that it becomes real to people?

I will try to do my part! I’m certain we’ll be seeing articles by scientists and journalists who work for these powerful food industries, trying to discredit this important research, or confuse the general public with articles saying the opposite. I hope not, but I’ve seen it all too often. Or, we won’t see any follow-up articles.

This information needs to be out there so that people can make the necessary dietary changes to help with cancer prevention and recovery. Everyone needs this important and life-saving information! To read more about this study go to:

www.dietandcancerreport.org. This Web site has a downloadable summary of the report, or you can order a copy of the book, The Second Expert Report, Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and The Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective, which explains this report in detail… I ordered my copy.

The study is a result of a five-year process that included examination of the world’s literature by a panel of the world’s leading scientists, which includes Harvard School of Public Health’s, Dr. Walter C. Willet.

Until this becomes common knowledge (reading it in the mainstream press and our doctors recommending it), we can exercise our option (or not) to decrease our animal protein intake and add more plant protein to our diets.

Adding plant proteins is quite simple, really. To get you started, here are some delicious grain and bean recipes from my book Becoming Whole, The Story of My Complete Recovery From Breast Cancer:

Pressure-Cooked Rice & and Beans

1½ to 1¾ cups brown rice
½ cup beans – chickpeas, adzuki, black soybean, etc. (soaked overnight, covered with water)
3½ - 4 cups spring water
small piece of kombu sea vegetable

Use 10-15 percent beans per cup of rice, pre-soak bean of your choice for 3 to 7 hours, depending on the hardness of the bean. Discard the soak water for any but adzuki or black soybeans, and mix beans with rice.

Place rice and bean mixture in pressure cooker, add water (1½ to 2 parts water for every 1 cup of grain and bean you have combined) and bring to a gentle boil.

When boiling, add a 1 to 2 inch piece of kombu, seal the lid and bring to pressure over a medium flame. When the full pressure rises in the pot, lower the flame, place on a flame deflector and cook for 45-50 minutes. When finished, turn off flame and remove from heat.

Allow pressure to come down naturally and remove lid. Transfer to a serving bowl.

Note: Include soaking water from black soy or adzuki beans. And... the beans will not soften if you add salt at the beginning... so salt after.

Sweet and Sour Pinto Beans

1 cup pinto beans, soaked overnight and covered with water
3 cups water
1 inch piece of kombu
1 large onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
shoyu
2 tablespoons barley malt
1-2 teaspoons stone-ground mustard
umeboshi vinegar

Drain beans, then pressure-cook with kombu 50 minutes. Allow pressure to come down, then add vegetables. Cook 20 minutes.

Add several shakes of shoyu and barley malt, cook 10 minutes. Add umeboshi vinegar and mustard.

Baked Beans with Miso and Apple Butter

2 cups kidney beans (soaked overnight, covered with water)
6 cups water
1 strip kombu
1½ tablespoons mellow barley miso
¼ cup unsweetened apple butter
1½ teaspoons whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon grated onion
²/³ tablespoon brown rice vinegar

Cook beans with kombu in water for 45 minutes. Drain and save 1 cup of the cooking water. Preheat oven to 350o.

Mix everything except the beans with the cooking liquid, then mix in beans. Place in 3-quart casserole, cover. Bake for 1½ hours.

Chickpea Burgers

1½ cup chickpeas (soaked overnight, covered with water)
4½ cups water
1-inch piece kombu
½ cup rolled oats
2 organic dill pickles, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 red onion, minced
1 tablespoon rice syrup
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon white miso
1 teaspoon umeboshi vinegar
cornmeal for coating

Pressure-cook chickpeas with kombu in water for 40 minutes. Mash cooked chickpeas, add all ingredients except cornmeal. Shape into patties. Coat with cornmeal.

Let patties sit for 20 minutes, then fry in a cast-iron skillet on medium heat until browned on both sides. Serve plain, or with a sauce, on steamed bread.

Meg Wolff is a breast cancer survivor. Her memoir, Becoming Whole: The Story of my Complete Recovery from Breast Cancer, includes recipes and menu plans. Meg's new release photography book, Breast Cancer Exposed, The Connection Between Food and Survival is now available at local bookstores and both books can be found on her website at www.megwolf.com.