Breast Cancer Action Quebec aims to provide women with a more substantive discussion

Every October, for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, women are inundated with pink ribbons and simplistic messages of “awareness” regarding breast cancer. They are encouraged to buy PINK for “the Cure.”  But Breast Cancer Action Quebec knows that shopping won’t stop breast cancer. Their antidote is to provide women with a more substantive discussion on breast cancer. This week three women will respond to the pressing question: Where is Feminism when My Body Needs It Most?

This panel discussion on Breast Cancer and the Absence of a Feminist Analysis  will take place on Wednesday, October 14 ( 7 pm to 9 pm) at the Concordia University Downtown Library Building (1400 de Maisonneuve West,  LB-1019 -10th Floor).

 

Julie Michaud

As for the panelists, they will include Julie Michaud, Luisa Molino and Jennifer Beeman, Michaud is the coordinator of Concordia University’s Centre for Gender Advocacy and  a young woman facing breast cancer. She will address the importance of a feminist analysis while living the experience of the disease including assumptions she confronts from her team of health professionals. Molino is the coordinator of the pan-Canadian research project Cancer’s Margin,s affiliated with the Simone de Beauvoir Institute of Concordia  She will discuss the experience of breast cancer for women of the sexual diversity and the social construction of the disease. Beeman is the director of Breast Cancer Action Québec. She will present an overview of current feminist issues concerning breast cancer, including a wide range of tough, unanswered questions about the disease, for example the impact of social inequalities and rates of mortality.

“We at Breast Cancer Action Quebec understand deeply just how scary the words ‘breast cancer’ are for any woman,” Beeman said in one of her blogs. “But too many women are being unnecessarily treated for lesions that would never have caused problems.

Jennifer Beeman

Beeman was referring to a study on ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), traditionally considered a precursor to potentially fatal invasive breast cancer, which shows that the massive detection and treatment of DCIS does not lead to a decline in breast cancer mortality but does lead to significant overtreatment

“For women to better understand the issue of overtreatment, we need to change discussions of breast cancer from fear-mongering approaches of  ‘one in nine’ to an understanding that it is a complicated set of diseases requiring very different approaches, and in some cases, no intervention, but rather an attentive surveillance. We need a discussion on current screening programs, a re-examination of the treatment of DCIS and the development of less aggressive treatments, as well as the creation observational registries to study the evolution of these cases. We also clearly need better coordination of breast cancer research agendas so that fundamental research on tumor biology is made a priority.Individual women must be informed, prepared and encouraged to enter into these discussions with their doctors when the diagnosis of breast cancer is first raised. And finally, women in the women’s health movement must be included in these discussions to develop the tools necessary to bring about these changes.”

There is no admission charge for this event which aims to provide a forum for discussion of breast cancer that moves beyond the pink paradigm to take a deeper look at some real issues of concern. Breast Cancer Action Quebec (formerly Breast Cancer Action Montreal) has advocated for breast cancer prevention and the elimination of environmental toxins linked to the disease for 24 years. Log on to www. acsqc.ca.

Room Service gives new meaning to home delivery of your meal

There is an entire new meaning to the words  “Room Service” in Montreal thanks to the work of  Concorda University John Molson School of Business grads Moustafa El Naggar and Mazen Nadim, Room Service  is the name of their downtown restaurant, which specializes in the home delivery of piping hot meals right to your door.

El Naggar and Nadim

During Breast Cancer Awareness Month they have launched a new strawberry milkshake called Rose Vif., with proceeds being donated to the Cure Foundation. There are also pink pumpkins in the house for Halloween.

El Naggar recently reopened Room-Service, which he launched one year ago, taking over Buns Hamburger House  (Best Burger in Montreal  by CULTMontreal 2010-2014) at 3673 St. Laurent Boulevard with the signature $5 burger buns available for delivery.  ‘‘We deliver culinary sensations to your door, just like a hotel,’’ he explains, noting that ‘‘We are now also getting calls from working people, who are stuck late at the office.’’

Matthew McKean,  now executive chef at Rosewood, Jonas’ new restaurant, developed the menu with Moustafa.

Business is growing quickly. Moustafa has already provided employment for 10 people, as well as four free-lancers. From his international business studies, El Naggar understands the need not only to be first to market, but to ‘own’ that position.  He is building the brand with comprehensive social media and tightly-targeted promotional campaigns.

Bilal arrives with my order.

‘‘I am my market,’’ El Naggar adds. ‘‘Dishes are designed with my peers in mind. We offer fusion pizza with Indian spices for example, and chicken tandoori quesadillas, as well as full meals such as Pacific salmon. I know from experience that sweets are needed, so we have developed both healthy – rice pudding – and super sinful – double chocolate cupcakes. There is a choice of soft drinks as well as comforting milkshakes.’’

Delivery to the Greater Montreal and West Island areas  is as ‘‘chic’’ as a hotel service, with  drivers like ours named Bilal arriving in branded uniforms. Food is easy to eat, delivered in micro-waveable containers with cutlery.  The most popular dishes are philly cheese steak sandwich.  

I decided to give it a try today at my office. A colleague and I each ordered a strawberry milkshake. I opted for the chicken pesto pizza while Brigida  sampled the California Cobb Salad. She gave it a big thumbs up, especially the dressing and the soft breaded slices of chicken. Regarding the milkshake, I have never actually tried the strawberry variety before, but this one was great.

Besides the  Room-Service.ca  delivery option, the funky sit-down resto on very cool Saint-Laurent is open until 4 a.m. (on Fridays and Saturdays due to the huge influx of beautiful young things dancing  - and eating - the night away Other nights it is  open until 2 a.m.

For more information call 514-709-7666