KFC just can’t do anything right these days. The fried chicken restaurant has announced a new plan, called Buckets for the Cure. Basically, KFC will donate money for every pink bucket of chicken sold with the hopes of raising a record $8.5 million dollars for the Komen Foundation, an anti-breast cancer charity. At fifty cents per bucket, that’s a lot of fried chicken parts sold, and that’s why critics are up in arms. They believe that KFC’s food does more damage to health than their charity donation does good!
Among the most passionate critics of KFC is Marion Nestle, NYU Professor and blogger at Food Politics. “OK, scientists are still arguing about the dietary determinants of breast cancer and aren’t too worried about fat, but they do worry about body weight. Maintaining a healthy body weight is still the first recommendation of the American Cancer Society, for example.” As Nestle told CNN, “The goals of food companies, alas, are not the same as the goals of public health. Food companies are businesses that must sell expanding numbers of products. While it seems possible that their goals and those of public health could overlap, they rarely do. Buckets for the Cure gets money for whatever it does. KFC sells more buckets.”
Of course, there’s always the little fact that no matter what you eat, you can gain weight. If you chow on massive quantities of fruits and vegetables, you’ll still gain weight. If you eat KFC in moderation, you won’t gain weight. I’m well aware that most people eat horrible food in massive amounts, but they’re going to do that anyway. I can understand an irritation at KFC’s pinkwashing, but it’s better to raise awareness about breast cancer, and raise money to fight breast cancer, than to not.
Tags: breast cancer research, fundraisers, KFC, Kentucky Fried Chicken, pink buckets, KFC bucket controversy, Buckets for the Cure, Komen Foundation, KFC attempting to raise .5 million for charity
