Why support the Junk Free June Campaign?

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“Junk Free June”. What is it? Well, to begin with I had to Google “Junk Free June” as I had only heard about it through my girlfriend who is going to do it and trying to get me to join her. Basically it’s a not for profit organization run by the Cancer Society that encourages people to eat healthier by cutting out junk food throughout the month of June while raising money for the Cancer Society.
Even though I am not attempting it, it did get me thinking, what is junk food to me? I think that to a lot of people junk food is purely fast food or takeaways, foods such as hamburgers, hotdogs, chips etc which also partly rings true for me. Unfortunately I would also have to add food such as cake (yum), divine pastries- even those drizzled with blueberry or cherry syrup, home baked biscuits, Afghans are extra special. My enduring weakness and why I am not doing “Junk Free June” is this traditional “baking”. I have to accept that foods high in sugar, yummy as they are, belong in the junk food category. Actually, I’ve come to understand, foods high in sugar, salt and certain fats, along with deep frying also belong there.
The damage over time that these types of food do to the human body is why I would put them in the junk food category. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease are but three diseases that instantly come to mind when I think about some of the junk a lot of us put in our mouths. Sugar alone may feed cancer cells. Which is why it makes sense “Junk Food June” is so important to the cancer society and money raised will contribute to research that will benefit NZ as a whole.

Read more about Junk Free June Junk Free June
Darryl Pascoe “The Health Nut” and Wellpark College Student.