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Sobriety efforts in the food service industry, the surgeon general’s warning on alcohol consumption, plus a local effort to see food as medicine

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Food as medicine–it’s a concept HopeWay–a local behavioral health and mental health treatment facility in Charlotte is embracing. The treatment center recently announced a new partnership with Charlotte Chef Sam Diminich who jumped at the opportunity to feed those working through mental health and addiction treatment. Diminich, the owner of Your Farms, Your Table knows first hand these struggles.

Food as medicine–it’s a concept HopeWay–a local behavioral health and mental health treatment facility in Charlotte is embracing. The treatment center recently announced a new partnership with Charlotte Chef Sam Diminich who jumped at the opportunity to feed those working through mental health and addiction treatment.
HopeWay
Food as medicine–it’s a concept HopeWay–a local behavioral health and mental health treatment facility in Charlotte is embracing. The treatment center recently announced a new partnership with Charlotte Chef Sam Diminich who jumped at the opportunity to feed those working through mental health and addiction treatment.

So do many in the food service industry. It’s an industry that is powered by high-stress, fast-paced environments, late hours, and unconventional sleep schedules. It’s easy to see how people in the industry can be susceptible to alcohol and drugs.

According to a study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the food service and hospitality industry has the highest rates of substance use disorders and third-highest rates of heavy alcohol use in all employment sectors.

Earlier this month, the surgeon general put out a new warning about the cancer risk linked to alcohol consumption—which contributes to about 100,000 cancer cases per year. This new warning has many wondering—how safe is it to drink alcohol, even in moderation?

On the next Charlotte Talks, we discuss the concept of food as medicine, sobriety efforts in the food service industry, and the latest on the surgeon general’s warning on alcohol consumption.

GUESTS:
Mickey Bakst, co-founder and executive director of Ben's Friends
Sam Diminich, executive chef & owner of Your Farms Your Table
Dr. Alyson R. Kuroski-Mazzei, CEO & chief medical officer at HopeWay

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Sarah Delia is a Senior Producer for Charlotte Talks with Mike Collins. Sarah joined the WFAE news team in 2014. An Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, Sarah has lived and told stories from Maine, New York, Indiana, Alabama, Virginia and North Carolina. Sarah received her B.A. in English and Art history from James Madison University, where she began her broadcast career at college radio station WXJM. Sarah has interned and worked at NPR in Washington DC, interned and freelanced for WNYC, and attended the Salt Institute for Radio Documentary Studies.