People working in restaurants will often tell you that it is a massive labor of love. It involves long hours, stress, and intense manual labor, but they do it because their passion to make diners happy keeps pushing them forward. But sometimes that can have unintended consequences, like staffers turning to alcohol and drug use to cope with the high-pressure environments.
Ben’s Friends is one of the leading organizations nationwide providing support to those in the industry dealing with addiction. Core to its mission is hosting free meetings (similar to Alcoholics Anonymous), both in person and virtually, open to anyone in need. Currently present in 17 states, Ben’s Friends’ ultimate goal is to have a chapter in all 50 states—and they can’t do it without fundraising.
Read on to learn more about addiction in the industry, the invaluable work Ben’s Friends is doing, and how you can get involved.
Restaurant industry workers have one of the highest rates of substance abuse
Compared to their peers in other industries, restaurant staffers are particularly susceptible to drug and alcohol abuse. The national average sits at 9.5% for people dealing with substance abuse compared to 17% in the restaurant industry, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“The challenge is that we are in an industry that almost encourages abusive behavior,” says Mickey Bakst, who co-founded Ben’s Friends in 2016 with his friend and restaurateur Steve Palmer. “We are surrounded by alcohol and drugs everyday.”
Ben’s Friends wants to take its mission nationwide
Palmer and Bakst launched Ben’s Friends in honor of their friend and chef Ben Murray, who was struggling with addiction and took his own life in 2016. They were determined that his death wouldn’t be in vain and have since brought Ben’s Friends meetings to 20 cities around the country.
Leading with empathy is central to their mission. The founders, as well as the leaders of each chapter, have overcome addiction and know how to get through to their colleagues who are struggling. “I lost everything to my addiction,” says Bakst, who has been sober 41 years. “I know how to help people who need help. Everybody who wants to get sober has to make a decision about wanting to stop living the way they are.”
Ben’s Friends hopes to continue spreading awareness about addiction in the industry and remove the shame and stigma often attached to it by speaking about it more freely. “We dream of having Ben’s Friends in every state and each major city around the country,” Bakst says.
Here’s how you can help
All you have to do to help the industry you love is eat delicious food. Ben’s Friends is doing a Portland dinner on March 3 to raise funds for expansion.
Top chefs Gabriel Rucker (Le Pigeon, Canard) , Jen Carroll (Bravo’s Top Chef), Andre deWaal (Andre’s Lakeside Dining), and Patrick Fleming are getting together at Fleming’s restaurant Boke Bowl on for a one-night-only experience.
Tanay Warerkar has spent more than a decade as a journalist, including several years as a food reporter and editor. He’s worked at the San Francisco Chronicle, Eater, and the New York Daily News, among others. He now oversees features content at OpenTable, where he also stays on top of the hottest trends and developments in the restaurant industry.
