EMMIE BOESE
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The New Beginnings Bisonte Food Service Communal Meal Program attracted the attention of Kansas U.S. Senator, Dr. Roger Marshall. Marshall visited the kitchen where the program is held on Tuesday afternoon.
"I’m excited about the food is health program," Marshall said. "That's really one of my big priorities. People say how are you going to save Medicare? How are you going to save Medicaid? Well it all starts with food is health. Food is medicine. So I really wanted to learn about the nutrition component of this. That really perked my interest so I think part of my job is learning what's working and try to accentuate the positive."
The communal meal program at New Beginnings provides balanced meals and nutrition education to those who are in recovery for substance abuse disorders and mental health conditions. According to Reno County Communications Specialist Sandra Milburn, It is made up of and managed by people who have substance abuse disorders or are in recovery and are either graduates of New Beginnings Transitional Jobs Program or are members of Oxford House Chapter 13.
Marshall listened to Isaac Dimitt, executive chef and kitchen supervisor, present the program's main focus and the types of foods that are incorporated for nutrition recovery. Dimitt said the brighter a plate of food is, the better.
"All of this is to help bring those nutritions back into the body," Dimitt said. "For every deficiency that they have, that's what I'm trying to rebuild and show these guys you can eat healthy and this is part of the recovery that you have."
Marshall said as a physician, he knows firsthand how lack of nutrition can affect the body's organs. He said someone who is struggling with substance abuse usually has poor liver function which hinders one's ability to digest fatty foods.
"When people came in and were detoxing in ER, when their weren't places like this, we would hang an IV and then we would put vitamin B6 in it," Marshall said. "It's the first thing that we would do, so hopefully we are not always having to do that with an IV and you know there are good ways to do it. I think a lot of it is, you know, teaching people good healthy eating habits."
Dimitt said the program has a personal connection to him. Dimitt has been sober for 14 years and wants to give back to those in recovery.
"As you listen to that story, the community is solving the problem itself," Marshall said. "Yes, they are accessing some federal grants but its just amazing all the different pieces of the community are solving the problem. When I talk about my Kansas values, I talk about faith and family and education but community is one of my values. That communities can solve problems better than the federal government can. Yes, there is a farm bill and 85% of the farm bill is for nutritious programs, and I want to keep supporting them, but mostly I want to help programs like this succeed and then get out of the way."
Also, according to Milburn, the Bisonte food service program provides dietary meals for the detox and residential treatment unit of Substance Abuse Center of Kansas and Horizons Mental Health Center's Crisis Unit.
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