Casa de Luz an Inspiration to Austin Recovery: Food as a Factor in Substance Abuse

Austin Recovery has more than 40 years experience of serving the Austin community in drug and alcohol addiction treatment and rehabilitation.  In addition to having programs for Adult Men and Women, Women with Children, they also have Detoxification facilities.  They are located at four different Travis County locations and serve over 3,000 patients each year.

Inspired by Casa de Luz, Austin Recovery is initiating an Organic Gardening Project as a means to instill in their patients an appreciation for the environment, health, and to help build their own self esteem.  They have noticed an unusually high number of women (and some men) who identify severe issues with food and mood in addition to/as part of their struggle with drugs and alcohol.  More specifically, once they begin to recover from drugs and alcohol, their old behaviors of controlling  feelings with food often begin to surface or present for the first time.   This is the critical part says founder jimmy Ochs: "If we do not offer a means to help our patients control their cravings for food and their desire to change their mood with eating, whether bulimia or restricting, they quickly return to drugs and/or alcohol when they leave treatment.  We view this garden as a treatment tool." 

Jimmy Ochs has been inspired for the past three years by Casa de Luz, the passion of the workers and staff to offer the best food available in the community, their respect for the food--including how it is grown, prepared, and served. Although he has known about macrobiotics for over 20 years, he's feel he's never come close to the quality of the eating experience that is found on a daily basis at Casa de Luz!  "Casa de Luz has been my compass for a complete redo of our kitchen facility at our Edith Royal Campus on Cross Park. This is also the site of our first garden. Austin Recovery owes a debt of gratitude to Casa and the wonderful patrons and workers that make it so much more than a restaurant."  Jimmy invites us to visit Austin Recovery and their new garden which we hope to have up and flourishing in about three months. They are located at 8402 Cross Park Dr., Austin, TX 78754.  You can contact Jimmy Ochs at 512-697-8527 if I can be of any service.