By Allison BondOriginal Source: slate.com

As part of a growing movement to provide comprehensive care to people in recovery, a new class aims to help them re-establish a relationship with food.

Before opioid addiction unraveled Mike Wallace’s life, food was his livelihood. Wallace, now in recovery, worked for years as a dishwasher and line cook. And on a recent sunny Boston morning, he again found himself in the kitchen.

Wallace was one of about a dozen people at a cooking class at Boston Medical Center tailored for people recovering from addiction. Tracey Burg, a dietician and chef who runs the medical center’s demonstration kitchen, which offers classes on how to cook for medical conditions from diabetes to heart disease, led participants through choosing and cooking healthful foods. Burg extolled the virtues of whole grains while preparing a one-pan chicken, vegetable, and pasta dish along with a fruit parfait.

The class is among the first of its kind in the nation and is part of a growing recognition that addiction is a complex chronic health condition that deserves care and...click here to continue reading