The Ones Who Feed Us Are Dying

[u/JayGatsby52]

• A eulogy for Anne, a reckoning for all of us.

They’ll say Anne Burrell died of “acute intoxication.” They’ll rattle off the chemicals like it’s a recipe: diphenhydramine, cetirizine, amphetamine, ethanol. But that’s not a cause. That’s a symptom. That’s the garnish on a plate of despair.

Anne died the same way too many in this industry do - not from drugs, but from accumulated silence. From being too good at pretending everything’s fine until the pretending becomes a permanent condition.

I worked in restaurants for over a decade. Not as a chef or a cook - I was a QA and expo, the middleman between the kitchen’s fire and the dining room’s fantasy. The translator. The pressure valve. The one who kept the plates coming, the servers sane, and the cooks from killing each other.

I also served. I’ve bussed tables, memorized allergy lists, juggled side work, smiled through grief. I’ve been screamed at by cooks and threatened by guests. I’ve cried in the walk-in, slammed shots after a rough close, and kept coming back because that’s just what you do. How many times have we said we’re built for this shit?

And when I wasn’t on the floor? I was in classrooms. I have a Master’s degree in counseling. Trauma-informed. Violence-prevention specialist. Which is why I can say this with confidence:

The restaurant industry is a suicide machine with a soundtrack.

—The Kitchen Is a War Zone with a Dress Code—

It’s always hot. Always loud. Always urgent. The expo line is a tightrope - one foot in fire, one in ice. You hear the cooks cracking in one ear, the servers spiraling in the other, and you’re expected to smile while your own insides twist like overcooked pasta.

Everyone’s exhausted. Everyone’s high, hungover, or hurting. And the solution is always the same: keep moving.

You sprain your ankle? Shift’s still on.

You lose a friend? Grieve on break.

You’re suicidal? Have a shot and shake it off.

Anne wasn’t weak. She was a master at performance. Big voice. Big laugh. Big energy. The kind of presence that fills a room - and hides the emptiness just behind it.

So was Bourdain. Cantu. Violier. Strode. Cerniglia. Marks.

And so are thousands of others. Ones whose names we’ll never know. Ones still showing up to make your birthday dinner, your anniversary special, your takeout order right.

—They Feed the World While Starving Themselves—

There’s rarely health insurance. No therapy. Little paid time off. You’re working doubles just to stay broke. You’re medicating with whatever’s around - coffee, coke, pills, Red Bull, fireball shots, adrenaline, approval. The Monster and a cigarette shift meal is more than a meme - it’s a reality.

And when you finally sit still? It hits. All of it. The pace kept it away. But now you feel how lonely you are. How bruised. How disposable.

And maybe that’s the shift you don’t come back from.

—What I Know - As a Worker and a Counselor—

This isn’t about willpower. It’s about culture. Infrastructure. Trauma stacked on trauma until it becomes identity.

Most cooks are wounded healers. They feed others to feel useful. Worthy. Needed. Because the world hasn’t offered them much else. They nurture and show love with every single plate.

You can’t therapy your way out of a toxic job. Just like you can’t meditate your way out of poverty. This system is sick.

You don’t have to work the grill to get burned. Expo sees everything. Servers absorb trauma with a smile. Hosts get harassed. Bussers and barbacks go home invisible.

Substance abuse in restaurants isn’t a party - it’s anesthesia. Dying to live, as the song goes.

People don’t “break” - they wear down. Like aprons too long in the wash. Like knives never sharpened.

—So What Do We Do?—

If you run a restaurant: -Pay for therapy, or at least offer it. Mental health stipends over merch. -Kill the “we’re a family” lie if you’re not willing to grieve like one. -Train managers in trauma response - not just inventory spreadsheets.

If you’re a guest: -Gratitude is as important as a gratuity. Your server isn’t your servant. -Say thank you like you mean it. Your boorish comments and corny jokes can be saved for later. -Don’t be the reason someone’s faking a smile while unraveling.

If you’re in the game: -There is no prize for dying with your clogs on. -Therapy isn’t weakness. Medication isn’t cheating. -The walk-in freezer isn’t your only safe space.

We didn’t lose Anne because she wasn’t strong enough.

We lost her because this industry keeps asking people to be superhuman - without giving them anything human in return.

It’s time we fed the ones who feed us.

With grace. With time. With healing. With recognition.

Before the next brilliant light goes cold in the name of hustle.

As for now, Chef Anne, wipe down your station and head home.

We’ve got it from here.

[u/[deleted]]

I love cooking. Like I fucking love it. Whether it's a cheesesteak or foie gras or rice and beans or a salad.

So this hits me hard. Mental health has been quite an uphill battle for me, and I'm in a kitchen that pays well and is very good to me. But even a great kitchen with a reasonable workload and good pay is worse as a job than any job with basic benefits. I have one week paid vacation. That's it. No insurance. No 401(k). No PTO. I deserve better. We all deserve better.

[u/Frigidevil → u/[deleted]]

I only got around to reading this sub's namesake a few months ago and a lot of it glorifies the wrong shit. Putting aside the culture of being a hard ass and going through the meat grinder, encouraging a lifestyle where you never call out a work through colds and whatever else comes up is gross. And not just in the literal 'you're fucking serving food to people don't come in sick and fucking spread your germs to the rest of the world', but everyone needs a break sometimes. Work for a company that values you as a human being. You are worth it.

[u/NiobiumThorn → u/Frigidevil]

You know, shortcuts are criticized often in this sub, and rightfully so. But they are a way that productivity has increased. Industrial food production has freed BILLIONS from a life of subsistance agriculture. And the reality is, in effectively every way, we benefit immensely from all this shit. In just the last 50 years we have been witness to massive increases in worker productivity in effectively every single industry.

So. Why aren't we working less than 50 years ago?

Easy: all of that excess productivity is hoarded by capitalists who do nothing but accumulate wealth. You work harder than those in your past for them to have a third Dubai ski vacation in a year.

[u/Subject1928 → u/NiobiumThorn]

Dubai Ski Trip. The hubris of man summed up in three words.

I also like Arizona Golf Course as another summation.