KANSAS CITY, Mo — A KCMO mixologist and a Kansas City-based social club are partnering to provide the community with a “Zero-Proof” bar menu.
According to the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 29.5 million people ages 12 and older struggled with Alcohol Use Disorder in the past year.
The Centers for Disease Control reported in 2020-2021 excessive alcohol use took the lives of about 178,000 people.
Alcohol abuse has economic costs as well.
Excessive alcohol consumption cost the United States $249 billion in 2010.
Those costs were because of excessive drinking and largely resulted in losses in workplace productivity, health care expenses, and costs in criminal justice expenses, vehicle crashes and property damage.
KCMO mixologist Tamara McConnell has a family history of alcoholism. Her father passed away 15 years ago from substance abuse and she knows what is at stake when people lack options.
“It totally affected us all,"McConnell said. "That absence of him not being there when he would be in his bouts with alcoholism.”
Since then, she has used her profession to help others help themselves.
“I can remember him reciting, over and over at times, the prayer that said, ‘Grant me the serenity for the things I cannot change.’ And I understood that in the way of he wanted to learn different ways on how to live his life, how to make things easier, how not to be triggered,” said McConnell.
McConnell is working with a local social club, The Blakk Co, to help launch their mocktail menu on Juneteenth.
Co-owner Christina Williams says historically, the Black community has been plagued by alcoholism often, and offering a spirit-free menu for their members is all about liberation.
“For us, it’s liberating. It’s liberating to liberate others. It’s liberating to see people have an option to choose what they want,” said Williams. “We do a better justice in our community at creating lasting memories that we do things a little bit differently for the next generation so that they are not plagued with the same things that we were plagued with.”
What McConnell and The Blakk Co are doing is a part of a larger movement. The global market for non-alcoholic drinks is now valued at $13 million. According to IWSR, a London-based alcohol data company, the market is expected to continue growing by seven percent from now until 2027.
“It’s becoming more and more popular around Kansas City and around the world,” said McConnell.
McConnell believes the biggest barrier right now is lack of accessibility. She hopes with new partnerships like this, the message is clear: there is a demand and a need for it.
“People’s lives are changing,” said McConnell.
