Chef José Andrés cooks up a plan to save the world

When disaster and conflict strike, Chef José Andrés is among the first to enlist to the front lines.

But he doesn’t bring weapons. He brings food.

On the evening of March 1, Andrés was welcomed by the National Press Club and President Emily Wilkins for a Headliners fireside chat. World-renowned for his culinary skills and humanitarian efforts, and now nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, he has made a name for himself inside and outside the kitchen.

“In a disaster, the least we can do is provide people food and water,” Andrés said.

After serving in the Spanish Navy and traveling the world, seeing the need and learning of inequality, he planted roots in Washington, DC in 1993.

“I interned at DC Central Kitchen, a wonderful operation that helps convicts, [the] homeless, single mothers, everyone. I learned to not throw away food, and to not throw away lives,” Andrés said. “Philanthropy…seems to be the redemption of the giver; but it should be the liberation of the receiver,” he adds.

Named one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People,” Andrés is the founder of over thirty restaurants in the United States, and, most recently, Mexico City. His accolades as a chef include a 2-star Michelin and four Bib Gourmands. In 2015, President Obama recognized him with a National Humanities Medal. Andrés has dedicated his life and efforts to serving not just world-class dinners, but world peace.

Andrés was angered by the images of devastation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Seeing thousands of people in New Orleans’ Superdome without food and water struck him deeply, and he began to invest in his project that would succeed where he saw governments fail: World Central Kitchen. In 2010, when an earthquake caused destruction across Haiti, Andrés was ready to help.

Fourteen years later, World Central Kitchen has served over four hundred million meals across hundreds of kitchens worldwide that have collaborated to serve the hungry, the grieving, and those in need of compassion. Sixty million meals have been distributed in Ukraine over the last three years. World Central Kitchen has provided sixty percent of the meals in Gaza since October 2023. They plan to send boats to distribute even more aid to Palestine.

"We can respond to disasters within hours,” Andrés said. Within six hours the Texas wildfires began to rage, World Central Kitchen was giving sandwiches to firefighters.

Remarkably, often only one employee from World Central Kitchen goes into the afflicted areas. In Ukraine, it was Andrés.

“World Central Kitchen is the biggest organization–bigger than the United Nations,” Andrés said. He explained that they accept help from anyone, anywhere. “We commandeer helicopters to [reach remote land], we seize transports [to make deliveries]. We own every stadium,” he remarked with a note of humor. More seriously, he considers himself a “volunteer and a whisperer” that makes these operations possible by using wide networks.

The organization’s success is in its absence of planning.

“Instead, we are pragmatic, collaborate with great teams, embrace the complexity of the chaos, and adapt to serve,” Andrés said. No two disasters can be responded to the same way. World Central Kitchen remains flexible, so it can assess immediate needs and respond appropriately.

“There’s no right way to do it, but we gather a community and make them stronger…our ideas are simple. Give people food and water. Everyone is empowered to do whatever it takes to achieve that,” Andrés said.

Toward the end of the evening, Andrés aired grievances on the state of global politics. “Put politics aside and support good policies that support people,” he pleaded. “People are not red or blue, Jewish or Muslim when they volunteer. They are good humans,” he said.

He recently met with the White House to coordinate air-dropping goods to Gaza and support resolutions to end food insecurity and food deserts in the United States. “If you want to be fed, then support immigration reform,” he implored.

“The future of the nations will depend on how they feed themselves,” Andrés said. 

While he felt a call early in life to serve others, he encourages all to listen for their own call. “You’ll hear it in your heart,” Andrés said.