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Israel-Hamas war: Who is Jose Andres, the star chef who prepared thousands of meals in Gaza (Jose Andres photo taken in Ukraine on September 6, 2023)
GAZA – A star chef in the Gaza Strip to try to combat famine. The first humanitarian ship is heading to the besieged Palestinian Territory this Tuesday, March 12. On board, Spanish-American chef Jose Andrés and members of his organization, World Central Kitchen (WCK), which has been operating since 2010 in disaster areas around the world.
The association took with it about 200 tons of food (rice, flour, canned goods, etc.), ready to be distributed to the Gazan population, which is suffering from famine and a major humanitarian crisis due to the conflict with Israel.
In a message published on X, WCK indicates “ Work to send as many boats as possible” and announces that its teams are already on site to participate in the construction of a jetty to offload humanitarian aid from boats. ” Failure is not an option… the North must be fed! », writes, determined, Jose Andres.
Jose Andres, ahead of the earthquake in Haiti
Feeding the suffering and hungry population of Gaza is the great mission this star chef has set for himself. José Andrés, 54 years old and born in Spain, is known for popularizing tapas in the United States. The Wall Street Journal.
The owner of a gourmet restaurant in the United States, he is also the founder of the Global Food Institute at the American George Washington University, which studies food-related issues, underlining our colleagues here. the world.
Gaza is far from its first mission. After founding WCK during the 2010 Haiti earthquake, he found himself on many fronts amid natural disasters and wars. The New York Times The Puerto Rican crisis after Hurricane Maria in 2017, the war in Ukraine and the massive fires that affected Texas and Chile last February. According to American media, the NGO has served more than 350 million meals since its creation.
Providing leadership within a network of local leaders
WCK is an organization, but above all a network of chefs and culinary professionals. As the Hawaiian media explains Star Advertiser, when José Andrés and his team arrive in the disaster area as quickly as possible, they bring food and prepare the first batch of meals to accelerate. They then trust the respective country’s cooks and chefs to participate in operations and continue food aid.
According to New York Times, World Central Kitchen is the largest emergency food program ever put together by a group of chefs. The media thus praised his ability to quickly build networks on the ground, find food and equipment, and build makeshift community kitchens in often very difficult conditions.
This is currently the case in Gaza where 30 million meals have been distributed and more than 60 community kitchens have been created since October, according to the WCK website. The association plans to add at least 35 more kitchens. Each of them has the capacity to produce 2,000 meals per day, or a total of 350,000 per day, she explains. American Daily.
The goal: one million meals per day
Still speaking to the New York media, starred chef Jose Andres explains that he wants to distribute at least one million meals a day and be able to reach the north of the Gaza Strip. Because today the area is almost cut off with little help coming from the south, especially Rafah. These were quickly blocked by raids and looting and bombed roads had to be taken.
Despite these initiatives, the arrival of Jose Andrés’ ship is just a drop in the ocean, underscoring the dramatic crisis Gaza is experiencing. HuffPost Jean-Claude Samouiler, President of Amnesty International France. He called for the blockade to be lifted and corridors to be opened to allow humanitarian aid trucks to pass through.
According to UN figures, about 80% of Gaza’s population depends on international aid, and about a million people rely on daily food aid.
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