José Andrés, the founding chef of the NGO attacked in Israel that provides aid in times of crisis

It was 2010 when Spanish chef José Andrés founded the NGO World Central Cuisine (WCK). A devastating earthquake had just killed more than 300,000 people in Haiti and reduced the impoverished Caribbean country to rubble. The chef mobilized to bring help under a mantra that has guided his solidarity work for almost 15 years and which this Wednesday, the 3rd, he recalled when honoring the seven humanitarian workers who lost their lives this week in Gaza strip due to Israeli bombing.

TO LOOK: What will happen to aid to Gaza after the Israeli attack that killed foreign aid workers?

“Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Zomi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby and Damian Sobol risked everything for the most fundamentally human activity: sharing our food with others“, wrote José Andrés this morning in an opinion article in The New York Times. “They were the best of humanity” he added.

The attack – the first to end the lives of foreign aid workers so far in the war in Link– caused outrage in the international community, which demanded answers from Israel for what happened.

José Andrés, in turn, asked the Government of Israel to “open more land routes for food and medicine” and stated that the attack was “the direct result of a policy that has reduced humanitarian aid to desperate levels” at a time when it is “desperately needed”.

Under the leadership of the Spanish chef who became an American citizen in 2013 WCK has become one of the most recognized food aid organizations in the world and its work has provided relief to areas affected by conflict and disasters.

Although its last battlefront was Link, the organization also brought food to victims of Hurricane Maria, which hit Puerto Rico in 2017, and to people affected by the wildfires in California. He also works in Ukraine, a country that awarded José Andrés with a medal for his work.

Regarding the war between Israel it’s him Palestinian Islamic group HamasJosé Andrés mobilized quickly at the start of the conflict and partnered with restaurants and hospitals in Israel to feed people displaced or injured by the October 7 terrorist attack.

A destroyed vehicle from the NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) is found on the Al Rashid road, between Deir Al Balah and Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip. (Photo: EFE).

He also acted to organize support for civilians in Link. “We serve more than 43 million meals in Gaza, preparing hot food in 68 community kitchens where Palestinians feed Palestinians,” said the chef this Wednesday, the 3rd.

In a telephone interview with The Associated Press in March, José Andrés attributed to his campaign the merit of pushing the government to action and contributing to inspiring the American government’s plan to build a provisional port in Gaza to receive cargo of help.

José Andrés was born in 1969 in a mining region in the Spanish region of Asturias. He trained for three years at the experimental restaurant El Bulli, run by his mentor and best friend Ferrán Adriá, near Barcelona, ​​but moved to the United States in 1991.

He first came to New York and eventually settled in Washington, where he founded his own restaurant group. His company ThinkFoodGroup currently has more than 20 restaurants in several cities, one of them with two Michelin stars, according to the newspaper “La Nación”.

José Andrés was awarded for his career and humanitarian work. (Photo: CENTRAL WORLD KITCHEN)

He has written several cookbooks and his awards are numerous. He received the Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic award from the James Beard Foundation in 2003, as well as four Bib Gourmands awards.

In 2013 he received the design award at the Hispanic Heritage Awards for his contributions to the promotion of Hispanic culture. He was also chosen as Humanitarian of the Year in 2018 by the James Beard Foundation and Time magazine included him in the list of the 100 most influential people in 2012 and 2018.

A very special recognition came in 2015, when then-President Barack Obama awarded him the National Humanities Medal.

Part of his life and his passions are told in the Discovery+ and CNN series “José Andrés and his family in Spain”.

“In the United States, José Andrés is much more than a famous or prestigious chef. More than a culinary promoter, a successful businessman or the “humanitarian personality” of the year declared by the James Beard Foundation for his work on the island of Puerto Rico (in 2011 it also awarded him ‘extraordinary chef’. José Andrés is, in the sense most purely American of the word, a leader”, says a profile in the newspaper “La Vanguardia”.

His qualities allowed him to establish relationships with powerful figures in American politics. He worked for the Bush administration and later with Barack Obama, with whom he formed a very close bond.

When current President Joe Biden was vice president, José Andrés prepared meals at the White House and both Obama and former first lady Michelle were frequent customers at his restaurants.

He remains connected to the Biden administration, as co-head of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. In February, he spoke at a conference on hunger organized by Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, AP reports.

The person he didn’t have such a good connection with was Donald Trump. The chef confronted the Republican leader about a restaurant project at the then Trump International Hotel in Washington. José Andrés tried to terminate the contract in protest against Trump’s comments about Latin American migrants crossing the US border, whom he called “rapists” and “murderers”.

Both sued each other and in 2017 reached an out-of-court settlement. The Spaniard wrote a dedication to the tycoon in his book “We Feed an Island”, which chronicles his work in Puerto Rico after the devastation of Hurricane María, the same one that Trump minimized.

“For Donald Trump. This is the true story of Puerto Rico, learn the lesson,” the chef wrote.

“La Vanguardia” emphasizes that it is impossible to understand the extent of José Andrés’ public figure without paying attention to his humanitarian aspect. “By opening his own restaurants, he taught good home management classes to disadvantaged social groups in Washington. If Adrià was his gastronomic mentor, Robert Egger, founder of the NGO DC Central Kitchen, was his philosophical mentor. He began peeling potatoes in his kitchen and before long was leading the organization. When he saw the effects of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, he didn’t think twice and went there to help as he knew best, feeding the population. He later created his own foundation“, he points out.

Source: Elcomercio