play videoplay video

A non-governmental, non-profit organization that distributes food meals to those affected in places of human crises or natural disasters around the world, founded by Chef José Andrés and his wife Patricia in 2010 in order to provide support to disaster survivors.

Foundation

World Central Kitchen was founded by José Andrés and his wife Patricia in 2010 following the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti. Its headquarters are located in the United States of America, and it is concerned with providing emergency food aid to disaster survivors.

It then evolved to provide meals and support to survivors of natural disasters, as well as to refugees and those affected by conflict.

Vision and perception

The organization considers food to be a daily necessity of life around the world, and more important in crises than ever before.

She believes that it is not just a fresh meal served to someone in the wake of a disaster, but rather a reminder that he is not alone and that there are people thinking about him and caring about him.

The organization ranks itself as the first on the front lines to provide meals in response to humanitarian, climate and societal crises, applying an agile business model, leveraging local resources, and adapting to the current situation.

She emphasizes that good food not only provides nutrition, but also comfort and hope, especially in times of crisis. And that there is no greater force for good than helping others.

José Andrés is the organization's founder and chief nutrition officer

World Central Kitchen was founded by José Andrés, a Spanish-American chef and cookbook author who owns a restaurant in Washington.

He received the National Medal for the Humanities from President Barack Obama in 2015, and was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in both 2012 and 2018.

He received the 2017 Achievement Award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Andrés moved to the United States at the age of 21 and settled in Washington, after being born and raised in Spain. He thought a lot about charitable work, so his practical path inspired him to establish this organization in 2010 after the Haiti earthquake, with the support of his wife Patricia, his business partner Rob Wilder, and his wife, Robin.

The first experiment

Andres went to Haiti after the devastating earthquake that struck the city in 2010, and while he was cooking alongside the affected displaced families in the camp, they were guiding him on the correct way to cook black beans the way the people of the country like them.

Andrés found that it was not about feeding people in need but about listening, learning and cooking alongside them, a core value that Andrés and his wife used when they founded World Kitchen.

Most prominent stations

The World Kitchen Organization continued to provide assistance to communities affected by disasters and crises. In the wake of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2022, the organization provided meals to Ukrainian families fleeing their homes, as well as those remaining in the country within the first hours of the invasion.

It also provided thousands with daily meals in cooperation with the Humanitarian Relief Service in South Africa following the devastating floods in 2022.

In 2023, a strong earthquake destroyed areas in central and southern Turkey and northern Syria, and shortly after the earthquake, the World Kitchen Organization distributed meals to survivors. The team quickly identified restaurants capable of starting the cooking process immediately and established a “relief kitchen” to ensure the provision of food to the largest number of families and regions. The organization provided more than 20 million meals to those affected in Syria and Turkey, according to its website.

In early September of the same year, an earthquake struck southwest of Marrakesh, Morocco. The earthquake was the most difficult to hit Morocco in more than a century, as it destroyed buildings and caused rock collapses.

The epicenter of the earthquake was in an area where villages spread across the Atlas Mountains, and the organization's team used helicopters to conduct comprehensive aerial assessments of the country's mountainous central region. These helicopters brought thousands of meals to isolated families, and also evacuated some injured people in need of medical care, and transported them to cities to receive treatment.

In the following weeks, the organization partnered with local organizations and built field kitchens to cook and distribute meals to affected people. It also distributed large cooking equipment and food kits of produce and dry goods, so that affected people could cook meals themselves.

At the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, the humanitarian crisis worsened and food supplies decreased, so the World Kitchen Organization - in cooperation with its partner “ANERA” - contributed by providing aid and meals to the displaced in the Rafah camp.

She also provided meals at ANERA summer camps, which provide a safe space for children to process trauma through play, music and art. The organization also previously worked with Anera in Gaza in May 2021 after air strikes that left thousands displaced, and provided more than 100,000 meals, according to its website.

Israeli targeting

At the beginning of April 2024, the World Culinary Organization announced the killing of members of its employees in an Israeli air strike in the middle of the Gaza Strip. The victims were from Australia, Poland, and the United Kingdom, in addition to an American-Canadian citizen. It also announced the immediate suspension of its operations in the region.

The founder of the "Andres" organization expressed his sadness over the killing of his team members, and called on the Israeli government to stop indiscriminate killing and stop using the weapon of starvation, while Australia - which confirmed the killing of one of its citizens in the raid - called for the perpetrators to be held accountable.

Source: Al Jazeera + Reuters + websites