ENGJose Andres on World Central Kitchen's first month in Ukraine: “War is a hurricane that never ends”

Born in Spain, Jose Andres has made a name for himself as a chef and restaurant owner in the US. He has restaurants in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, DC; has been on the TIME 100 list of the most influential people in the world; and has appeared on Michelle Obama’s Netflix show. For the past 12 years, however, Andres has been focusing on something else: helping those in need, on a truly global scale. The Spanish-American chef founded the World Central Kitchen non-profit in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake to provide food to people hit by the disaster. Andres’s team became a key source of humanitarian aid following hurricane Maria’s fall on Puerto Rico in 2017. World Central Kitchen has also organised meals in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Peru, Cambodia, and Cuba. You can support WCK by donation.

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“World Central Kitchen is responsible for providing food in emergency situations. Our [humanitarian] organisation was founded by a chef, so we are chefs first and foremost. We believe that sometimes big problems might have simple solutions – that’s why we decided to feed people,” Andres explained in an interview with The Village Ukraine in late March. The famous chef has borrowed his motto from John Steinbeck: “Wherever there’s a fight so hungry people may eat, I will be there.”

Unfortunately, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Ukraine became another country in need of World Central Kitchen’s assistance. The organisation has been working on the Polish-Ukrainian border since the first day of the full-scale war. In our conversation, we asked Andres about the month he spent working in Ukraine, his recent appointment to a fitness and nutrition advisory body under US President Joe Biden, and, naturally, about borshch.

– Tell us how you set up work in Ukraine and how you scaled it up.

– Our team landed in the heart of the events hours after the war began. We chose the village of Medyka on the Polish-Ukrainian border because it was on the main route many Ukrainians used to cross the Polish border on their way to Europe. Later on, we expanded our work to other border crossings on Romanian, Hungarian, Slovakian and Moldovan borders.

Then we realised that there were big queues on the other side of the border, the Ukrainian side. Some people spent two to four days queueing [to leave Ukraine], so of course they needed food, too. They crossed the border by foot, in cars, in buses, and all of them had to eat. Then we started providing food in temporary shelters where people could spend several days before continuing their journey. That’s how we expanded our work from the kitchen in Przemysl.

At some point it became clear that we had to expand further, so we set up our new headquarters in Lviv. We started working with numerous partners: restaurant groups, catering services, food trucks.

I’m still in Lviv now, in the building of a former kindergarten [Rio], which has since become a shelter providing hot food and a roof over the heads of hundreds of Ukrainians. We also have an outpost at the Arena Lviv stadium, where many people have found shelter. Our mission is to make lunch and dinner accessible to everyone. And we are glad to collaborate with local partners, such as the !FEST restaurant group, the Babo Gardens restaurant, and many others.

– You’ve also started working in Kyiv and Odesa with partners there.

– We are trying to support as many cities as possible. We’re providing support, sending money. But sometimes money alone isn’t enough: some of the cities are under constant attacks or are under siege. Unfortunately, many cities are difficult to reach despite urgently needing help.

I’m inspired by the way that Ukrainian people are doing everything they can to help one another. They’re doing everything to ensure senior citizens have food, to feed people in bomb shelters. They’re doing everything they can to be useful. They are true heroes alongside those who are defending their country [on the front]. Because food is another way of waging war, a way to support people during war.

I consider many Ukrainian chefs and cooks who are continuing to work for their country to be heroes. They could have gone to any other country, but have decided to stay and feed their people. This inspires me.

– Are there any Ukrainian chefs that you’re working with now and that you can single out?

– I’m bad with names, sorry. [He laughs] I personally try to focus on the overall strategy and we have a large team of people who collaborate with the cooks. But for example, there is Oleksandr Shostak, a chef from Kherson, and his partners. There are a lot of incredible people, the Mafia restaurant group is doing an awful lot…Soon I’ll share more information about all of our partners, I’ll soon release a new video on Twitter.

– You were able to talk to many people affected [by the war], as far as I understand. Have any of their stories particularly struck you?

– There are so many of those stories…I would like these to be isolated stories but unfortunately there were so many. When a woman tells you that her husband was killed. When a child tells you they left the country without their father. When mothers and grandmothers are trying to protect their children and grandchildren from the horrors of the war… It’s terrible that thousands of children have to go through this.

We’ve only seen things like this in movies before. If you haven’t experienced war first-hand, you can never comprehend its horror. Even here, in Lviv, it feels as though we might be in any other European city, even though Russian missiles have already targeted this city. But at the same time, you know that this situation is not normal at all. A bomb could be dropped any day. And at the same time, other Ukrainians are suffering bombardments, sheltering from shelling, or experiencing hunger not that far away. And there’s no logical ground for any of this. What’s this war for?

– What is the main challenge for your team in Ukraine during the war? I know that it is impossible to compare different humanitarian disasters, but how does this differ from your previous experience?

– [The scale] is the main difference. Usually when we are working – for example, in the aftermath of a hurricane – we’re covering a city or a region. In Ukraine, the entire country is currently experiencing war. Another thing that stands out is that everyone in Ukraine is trying to help their fellow citizens. And we’re seeing how people in Poland and Romania are trying to help their neighbours, too.

On the first day we arrived in Medyka, I saw former firefighters making soup. An elderly woman approached them, offered to help, offered to give them food or to drive them somewhere. This is representative of the entire country: people are helping one another in all of Ukraine. Everyone is trying to do something, to find ways to be useful. This is incredible!

There’s something else that I find amazing. Lviv is a beautiful European city and if you put on a pair of headphones and walk its streets, it seems that you’re not in a country that is at war. Especially on a day like yesterday [23 March]: you see children playing on the streets, people having a coffee in local cafes. At some point you will come across a church or a monument that’s being covered to save it from possible shelling. But overall everything seems normal. Lviv might look like a peaceful city, there might be food in supermarkets here, but several hundreds kilometres to the east men, women, and children are dying.

So that is the main difference: a hurricane passes, but the war continues, it grinds on, day after day. The war is a hurricane which never ends. The fifth week of the war has begun, and it’s starting to feel like we’re getting used to it. It’s a strange new normal. Though we do realise how many people around us have lost their loved ones, their homes or their lives.

– In light of the above, will World Central Kitchen be able to continue operating in Ukraine in the long term?

– We’ve never been the kind of organisation that promptly evacuates. We will stand with the people of Ukraine. We are already serving 200,000 portions of food a day, even up to 240,000 according to the latest update.

We are working in our own kitchens and the kitchens of our partners. We are glad that we can support the local restaurant community. So, my friend, let me tell you: we won’t leave you all on your own. World Central Kitchen will stand by you, by the incredible Ukrainian people. They are my heroes during these mad times.

– You know better than I do that sooner or later every humanitarian crisis disappears from the mainstream information circuits. People all over the world get tired of discussing one issue. Soon people will get tired of talking about Ukraine. How can we ensure Ukraine and its resistance against the Russian invasion remain at the forefront of the attention of the global community?

– It’s true, these campaigns usually garner a lot of attention and empathy in their early days, but as time passes people begin to forget. The media gets tired of covering one particular issue. Global audiences follow the deaths of innocent civilians, but when this lasts for a long period of time, it’s as if people get inoculated, it becomes normal. Our goal is to prevent this from becoming a new norm. We have to put an end to this war as soon as possible, to allow people to return to their homes, to allow Ukrainians, who have already suffered through a lot, to begin rebuilding their country.

Keeping a spotlight on an issue is something we’re good at. We maintain a very active social media presence. I personally maintain our social media accounts, as does our CEO Nate Mook [who had since departed WCK]. People like supporting organisations like ours when they can track their activity in real time. But it’s also important for us to support initiatives over a long period of time. We are reminding people that there is a lot of suffering in the world. People might be enjoying peaceful lives, but they shouldn’t forget what’s happening in Ukraine.

– Returning to the previous question, we had an interesting conversation here in Ukraine about how the global community of chefs responded to the war that Russia started. We saw a lot of support for Ukraine, the World’s 50 Best’s decision to [move] its awards ceremony [from Moscow to London] and to exclude Russian establishments [from their lists of best bars and restaurants]. But there were also lots of famous chefs who criticised this decision, saying that the awards must remain apolitical. For example, [renowned chef] Gaggan Anand commented that “Food should unite, not divide.” What’s your take on the community’s reactions?

– Chef’s actions say more than their words. Jose Enrique was one of the chefs who helped us in Puerto Rico when hurricane Maria swept through the island. He is with us again in Poland. Marc Murphy is a very popular chef, he works for Food Network. Over the course of the past three weeks, he’s been cooking for us non-stop. Karla Hoyos was in charge of our biggest kitchen in San Juan, in Puerto Rico; now she’s organising the work of our biggest kitchen in Poland.

This isn’t just about the work that we do in Ukraine or at the border. For example, we are receiving a lot of support from restaurants in my native Spain. Local cooks are providing food for people arriving from Ukraine, raising money for humanitarian organisations; they’ve also started to remove Russian-made spirits from their drinks menus.

There are also many chefs all over the world who want to join us in Ukraine. I don’t know if it’s true, but I’ve seen pictures from military commissariats in Ukraine, where people are denied requests to join the army because there are too many of them already. We’re in a similar predicament. [he laughs] But we have to realise that this war will last for a long time. Of course we want it to end as soon as possible. But we must be prepared for it to be a marathon, not a sprint. We have to organise in order to tackle future challenges.

After all, we have to understand that the war in Ukraine creates problems beyond Ukraine. Ukraine is a major grain producer and the loss of crops will have an effect beyond your country; it will affect the entire world. The war is making the lives of Ukrainian people really awful, but it is also creating problems for many other countries. So let’s hope that the war ends as soon as possible and that the only person responsible for unleashing it finally comes to his senses.

– I remember one of the first videos you recorded in Ukraine, when you couldn’t hold back tears and condemned the actions of [Vladimir] Putin and Russia: “We cannot let more Putins of the world… We cannot play in life like [it] is Monopoly. Life is no Monopoly game” and said that “Anybody who thinks that Putin is a good leader should be ashamed, and anybody supporting people who say that Putin was a good leader, they should be more than ashamed.” Where do you find motivation? What makes you continue working?

– I hope that people all over the world are able to share the sadness and suffering of Ukrainian people. I believe that [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is no longer just the President of Ukraine; he is becoming a world leader. And I believe that this is very important. We need more leaders like Zelenskyy. In his speeches, through his visits to hospitals, he is not only defending his country, he is fighting for democracy, freedom and a better future for the entire world.

Unfortunately, Ukraine is not receiving enough support from NATO and the European Union. Unfortunately. We don’t really see the UN doing much, either – I counted on them to do more. Your president cannot afford to say this, but I can. I would like all of us to be able to do more.

But it’s incredible how Zelenskyy managed to unite all Ukrainians. To unite the people of Ukraine around this idea that they cannot let an authoritarian leader tell them what to do. Around the idea that Ukraine will be free. Ukraine is fighting for the entire world right now! I love Zelenskyy for doing something incredible, for giving me hope. He could have left the country long ago, he could have left the war for generals to fight, but he remains here, he’s leading Ukrainians, and making sure that the world does not forget about his people.

– This is the most banal question, but I have to ask you: have you had a chance to try any Ukrainian dishes?

– Oh, yes, I’m a chef, so I would never miss a chance to do so. [he laughs] We should all start preparing for the fact that when Ukraine returns to a normal life, tourists from all over the world will come to visit.

When I was studying for my culinary qualifications the first dish I learned to make was Chicken Kyiv. Now I dream of trying a Chicken Kyiv in Kyiv!

– Chicken Kyiv is more of a Soviet Ukrainian dish…

– But of course I’ve already tried your borshch and your dumplings…

– Varenyky!

– Yes, yes! I know that you’ve got a diverse and advanced cuisine, but I have not had enough time to study it properly. I can tell you for sure that I love borshch. And I know that there are many different versions of borshch, that every region has its own borshch…

– President Joe Biden recently appointed you as co-chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. What does this mean to you? How are you planning to use this platform?

– This is an honour for me. I believe that every citizen has to share their knowledge with their fellow citizens whenever possible. I have Spanish and American citizenships and I love both Spain and the US. But I feel at home anywhere on the planet.

This position is important to me because food is about health, about life, and it is about love. Everyone knows that I’m not the one to accept positions just so I can sit on the board of directors. I am a man of action. Even though World Central Kitchen is a non-profit, it’s part of the private sector. I want to treat this position not as a boost to my CV but as an opportunity to be useful. First and foremost, [I want] to make sure that kids in the US have full bellies and are healthy, and that we fight hunger all over the world.

I believe that there is always a way to host everyone at one table. I hope that one day we will all sit at one enormous table under the beautiful, bright blue Ukrainian sky, with Ukrainian wheat all around us. And this wheat will feed the whole world, not just Ukraine.

Photos: World Central Kitchen