"As Jose looked at the stars in the night sky,
three words simmered in his mind.
They were important words in his new home.
They gave him hope and inspired him to volunteer.
WE THE PEOPLE
Not ME, Jose thought. WE.
Everyone deserved a hot meal.
Not just the few ... but the many."
Jose Andres was given the most important job his father could offer as he prepared the paella that would feed as many as needed in his Spanish homeland. Jose was tasked with keeping the wood burning, the most important job by his father's reckoning. Jose wanted more. Jose wanted to cook like his parents did.
When he was finally old enough to go to cooking school, he thought of nothing but food and the stories it could tell. His brain was filled with possibilities for the foods he would, and could, make. He wanted those thoughts and dreams to become his reality.
After signing on to cook for a Spanish navy ship's crew, he traveled the world. His growing concern for people experiencing food insecurity led him to work in the most famous restaurant in Spain. There, listening and learning, the work inspired him every single day. When the opportunity arose, Jose cooked his way from New York to Washington, DC. As he became a star in his own right, his thoughts turned to all those who deserved a hot meal. His D.C.Central Kitchen offered hope for many.
All he wanted was to provide for others. When the call came from Haiti, following the earthquake, Jose knew what to do. After returning to the United States, he had a bigger dream - World Central Kitchen. He and his family would work together to make it successful. Then the hurricane struck Puerto Rico! More people needed his help. A stadium became the biggest kitchen in the world.
"Three months of cooking.
Twenty-six working kitchens.
Almost a million meals served!
But to Jose, it wasn't just a number ....
It was so much more.
Everyone deserves a hot plate of food.
No es solo un plato.
It is a plate of Hope."
Jose continues to dream bigger and to feed the few and the many in the Ukraine and in Gaza while he can. All are welcome.
Wonderful digital artwork provides backdrops for the work Jose has always done. This story of a man who never gives up, and always believes in the greater good is full of honor and admiration. Archival photos and a bibliography add interest.
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