Bethesda Chef Jose Andres Feeds One Million In Puerto Rico

BETHESDA, MD — Chef Jose Andres, owner of Jaleo in Bethesda and other DC area restaurants, and an army of volunteers said Tuesday that they have fed one million meals in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Irma left the American territory without power or running water. In contrast, President Trump on Thursday gave his administration's response to the plight on the island a "10," even though most of the island's residents remain without electricity and other services.

Andres, through his charity World Central Kitchen, and with the help of chefs went from a single kitchen operating out of Jose Enrique’s restaurant in Santurce into a coordinated effort reaching thousands of families across the island, the charity says.

For the past three weeks, Andrés and his charity have set up satellite kitchens across Puerto Rico, reaching 60 municipalities, with the largest operation headquartered in San Juan’s Coliseo. The network of chefs set up 15 kitchens, rounded up 500 volunteers, and partnered with ten food trucks to deploy more than 120,000 meals to people in need on a daily basis.

"Our work is far from over–many communities remain without consistent access to food or water, and donations to World Central Kitchen help us to provide chef-prepared meals to those who need them most," the charity posted on its website.

Other food operations under way include the American Red Cross, which has delivered 150,000 MREs (or meals ready to eat), 302,000 meal boxes, and 1.4 million pounds of canned goods and other staples to the island, reports GrubStreet.

FEMA has provided more than 14 million meals and 11 million liters of water in all 78 municipalities in Puerto Rico, the agency told The Washington Post. That tally includes meals provided by state, local and volunteer organizations, such as World Central Kitchen, and much of the food is MREs, or meals ready to eat, which do not include hot food.

Donations to provide food and water are still needed, you can donate here and continue to spread the word with #ChefsForPuertoRico on social media, says the charity.

Andres and others are cooking huge portions of food and using food trucks to disperse it in in parts of the island, which is still struggling to restore basic utilities and phone service a month after the hurricane devastated Puerto Rico.

The Miami Herald reports that month after Maria, 81 percent of utility customers are still without power.

Trump met with Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello at the White House Thursday, and told reporters he gives federal relief efforts a perfect 10, because “we have provided so much, so fast.”

The New York Post reports the president said, “I’d say it was probably the most difficult when you talk about relief, when you talk about search, when you talk about all of the different levels, and even when you talk about lives saved.”

Jaleo, located at 7271 Woodmont Avenue, is run by chef and owner Andres, who immigrated from Spain and later became a U.S. citizen. He famously dropped out of a deal with President Donald Trump to open a restaurant at Trump International Hotel in Washington in protest of the president's characterization of Mexicans as drug dealers and rapists; the duo are fighting it out in court.

The chef says immigrants, especially Latinos, are under attack, yet they are integral to farm work, wineries, commercial fishing and the food service industry. "It seems we are part of the American dream, but somehow it seems that America is not recognizing what we are doing," Andres told NPR.

Images via World Central Kitchen YouTube video