A 'bittersweet' milestone: a million meals per day in Gaza

0:00All right, we're going to get to some good news now, or at least some less bad news about the hunger crisis in Gaza, which comes to us from the aid group called World Central Kitchen. In the worst moments of humanity, the best of humanity shows up. Myself, I've been in many. I've been in Gaza, I've been in North Carolina, in Asheville. The celebrity chef and restaurant owner, Jose Andres, started World Central Kitchen to deliver emergency food aid to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. It is now one of the biggest and earliest groups to arrive in places affected by disaster and war. But in Gaza, the organization faced some of its greatest challenges.

0:40World Central Kitchen says it's suspending eight operations in Gaza after an Israeli airstrike killed seven of its workers. On April 1st, 2024, a World Central Kitchen convoy, which included armored vehicles and was clearly marked with the aid group's logo, was hit by an Israeli strike while leaving a warehouse in Gaza on a route coordinated with Israeli forces. Israel apologized for the attack that killed the workers. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country, quote, deeply regrets the tragic incident. World Central Kitchen paused operations but eventually resumed them. Here's more of what Jose Andres told NPR's Morning Edition in 2024.

1:22There is the very big moral question. Do we go or we don't go? Do we watch from outside or we go and we try to help next to the people that are suffering? Last year, World Central Kitchen had to temporarily pause some operations again, this time due to supply shortages. The widespread hunger crisis had brought about an official declaration of famine in parts of northern Gaza. That's according to the world's leading authority on food insecurity. And now, yes, we promise good news, and here it is. In recent months, after a ceasefire agreement allowed more goods to enter Gaza, World Central Kitchen has rapidly increased its activity.

2:03And on Wednesday, the organization announced a new daily milestone. It is now serving one million meals in Gaza every single day. Consider this. Those one million daily meals are substantial progress. But they are going to a region with a pre-war population of more than two million people. The demand remains. So after the break, I speak with Jose Andres on the path ahead.

2:35From NPR, I'm Elsa Chang.

2:47It's Consider This from NPR. World Central Kitchen is now serving one million hot meals every single day in Gaza. But in a press release, it writes, quote, progress does not mean the crisis is over. This week I spoke with Chef Jose Andres about the announcement and what could actually end this crisis. We always believe at World Central Kitchen that locals know best. So obviously very proud of World Central Kitchen, but I'm even prouder that the people of Gaza are feeding Gaza. We have mobile bakeries. We have three. They are some of the best bakeries you can find anywhere in the world. the government of Jordan helped us build them and ship them there.

3:35But also we partner with local bakeries. Why? Because we need to be supporting the locals. We have also six kitchens of World Central Kitchen that we do over 100 ,000 meals in each one of them. But then we have more than 60 kitchen partners that help us reach every single part of Gaza. Also, we have private restaurants that we support because it's very important that we start supporting local restaurants because we need to keep rebuilding the local infrastructure. So that's how World Central Kitchen has arrived to 1 Million Meals. Obviously, it's a bittersweet celebration. It's bittersweet because, yes, World Central Kitchen is doing these other NGOs, but more aid needs to arrive every single day starting yesterday, today.

4:24And as you're working to intensify this effort, I know that personal safety for your workers is still an issue as the Israeli military continues airstrikes in Gaza, which it says are for targeting militants or responding to Hamas attacks. How worried are you about the safety of your workers still, even as the ceasefire has come down for a few months? We are very worried every day when you are in a conflict zone of everyone, not only of every one of the World Central Gijitian members, but for everyone, every civilian, every children, every humanitarian. Gaza has been a hard place over the last two years, and we must be bringing this very simple ask.

5:05As President Trump is trying to move the peace plan forward, it's something we all should celebrate. But we need to be asking that no more civilians must be dying. The holy month of Ramadan is approaching in about a week. How is your organization preparing for that to try to help people observe during that month? Well, the kitchens are going to be obviously fully functional. We do hot meals. We are planning to deliver 100 ,000 Ramadan food kits. Every food kit produces around 70 family meals. So we're going to be delivering to 100 ,000 families 100 ,000 Ramadan food kits. So when they gather with dignity at IFTER, they know that they will be able to do that.

5:53But Walsh and Drug Kitchen, for many reasons this year, we're going to go with these Ramadan food kits even stronger. It is breathtaking to hear you describe the scale, the level of the effort that's underway right now. I mean, serving just one million meals per day is remarkable. But yes, this is a territory with, what, a pre-war population of a little over two million. So as much as you are doing now, let me ask you this, Jose. What will it take in your mind? What conditions would need to be in place for your operation to be able to finally start scaling down its presence there? Yeah, Walsan Drug Kitchen is precisely an emergency situation.

6:33We go to places that we believe everything is being destroyed in such a way that they need the help that Walsh and Drug Kitchen provides and cover the short-term needs of the hungry population. Obviously, already we began doing this. By having more than 60 partner kitchens, we are already believing that the future of the people of Gaza is one moment where they can feed themselves. But we need more than 60. We need many more. We need probably two, three, four hundred. We need more restaurants to reopen again. We need to understand that a big part of Gaza is rubble. Everything has been destroyed.

7:13But obviously, now that President Trump is about to have a peace conference, and where the main theme is going to be Gaza, the bombing needs to stop. The civilian casualties need to stop. Targeting reporters and doctors and humanitarians, obviously, this cannot be allowed. was never supposed to happen, but has to stop. Today, we are not doing enough. We must do more on behalf of all the people of Gaza. Jose Andres, chef, restaurateur, and founder of the humanitarian group World Central Kitchen. Thank you so much, Jose, for everything that you're doing. Thank you for having me. This episode was produced by Jordan Marie Smith and Elena Burnett.

7:58It was edited by Michael Levitt, Patrick Jaron Watananen, and Nadia Lancey. Our executive producer is Sammy Yenigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Elsa Chang. Want to hear this podcast without sponsor breaks? Amazon Prime members can listen to Consider This sponsor-free through Amazon Music. Or you can also support NPR's vital journalism and get Consider This Plus at plus.npr.org. That's plus.npr.org.