Meet José Andrés - My Favorite People

26:40There's something in a caipirinha. So fresh. There's something in that drink. Yeah, you got it.

26:45José Andrés:Cachaca. There's something in a caipirinha. I got chasta to rule the world, I'm telling you. So Dominican Republic, first time I came to America, Pensacola, one of the five flags, they celebrate the five flags. One of them, the Spanish-American flag. He's like, okay, I belong here. New York, Ellis Island, Lady Liberty, that really marked me. But what really had a big effect on me was this way of against currents and winds, 300 people working together, you could go through storms. You could get anywhere you wanted if you kind of follow this common goal of working as one. Wow. So my time in the military service in the Spanish Navy was really, in this way, was life-changing in more ways than one.

27:36José Andrés:And obviously my mom was a nurse, my father was a nurse, that I always saw, we saw during the pandemic, but I grew up in watching all these people that to me were like superheroes even doing little things, like reading a little book to a child because his family, their family didn't arrive to the hospital and he was alone, and they would go extra duty on things that is not written, this is your job, but they will do it. And I think I grew up in that environment. You know, Clara Barton, the founder of The Missing Soldiers, that she found what happened to over 2 ,000 soldiers during the Civil War and then created the American Red Cross.

28:17José Andrés:Her house, her apartment, just was found 30 meters across my restaurant in downtown D.C. And I got fascinated by this woman that she was a Norse during the Civil War, but then she created these two organizations with her same knowledge, but she had such an impact only putting her skills in more creative ways to help others. There tells you, man, we can all do that, you know? And then you tell me where I got it. I just got it watching and learning. I went to Haiti because I watched Katrina, what happened. Not in all Katrina, not in all New Orleans, not what happened to the poor people at the low nine, and we saw the images.

28:59José Andrés:But forget all New Orleans, only the Superdome. We left over a week, 20 ,000 Americans almost forgotten with no food and water. And an arena, my friend, is not a place where we go to see a great comedian perform or where we go to see our basketball team win a ring or where we go to see Taylor Swift. No, an arena, a stadium is a gigantic restaurant that entertains with comedians, musicians and sports. It takes a second to fit everybody. That's why World Central Kitchen we use in many occasions, in a lot of places, a lot of big stadiums. In earthquakes, obviously, you need baseball because nobody wants to sleep in any place you have a roof.

29:41José Andrés:So we will use in earthquakes baseball stadiums because it's no-brainer. It's the best option. It's been designed for a lot of people to come in, a lot of people to go out. There's a lot of spaces for you to feed people. And to provide a lot of services that is beyond food and water. And we've done that. And then life, you keep learning. You keep going through the punches, and every situation is a moment that you leave every mission with more experience than before. Obviously, for me, you know, in Jamaica on the second day, because we began moving, it's a lot of moving pieces, and we had the big Chinook, this huge helicopter.

30:17José Andrés:Almost you have six, seven people running the helicopter, and we had like 3 ,000, 4 ,000 mils, And they were picking me up somewhere around the south of Jamaica. They picked me up in the middle of the mountain near Bluefields. And then from there, they were supposed to be taking me to another town. Actually, it was Montego Bay. But for some reason, they sent the wrong coordinates. And we're landing in this, look like a football stadium, a football field in the open, surrounded by palm trees. Already was getting dark. We had to drop the food because we had to go back to base. And all of a sudden, I don't see any of the cars of Wilson Dracchitian.

30:58José Andrés:They were supposed to be a meeting point. So people will help me download the 4 ,000, 5 ,000 meals and then distribute them. And we land there. There is nobody there. And people began coming around this helicopter. And the situation got a little bit tense. It's first arrival to the grill. And I don't know, man. I began like, hey, guys, why? I need you all to organize. We're going to do the food, but please don't come close to the helicopter. This is screaming into the air. And the only way I got everybody kind of work as one is we began singing. One love. No ways. One, and everybody kind of calm down.

31:40José Andrés:Let's get together and to be. We got like 30, 40 of the strong man. They help us download the helicopter. No ways. I didn't have the place. We already made contact for a hotel, but the helicopter didn't want to leave me there. But I couldn't leave all the food there without organizing the delivery of the food without creating chaos. The helicopter left. I stayed there. And the people living in a tense situation, some of them hungry. And anyway, when it's eight coming, it can be dramatic at times. But people were amazing. Some police arrived. Everybody was calm. We keep singing a couple more of times.

32:17José Andrés:We deliver all the meals. without almost any chaos. You see, in these situations, you kind of try to learn from previous moments. I was in Haiti. I saw one time somebody with very good will that began giving food without thinking that people will start running and sometimes you have children and then things happen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now there's a stampede. And you don't know those things until you're not in the middle of them. Happened in Bahamas, where people were trying to leave Habakkuk and even with the military there, sometimes the situation extends when people, they've been three, four, five days without knowing food and what is happening and they want to leave.

32:58José Andrés:And in those moments, you realize that if you come with food every day, if you come with water every day, people know they can trust you. Everybody becomes calm. Everybody becomes part of the solution. Because when you are desperate, if I was desperate to feed my children, I will do whatever it takes to feed my children. Because you don't know if there'll be another opportunity to get that food. But that's why it's so important to be fast, to be quick, to be there next to the people. Because then they know you are with them. And then everything becomes so much easier. Everybody's helping each other.

33:35José Andrés:Everybody's looking after each other. Nobody's pushing anybody anymore. This is the dignity we need to be giving to the people. and that's why for me it's always so important that we arrive quick, that we arrive first and that from the first second we show that it's somebody there looking after them and that we will not leave until things go back to normal days, weeks, a month from now. And this is what Wolf Central Kitchen tries to do and that's why for us it's so important to be first. No, because we want to claim we're first. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, because if we are early we understand better than anybody what happens.

34:14José Andrés:And then every decision we make is a good decision on behalf of the people. Don't go anywhere because we got more What Now after this. Picture this. You're about to take off for a long flight and suddenly you realize the Wi-Fi is out. Ladies and gentlemen, the Wi-Fi is not working. You've already seen most of the in-flight movies. And the book you brought feels more like homework than pleasure. This, my friends, is when you'll love having YouTube premium. Downloading videos before a flight is a must. You can be sitting 30 ,000 feet in the air halfway through a fascinating interview, a travel documentary, or a cooking series you've somehow become emotionally invested in.

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37:10I can't help but think people also feel like they matter when somebody shows up early. You know, you look at it in society. One of the worst things that can happen to any community is being over-policed and under-policed. Having police that clamp down on people's civil liberties, but then also not having police show up when they actually need them to show up. And the under-policed one is one that a lot of people don't understand because they go like, oh, I mean, is it annoying? It's like, no, it shows people that they don't matter. And it's interesting hearing you say this. When you show up as soon as something has happened, even though you still have to scale up the meals, you still have to go to 100 meals, then 1 ,000 meals, then 100 ,000 meals, then a million meals, just you being there as soon as the disaster has happened has showed the people that they matter.

38:02But then I guess the question that comes to my mind is, why do you need to exist? Like, I know this is maybe a naive question, but why are governments not able to do this, right? Because you as Jose Andres have created this organization. You have many, many, many, many, many hundreds of thousands of people helping you on different levels. So some are permanently in your organization. Others join the organization, you know, on the ground. And then some are auxiliary, like you said, the fishermen in Jamaica who now are part of it because you buy them nets, you buy them boats. They sell you fish, but they're part of the operation.

38:39But like, from your experience, why can't governments do this?

38:47José Andrés:The younger Jose, I will be much quicker to criticize. But I began realizing the wonderful people that are in those positions. Yeah. In FEMA, in the United States, that, you know, they do much more than even people are aware. I will do certain changes that will make FEMA more efficient. And believe me, God knows I've been trying. I've been trying with a few administrations now. And I've not been lucky enough. But I can tell you that people care. USAID, which I think is one of the worst decisions America has done as a country, because genuinely America is a country that cares and used to wipe out USAID.

39:30José Andrés:That is one of the best ways for the United States of America to show the power of soft power next to the people. I think it's not been a very smart decision, and I don't think President Trump has been well advised on that sense. But the issue is that we all have the government we deserve, but we all have to work towards to have the best government we can. World Central Kitchen exists in a way because government agencies, it's true that sometimes become too big. Sometimes become too big that then move very slow. In emergencies, you have to move quick and fast. You cannot have all these manuals that by the time you finish the manual, it's like, okay, exactly what I'm able to do from who orders the water, who pays for the water, who orders the food.

40:26José Andrés:You know, in food and water, for example, I saw many examples. We deliver huge amounts of water to Puerto Rico. I even remember doing a tweet thanking President Trump for activating that water. But then we realized it was almost$10 million of water in a tarmac in an airport. No. A month later, that nobody delivered. Nobody had actually delivered the water. That nobody delivered. So things get lost in translation sometimes. I've seen how we do MREs, Meals Ready to Eat, which Meals Ready to Eat are a wonderful human invention, which are these meals that 100 years later, the meals will be okay and you can eat them and nothing will happen to you.

41:11José Andrés:But they were created for soldiers in the battlefield going away from anywhere where they couldn't cook and they will have these packs and we'll be enough food for one, two, three, four, five days. We have this feeling like we bring the MREs and we drop them and we claim we have a million meals, but sometimes we drop them in the fire stations. Well, the firemen are people to take care of rescues, of stopping fires, of helping people in floodings. They're not the people who are going to be distributing the food, period. And they shouldn't. Why? Because when it's a fire, you send firefighters. When it's an earthquake, you send search and rescue teams with dogs.

41:54José Andrés:When it's food, you should be sending the people that know better the logistics of food from top to bottom. And those are people in the restaurant industry, period. So that's why it was Central Kitchen. So I come here not so much to show the weaknesses of the system in countries around the world, but we come to support those systems. Because I know that inside the governments is not people thinking about that because it's not people thinking like that. I remember in Bahamas, we did almost four and a half million meals, 16th Islands north of Nassau. We were landing in 16 islands every day, six helicopters, two hydroplanes.

42:36José Andrés:We even, because there was no airports north, we had a boat with two helipads because we had to refuel. We brought water filtration systems. But we were there before the hurricane. Nobody invited us. We went because we know the people of Bahamas were going to need us. Yeah, right. And I remember going to, with the team, we were there already. We were like 10. and we go to what is the logistics, the hurricane emergency of Obama's and happens the president was there. Not like he has to know what Volsendria Gicheng is or who Volsendria Gicheng was, but he was coming towards us and then he stopped.

43:14José Andrés:Hey, how are you? How are you? And I used to tell him, I'm Volsendria Gicheng. This is the team of Volsendria Gicheng. And I promise you, we're going to feed you people. Don't worry about food on water. It was nice. He shake hands. Thank you. Thank you. He left. You know, I think he left thinking, who are those naughty guys with a colorful logo? What was very beautiful that we reached 80 ,000 meals a day fairly quickly. We did multiple medical evacuations. Again, we were landing in 16 islands every single day. The only way was doing it through helicopter because the islands were covering water.

43:51José Andrés:a month later five weeks later he happens came to visit the United Nations and was a gathering of all the people of Bahamas and happens is the first time I live Bahamas and I'm here and they invite us to go and we are there in the back of room I wanted to see what the president how he will talk to his people you become you want to become part of the story to what the people are going through how they see what's happening and out of the blue, he arrives, he's about to say something, but then he begins walking away from the mic and comes to where the Wilson Dragician team and myself, we were. He came, he puts his hands on my two shoulders and he said, you know, you said that you were going to help feed my people and I want to thank Wilson Dragician because you guys did it.

44:44José Andrés:And I told him, well, we didn't do it, Mr. President. the people of Amas help us feed the people of Amas. So thank you to you and to all your people. And that's what we do. You see, we go to cover the blind spots of governments. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand that now. Because sometimes things are overwhelming. Happen in Acapulco. They were not even letting us go into Acapulco. It happens that we were already in because we had helicopters and we were landing in the golf course. and the military was doing an okay job, but the military don't have experience in feeding. Before you knew, we were doing, you know, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of meals a day in a town, a city that got wiped out, and especially on the water.

45:30José Andrés:That's what we do. We come to support the local governments. We come to support the countries. And hopefully in the process, one day, I think we're getting enough awareness awareness that we are okay and good at what we do right that we will have rewrite what should be the emergency systems that's a matter what it is hurricanes or fires on this is like best practices on how to be next to the people as quick as fast as we can that's what we did in ukraine that's what we did in lebanon in gaza that's what we did in israel how do you how do you think you you you you built the trust it seems effortless but i i i'm sure it's lessons that you've learned you know when i think of governments trying to help you know and i mean trying to they're supposed to do it but but they'll often get bogged down you know when i think of that 10 million dollars worth of water that was supposed to go to puerto rico and then never leave the tarmac i can't help but think about people who then go but where where's the water going and how do we know it's going to the right place and you know what if people are stealing this water and what if and you see this everywhere in the world sometimes the argument against helping people is that the help won't necessarily get there or there'll be wastage or somebody will steal or but but you seem to have this this this trust and a different type of attitude around like the people even in the story you're talking about with like the jamaicans on the ground you land in the wrong place in a football field in jamaica here are people coming to the helicopter you don't know their intentions They don't know your intentions.

47:05And you trust that you can get them to sort of join your mission, even in the few moments that you've been with them. Where did you learn that? And what do you think we should all be learning about how to trust people that we don't even know?

47:20José Andrés:It was 2010, Haiti, and I'm cooking there in a couple of places. You know, hundreds of thousands lost their homes. The poor of the poor lost their homes. and so was all these little villages that were being created, temporary housing. This is after the earthquake. After the earthquake. And I was cooking. That day was beans, a lot of beans. They were in season. I would buy every day. This is the early days. I was in the kitchen when it was me and two friends. I make these huge pots with the help of local women of beans. And at the end, with the help of the translator, they speak beautiful Creole there.

47:58José Andrés:and they come to me and they say, Jose, they love that you are feeding them here every day, but they want to tell you that they don't eat the beans the way you prepared them. And I'm like, man, they couldn't tell me before. And then I say, okay, how do you want them? And there you have this two-star Michelin chef. And they began singing and we began smashing the beans until it became a puree. It took two more hours or three. but in the end you used to see the joy when the beans were finished they sang amazing traditional Haitian songs through the process and they were doing the the the and this black bean stew with the rice the way they eat them which is not a soup it's not a cream it's not a sauce it's something else but that's the way they eat it that is the way they eat the food and and this to me obviously we are was a big lesson because that's also the dignity we give no even that's the way how poor people may be, everybody has a way to eat.

48:59José Andrés:You see it when I go out in the streets in the poorest. It's people that like it more spicy, people less spicy. It's people that, I don't know, peel this rim right to left or left to right. And it's certain things that is fascinating. That's a matter who you are, with money or no money. You can be as poor as poor you may be, but that you are poor doesn't mean you don't have the same dignity that anybody else you have. I used to think that, you know, when I would watch, you know, growing up in South Africa, I would see all these videos of aid coming to Africa. And it would always be, you know, the military dropping giant like crates, those pallets of random - It's a parachute mentality.

49:42Yeah, yeah. You drop the pallets and then the people. And I genuinely remember saying this, but I would like say this to my friends when we'd be watching the news or whatever. I'd go, who chose that food? And I didn't mean it in a disparaging way. I was just like, who chose that food? Because it seemed like they were dropping the same food in every single African country. And I know that people needed it.

50:01José Andrés:And this is the next phase. What Sandra Gitchin does is not fighting hunger. We are really pure emergency. Okay, yeah, you're going for emergencies. Not like hunger is no emergency. But when something gets totally upside down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That immediate event. That's where we come. That's where we are effective. World Food Program can always get better. but it's an organization that does this job for long-term hunger. Also, they do emergencies, but they're good in the long-term hunger, and that's what Juen created, obviously, for the World Food Program. But take a look at the issues we face today.

50:36José Andrés:The military spending average, 2025, now 2026, is going to be$2.5 trillion. Right. to take care of total hunger will be roughly$80 billion a year. $80 billion a year. No, Jose. To take care of the few hundred millions that they are going through, many of them. Say those numbers again. So it's$2.5 trillion. $2.5 trillion is going to be spent. And we only need$80 billion to take care. and 80 billion of the 2.5 trillion roughly is under 2 % of the military spending. That means that if every country in the world will only put no of their total budget, 2 % in a bank, 2 % of their military budgets, and we have the right system and organization, we can have the money to take care of the poor people.

51:32José Andrés:But then how we do that? I saw it in Haiti perfectly. I was very, very happy of the response of America into Haiti in 2010. But doing good is not enough. Doing good is what my friend Robert Egger, the founder of This is Central Kitchen, told me over 30 years ago, that charity seems is about the redemption of the giver. When charity must be about the liberation of the receiver. And here is where it gets complicated. and politics require, policy needs to be good so it becomes good politics. We gave so much rice and food for free to Haiti and really we gave a lot. So I'm proud as an American, Europe, France gave a lot but we gave so much that nobody was buying from the local farmers in Haiti.

52:22José Andrés:We put them out of business. Oh, wow. That's why a few years later, some of the Haitians, thousands of them that we saw under a bridge on Texas which by the way, Wilson Drug Kitchen was there also helping feeding them. These were some of those farmers that left Haiti because they went through hunger times later when they ate the stop and all of a sudden they began arriving to different parts in America and going to place to place and where they're going to go to the richest possible place. Why they leave their home? because they want only feed their children. Anybody listens to that, you see that, then we create problems.

53:02José Andrés:Instead of giving so much rice for free, we were supposed to do better investment in, can we buy the rice from the Haitians? And can we give them maybe new equipment so they can even produce more? And can we help them with better water management? Can we help them with better quality fertilizers? All of a sudden, you have entire population of Haitians in the rural areas that with very little investment, we're making them get richer and better, helping Haiti as a country. Yeah. Versus creating mayhem and chaos. So in the way we do international food aid, dramatically has to change. I do believe that everybody listening to us, if we will say, my God, with two, 3 % of the military spending, we can end total hunger in the world, that then if we do it well, can also help create riches in those countries versus keep throwing money at the problem versus investing in long-term solutions.

54:05José Andrés:This is where the international organizations, UN governments dramatically will have to change the way we take care of the people, including wars. Because obviously the money is going into wars instead of investing in education, in food, in health. And right now I'm very worried that at the end of 2026, 2027, we may have a very big hunger increase. 50%, 40 % to 50 % of all the fertilizers that the world uses to produce food, they go through the Strait of Hormuz. That's that tiny little strip of water off the coast of Iran. So we're talking about gas. And when we think gas is what moves our cars and our planes, and our industry, but also is what creates the energy that moves the humans, which is the food we eat.

55:00I'm very worried that because that lack of fertilizers and not enough investment in fertilizers produced

55:10José Andrés:more locally in every part of the world, now also we're gonna be very dependent from what's going on, and this worry is gonna be creating two things, probably a shortage in quantity of food, but also it's going to be an increase in the cost of food because also to transport the food is becoming more expensive. And at the end, who is going to suffer? You and I, even if the rice increases and our sushi increases and our beautiful quinoa from Peru and our green tea from Japan increases, okay, we're going to be able to pay it. But the vast majority of the people, starting by America in many parts of the world, that increase of food that may be three four five six percent for the people with a lot of money equals absolutely nothing right it doesn't change much in there but for people that live on on dollar in two three dollars a day at the most like in haiti and other parts of the world that increase in the cost of food is exponential increases what they spend on on food therefore i'm very worried that this war in the Middle East, many people say unnecessary with no very clear idea.

56:23José Andrés:If Iran really developed that nuclear bomb they say they created, it's going to make the world hungrier and it's going to make a lot of people poorer. That's why wars don't make any sense in any way or form. That's a matter how you want to explain it. You know, it's interesting when you talk about, in particular, let's say the story of the Haitians who were traveling over to the US. I'll often have this conversation with people who are anti-immigration. And I don't even have this conversation flippantly. I don't have it in a mean way. I genuinely try and engage people, but I'll say to them, you're anti-immigration.

57:10They go, yes, I think there's too many people flocking across. And I go, I agree with you. I think there are too many people Who are trying to come into the united states. There are too many people who are trying to go into south africa too many people who are trying to go But now let's ask ourselves the question. Why are there so many people trying to do that? Contrary to popular belief most people Want to live in their homes Most people don't want to go to another country Most people don't want to give up everything that has defined them their language their music their food their culture they don't want to let it go but they're forced to let it go and then i often say to them i'm like so why not invest in keeping everybody where they are you know we had um mia motley on on on the show on the podcast and she she really laid it out in one of the most beautiful ways possible here you have like the prime minister of barbados a tiny nation but her voice has been outsized where she says she's amazing she's phenomenal and she goes you think that the small nations do not matter in the world.

58:12And yet all the big nations are complaining about the people from the small nations, not understanding that they are part of the cause that the small nations have an exodus in the first place. You know? And I see you talking about them when you talk about investing.

58:23José Andrés:She has one of the best food policies of any country. Yeah, she does. It's fascinating. Yeah. What about it do you think is fascinating? Like, why do you think? I'm interested from your perspective. Because everything is integrated. Wait, number one, you know, I always said that presidents of the world need a food security, a national food security advisor. Oh, I like that. A national food security advisor. And understand that food is much more than agriculture. In the United States right now, big percentage, close to half of the corn is produced, is produced but not for food, for humans or cattle, which would be great because the corn will feed the cattle and then with the meat.

59:07José Andrés:but it's to produce ethanol. So all of a sudden, the USDA, the Secretary of Agriculture, in a way is also Secretary of Energy. But this has a lot of consequences. The price of energy goes up, ethanol is going to go up. The price of ethanol goes up. The price of corn is going to go up. The price of meat is going to go up. But then it's deeper than that, right? In America, we have what they call the food stamps, is what it's called, snaps, more technical. which is a short-term help that the government gives to families that fall behind, lose their jobs, so they need extra money to cover the needs in the table.

59:47José Andrés:This is okay, but very often, I swear during the pandemic, in places like Oakland or Baltimore or in the Navajo Nation, that is not money they receive from the government where they live, which is a very poor area. In that poor area, they don't have a place they can spend that money. They have to go to other neighborhoods. So the Department of Urban and Housing Development should also have to be working alongside the Department of Agriculture because we need to make sure that every poor neighborhood in America, in the richest country in the world, has markets that if the private sector doesn't do it because they feel they lose money, Yes.

1:00:33José Andrés:Okay, create a partnership with the government, support the private business, which everybody will agree private business is in the process of making money. Yeah. But if they get the right partnership with the government, now we make almost mandatory by government standards to have markets in every poor neighborhood. Right. All of a sudden, the people that receive aid from the government, they have places in their own neighborhoods that they can buy fresh fruits and vegetables. But then you hire from people that live in that poor neighborhood too, creating employment. And then why you don't let the food stamps be used in the local food trucks and the local diners?

1:01:10José Andrés:Happens that those poor areas don't have restaurants either. So if a mother is working two jobs and still doesn't make it because she's underpaid, and even with the help of the government to cover the needs of food, if all of a sudden she's coming from work and she can use stamps, the food stamps to buy from the local food truck because she's too tired to go now and do dinner. All of a sudden, you're helping the mother to take care of the children. The mother, you help her be stronger. You need her full help because a mother we know has multiple jobs. When you are a working mother, you have more jobs than any man ever.

1:01:45José Andrés:And all of a sudden that money stays also in the poor neighborhood, helps a woman to take care of her family and take care of herself. And you are also giving dignity to that neighborhood that all of a sudden has the store that sells fresh fruits and vegetables and has the food truck and maybe a little diner that employs more people. All of a sudden, that poor neighborhood with the same money that the government is throwing at the problem, the government is investing into the solution. You see, every single situation can be explained that way, but it requires very clear mentality, very clear understanding of how food touches everything from the Department of Defense to immigration.

1:02:23José Andrés:And all of a sudden, you make decisions that improves the system, you don't make decisions that make the system worse. If people eat better, they're going to be healthier. If they're healthier, you're going to be saving money from the huge bills that we are paying every year to keep Americans on the wall healthier. Well, let's invest in the solution from the beginning. Let's not throw money at the problem at the end. So governments, starting by the United States, but every other government in the world, They need to start seeing food as something much more important in the functions of a democracy.

1:03:00José Andrés:And we are not taking it seriously enough. That's why in emergencies, food seems is always an afterthought. And that's why then organizations like World Central Kitchen and others, we are the ones trying to solve that lack of thought in the food process. You know, when you say this, there's a few things that come to my mind. one is it's so much easier to sell fear than it is to sell love yeah but one can sustain itself one can keep growing in a beautiful way and then the other one degrades what it's what it's touching if you tell people we're going to spend more money on bombs we're going to spend more money on missiles to protect our country they go i'm in i get it i'm in no one thinks about how much an actual missile cost.

1:03:50They also don't think about how many missiles just miss. They just hit nothing. You know what I mean? They just blow up dirt and nothing. But that money is gone.

1:03:56José Andrés:Or they hit the school with children in it. Yes, yeah. Which you've seen on some of the most harrowing levels. But then I go, why not invest in the defense of your people from the inside? Governments are so willing to spend so much money to protect their people from this outside force. But then I go, why not defend them from an inside force, which is starvation, which is poverty, which, you know what I mean? And the second thing I found myself thinking of when you were saying that is it feels like when you talk about investing in the community and the mom and the dad and this and that, it feels like you have a belief.

1:04:39That those people can create something. And I don't necessarily think that all governments or all people believe that every other community can create something. Does that make sense? I think a lot of people who will talk about, let's say, immigrants, they do not think that in America, they don't think that Mexicans can do something. So they need America in that way. They don't think that Haitians can do something. They don't think, but you seem to have this belief that if I can plant the right seeds in the right places, the people who are there will become the nurturers of the garden that it grows.

1:05:13José Andrés:Well, obviously we see that the unemployment rate in America is fairly low. Yeah, 4 % or whatever. Close to total employment. Sometimes it's not very good because then they say the rates per hour goes up and then all these economics. Yeah, the economists get in. We all get lost. But the truth is that it's hard for a lot of industries to find workers.

1:05:40José Andrés:The undocumented, as some people call it, legal. Me, I like to use the term undocumented. That can be anywhere between, who knows, 15 to 20 million people, including one million dreamers. Dreamers being young children that arrived when they were very much babies and that they've been granted this temporary meaning they are always on the edge of being sent. And many, many years later, they are doctors, they are nurses, they are professors, they are business people, they are mothers and fathers with already American-born children, that they are on the edge of being thrown out of the country. You know the effort that the country puts into bringing up and educating a million people?

1:06:27José Andrés:America, we are not right now in the situation of just being getting rid of such good, talented people that they are probably anybody walking across America. You're going to find dreamers one place or another, even if you are unaware. The 15 million undocumented. Who do you think is working on the farms? We saw it during the pandemic. Who do you think is delivering your food? Who do you think is driving the trucks to get the food to the supermarkets? Who do you think very often is taking care of the elderly in many homes, hundreds of thousands of elderly, taking care of by maybe those undocumented immigrants?

1:07:07José Andrés:They're all across us. So offshore we have to protect the borders. Every country should. It's not true that anybody is against it. I am pro. Let's, every country, make sure that we understand who comes and who goes. That's good. What cannot be is the big lie that when you have the big harvest or you need a lot of people to take care of the cattle, all of a sudden seems that those immigrants are coming through the border with no problem. And people hire them because the business needs them and seems everybody is looking to the other side. But then when you don't want them, it's like, oh, now I don't want them.

1:07:45José Andrés:They're not mine. They're not mine. They only help me temporarily. Listen, Republicans and Democrats, going back to President Bush and Reagan, they wanted immigration reform. I think during the times of President Obama, he had a big opportunity to pass immigration reform. It's always a reason why we didn't pass immigration reform. But this is not a problem for us to solve. It's an opportunity for us to cease. Our golf courses will not work without them. Our wineries and farms will not work without them. Our restaurants and taxis will not work without them. They are part of the DNA of what America is.

1:08:30José Andrés:They're Lady Liberty themselves. It's about time that we stop now making them like the ones that create all the problems we face. Because when leaders don't have really solutions to solve certain problems, they're going to be looking for the pundits. Yeah. And the immigrants are not those. 99.99 % of the immigrants we may have in this country, they are people that want to work hard, that want to provide for the families, that are helping the American economy, that people, believe it or not, that they pay taxes because many of them have W-2s and A-9s. And this is something like functions very well in America.

1:09:12José Andrés:It functions so well that even undocumented are paying their taxes. We should be celebrating that. But now we all want to demonize them. We want to hunt them like it was the planet of the apes. We want to be in front of the schools and waiting for the mother picking up their three American-born children. What we are doing is use dehumanizing the human race. And this dramatically has to change. This is not about Republicans or Democrats. The border needs to be protected, yes. But also we need to improve the systems. So when you hire somebody, you know if they are documented or not. Because in that moment, we will know how many people really we need.

1:09:56José Andrés:And those undocumented, let me tell you, they are needed. Because right now, you ask around as many businesses across America that they all have one thing in common. that they need hands so they can keep moving their business forward. Our politicians need to be responding to that simple call. We need to legalize, once and for all, document those people that they are part of us, that they are part of what America is, and where we need to stop doing what we're doing, which is quite frankly not something America, five, ten years from now, will be very proud when we look at the past. I also don't think it's smart.

1:10:33You know, like on the one hand, it's definitely inhumane. But I think even if you were to strip away all emotion, I don't think it's smart. And I'll tell you why. I think, you know, oftentimes people will talk about borders as if they only exist like a moat around a castle. You know, the moat is what keeps the people out of the castle. And then I look at Europe and I look at the European Union. I've always found it fascinating that once you're in Europe, you're in Europe. And then you just move between countries now. You just move between countries. And they found a way to sort of understand that the mean average means that like everyone won't just end up in one country.

1:11:13Because if you think about it, the argument most people make about a border is we have to have borders. Then I go, fine, okay, you have to have borders. But I think you can also redefine how a border operates. And Europe has showed me that. For how people argue about a border, you would think that once the European Union said there's no borders technically like between us everyone would end up in one country we're all going to barcelona barcelona andiamo you know what i mean it's like we're all there vamos but no some english people moved to spain some spanish people moved to italy some italians moved people moved but you know what happened it sort of all stayed the same and one of the most convincing things i've read about like how people think about the border is in the united states it used to be a a lot more acceptable for laborers to move from Mexico to the US, do work and then come back.

1:12:04And there was a more porous system on the border. And it's actually the crackdown of the border.

1:12:10José Andrés:What creates the bigger problems. It created the bigger problem. Because we need revolving door visas. The people come, they cover the needs of the cotton farmers, the agro farmers, the tomato farmers, or anything else they may do. And then when it's time to go back home, they go back home. They bring some of the savings that they made in America. They bring the know-how that they learned in America. These people who usually are very resolute and very creative, they may open a business that may have something to do with what they learned here in America or in any other country. And all of a sudden, they're investing in their maybe poorer community that in the process is making their community better.

1:12:51José Andrés:and this guy will go back next year to work again or maybe he moves from the farm to the city because he wants to do that. And he keeps going back and makes that country and his town and his country better. This is the beautiful thing about immigration. When you use it to solve problems, you cover the needs of America in this case, but in the process you are making the countries are around you better and richer. If the countries around you are richer, in the process, you are richer too. So should be the notion that every country, of course, should be investing in their own citizens. But if you invest in ways also, in the other countries, in the process, you are helping yourself.

1:13:42José Andrés:But you have to have a firm belief on that. And that proves the world has gotten much better post-World War II, I'm sure we have issues. Yeah. When we opened commerce, when the nations began, you know, sharing weight house, ways to trade, to, okay, now everybody can produce wheat, now everybody can produce corn, now everybody can produce, okay, that's what trade achieved. And the world, we could argue, is better today than was 70, 80 years ago. Yeah, yeah. But we need to keep believing in it. It's going to be problems, it's going to be issues, it's going to be certain moments that, hey, this is not too far for me.

1:14:20José Andrés:Okay, you sit in the table, you talk, you negotiate, and you keep moving forward. You don't begin bullying everybody else because you think it's your right to be a bull. No, you do it talking. You do it negotiating. You do it what is good for me, must be good for you too. Cannot be me, me, me, and only me. Well, when we go that way, the world becomes not so safe anymore. We need to, the only way I'm going to provide the world where my daughters will be okay once I'm no longer here, if I work as hard to provide for others, in the same way I work hard to provide for my own. This should be the motto for everybody.

1:15:07José Andrés:If I provide for my daughters, it's great, but if I provide for others at the same time, I know I'm living in a world where my daughters will be better and safer and happier. I have no doubt about that. Don't press anything. We've got more What Now after this. Hey, y 'all. It's your girl, A.D. from Love is Blind and Perfect Match. On my podcast, What's the Reality, I'm spilling all the unfiltered tea, y 'all. From messy breakups, behind-the-scenes drama, wild dating stories, and everything the cameras didn't catch. nothing's off limits. So let's get ready to dive in. New episodes drop every Wednesday on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

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1:16:59How do you maintain your hope? Because I've been lucky to know you for many, many years. and every time I see you, it's like an emotional whirlwind for me, you know, because one day you're giving me like fresh jamon that I don't know where you got it from, the most delicious like cured ham I've ever had in my life and you're just like, Trevor, are you going to... And I'm like, no, I'm not eating that. You're like, today you're going to eat it and you've just like put it in my face and then the next day you're telling me about the biggest challenge that you face in a small town, in a small country that is devastated and the logistical things that are stopping you.

1:17:37How do you maintain your hope? Because you move from disaster to disaster.

1:17:42José Andrés:Because I believe it's more goodness than hating the world. What happened, goodness and goodwill and the common good is very humble and it's very, doesn't have a big voice. It's very, keeps doing, keeps working. Beautiful acts of kindness happens without nobody very often realizing. but when you see the world the world functions it's things we need to do better but we need more of those people that do goodness and work towards improving what's not good but then it's other people that don't work to fix what is wrong but they only thrive use bitching about what's wrong and began blaming anybody away from what is wrong.

1:18:34José Andrés:And the world is almost divided in these two types of people. And it seems the people of goodness with a soft voice, with acts of greatness and goodness that nobody sees, maybe those people need to have a bigger voice. Those people need to be louder because it seems the hate is what has a big voice and it screams. And with very short sentences, is able to rally everybody. That's true. Or you are with me or you are against me. No. I went through this in the Middle East. The first day after Israel was attacked by Hamas on October 7th, Walsan Tragikian was there in all the kibbutz and all the little villages feeding the people.

1:19:20Yeah.

1:19:21José Andrés:And I had people, why are you there and helping Israel? Because it's the right thing to do. And because the people of Israel in this moment needs our help. The day after we were inside Gaza, and I had people telling me, and why are you in Gaza? Well, because the people of Gaza need our help too. Not all Palestinians and all Arabs and Muslims were responsible for what happened on October 7th. As I don't make every Israeli or every Jewish or what has happened in Gaza that they can understand how President Netanyahu allow to happen what has happened in Gaza. I wish that was a bad dream, but that has happened.

1:20:03José Andrés:And we destroy the future of almost 2 million people. But then they ask me, but are you pro-Israel or are you pro-Palestinian? I am pro-both. I am pro-both of the good people. Because in the same days, I will be crying with one person and telling me how much they suffer and how much they suffer also seeing the suffering of the others. And if I don't tell you who they are, I'll tell you it's people on both sides. So it's more people of goodness that sometimes they don't speak up enough. And it's the people of hate that they are the ones that have the mic and seems these are the only people that matter and count.

1:20:36José Andrés:I want people that don't make me take sides. I want people that believe like me that this is wrong, but this is wrong too. And what we need to be working is what is right. What is right is where people don't fight each other, where people respect each other. You want to live in a place with dignity and freedom? Okay, but the other people want to live in a place with dignity and freedom too. So I support your right to live in freedom and dignity and not fear attacks by anybody. Okay, I agree with you. But you have to agree with me that these people too deserve dignity, respect, and don't live on fear of drones and bombs falling over their heads.

1:21:18José Andrés:What is good for you, my friend, must be good for me. Cannot be me and fuck the rest. has to be we the people. That's why those three words is something we cannot forget. One of the biggest gifts that probably the creation of America gave to the world are those three powerful words. We the people. All the people. All the people. Not the we that we like. We all the people. If we believe in that and we fight for that, the world is going to be in a good path. But in the process, we're going to have hiccups or things worse than hiccups. but we should not give up on this simple belief we the people.

1:21:58José Andrés:That even when the people that brought that, maybe they thought we the people us, this has taken this kind of fascinating moment in history which a lot of people believe in what we the people meant. I still believe it today and I'm going to fight to make sure that we the people in the future has a true meaning. You know, when you speak about this, as passionately as you do, I can't help but think to myself and wonder, how does Jose Andres, the man, find his solace and his stillness? Like, you know, because I've had the pleasure of meeting your one daughter. I've had the pleasure of meeting your wife.

1:22:38And the one thing I will say.

1:22:39José Andrés:One of my three daughters. Oh, one of your three daughters, yeah. And one of the things I remember I picked up was, and you'll correct me if I'm wrong. your your wife felt next to you like the most solid peaceful you know celestial object a human can imagine patricia yeah she's it it it literally and i remember thinking to myself i was like is this the only reason he can do what he does yeah she she's definitely my my son my my rock my i'm like this comet that sometimes doesn't know in what direction is moving. But obviously she's been that and so much more, right? It's almost 33 years now. We married over 30 years ago, but we've been together 33.

1:23:32José Andrés:And obviously she's an amazing friend, an amazing mother, an amazing wife, friend of friends. We all need those people, right? We need to remember that we are only as good as the people we have around us. We all need good people that makes us better that also tell us, hey, this is not the way. My wife is that person, but then I've been very lucky that I'm surrounded by friends, that they always invested in me probably more than I've ever invested in them. And for that, I'm always thankful. but we are all the product of all the people even those teachers we don't remember their names that they had an influence on us and thanks to them we became who we became, that's why we need to be thankful to those that whatever is the interaction we have everybody is giving us something and we become who we become thanks to those moments and how do you think you've managed to find the balance of being a great contributor to the world, but then still maintaining your family and you being a father and a husband?

1:24:47Because that's something you'll often see when you read people's biographies or when you hear from their families, they'll go, my father was a great man to the world, but wasn't the greatest man to me. And then I see your daughter and the way she laughs about you and the way she talks and she teases you, and then she follows you. I remember when your daughter was telling me she was going what country was she going to her first place was I remember going this is crazy

1:25:11José Andrés:yeah she was in Chad in the border with Sudan and then she went to Yemen yeah and I remember being like what life is it 21 the passion that she had in and around this and the way your wife dealt with I'd love to know like how as a family you found this balance and how you as a human being have found the balance like how are you still able to give to those around you and not only give to the outside world it's not obviously friends family friends are everything Obviously, I have a day work, which is my restaurants, which... Yeah, I mean, we didn't... You see, if I could, I will let you know. They can't run probably without me, but they're better if I am around because everybody, obviously, my teams and my partners want me around.

1:25:54José Andrés:Yeah. And I have joy running my restaurants and being the chef I am. But then sometimes you feel gets in the middle of the other passion I have, which is World Central Kitchen, but then gets in the middle of the other passion I have, which is making policy around food that will improve the world. And then also, you know, I try to play golf, but I know I will never become a pro. Is your golf better than your pickleball? Your pickleball is good, man. Pickleball is okay. Your pickleball is good. Anything that has a kitchen and pickles, I mean, if I don't perform, obviously forget about it. But, you know, obviously I try to enjoy, as I told you, at the beginning every single moment, and it's important.

1:26:40José Andrés:But then you go moments of, for me, last two years, they've been, the last four years, they've been very hard. I mean, in Ukraine, I saw, you know, kitchens that they were feeding with, Waltz and Drunk Kitchen or not, and we were being hit by drones, and people got injured or worse, and they perish. And there you began seeing the realities of trying to be in the real world. Right. In Gaza, we got seven members of World Central Kitchen in what technically was one of the, supposed to be a very safe mission. Yeah. Even we were working in a very complicated space. Obviously, I take on my shoulders the moral responsibility in a way of what happened because maybe we were not there.

1:27:30José Andrés:Nothing would ever happen. But then I think it was my daughter, obviously, who told me in a moment I was very sad about living. I need to leave Ukraine or we need to live here. It's like, Daddy, how are we going to be changing the world without taking some risks? At the end of the day, you can be watching what people are going through through your TV and the comfort of your sofa. Or you can say, well, we want to change the world and improve the world. we're not going to do it from the sofa or from New York UN building. We're going to do it with people of the world shows up and is next to the people going through the mayhems of the world.

1:28:07José Andrés:And with boots on the ground is the only way you're going to be changing the world. So for me, very often, and one of the reasons I keep going to missions, that I don't think if I don't go ever again after I've been 15 years, a big percentage of my life dedicated to it, I don't think anybody will blame me anymore. But I don't do it what others will think, or I do it in a very selfish way for myself because every time I go to those missions, only by being present there and watching around me, I see that in the worst moments of humanity, the best of humanity always shows up. Oh, that's beautiful.

1:28:43José Andrés:And that gives you hope. In moments that everything is mayhem and that you will think everybody is giving up because everybody should run, only take care of themselves. Yeah. You see that you have people there that they don't only take care of themselves and their loved ones, but that they take their personal responsibility on the shoulders of taking care of entire communities, even when they have absolutely nothing. You see those people that they are becoming something so powerful, so superhuman-like that you only feel like you want to be there watching those people because they get a lot of energy from those moments.

1:29:22there's two things I know I'm gonna have to let you go soon two things that I wanted to talk to you one is just a question but can I just say you brought me this can I no can I tell you something I've thought about this for maybe like I wanna say 15 years of my life like this is a not this specific comic but this is Spider-Man like multiple Spider-Man comics and it's you helping yeah but it's you helping him yeah different covers but it's you helping him in a mission, but it's you. And it's a thought that I've had for such a long time. I've gone, why don't we make heroes of the people who are doing the most heroic things?

1:30:05Like, I know we have to go, but just help me understand. How did this come to be?

1:30:09José Andrés:I don't understand. Well, because the wonderful people of Marvel love food. They love Waltz and Drag Kitchen, I guess. They've been following us for a long time. It happened also with DC Comics. So in one year, I've been cooking with Superman and Aquaman and Wonder Woman and Flash, feeding lionfish and fishing with Aquaman in a seahorse, catching lionfish to feed the people of the Caribbean. And now Marvel has put me next to Spider-Man when my restaurant in Hudson Yards, Mercado Little Spain, is under attack by Electro. and all of a sudden, Spider-Man shows up, and I'm there alongside the Spider-Man fighting Electro, and then at the end...

1:31:00José Andrés:Were you a comic book fan as a kid? Oh, I have a big comic collection. I mean, this must be me. Oh, this is. And I came by you from South by Southwest in Austin, and they just announced that Marvel is putting me in a number in the fall with Avengers. So when... I still, to the moment, I think they're doing a prank on me. And they're going to do a very big ad saying, this is the fool that thought he could be in a comic with Spider-Man. You know, life sometimes is about these little moments and these little dreams. But as you said, this is an homage to all the people that every single day when nobody's watching, they wake up with the very simple idea of helping others.

1:31:46José Andrés:So even, yeah, I'm there with Spider-Man. And I think what Marvel wanted to do is just to give a big round of applause to the millions around the world that they don't give up and that they are always there next to the people. Last question. I know you got to go. I just wanted to know this about food. Food is such an interesting thing because it's what sustains us. It's one of the first things a child will compliment their parents on. If you say, like, why does mommy or daddy love you? They'd be like, because they feed me and they give me food. That's true. But you have interacted with food on a spectrum that I think few of us have.

1:32:24Your restaurants serve some of the most decadent, beautiful, delicious food that people ever experience. And then you are cooking local food, which is often delicious as well, in places where someone would assume there is no joy. When you think of food, what does food mean to you?

1:32:45José Andrés:Yeah, I mean, you mentioned about our mommy and daddy feeding us, but the first gift we receive in the form of a tangible is when we come to the world and our mom brings us to our body or our grandma or our father give us baby bottle. But the first gift is in the form of food, mother's milk. And I think our faith and our relationship with food is sealed on that magical, beautiful moment, even if we were unaware. I mean, I have, I collect cookbooks too, and many of them are centuries old. And one of them is from 1826 and is a Frenchman. And I don't quote French people in public often, but they're good cooks after all, we have to recognize.

1:33:31José Andrés:But this guy, Briad Savaran, In the first edition, he didn't sign the book because he was too afraid of what his friends in Paris would think about him. But this one guy that gave us an amazing, amazing quote. And one of them was, tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are. Oh, wow. Nothing gets more powerful than that very simple thought that at the end, the way we love to live life. That's a matter only if you eat hot dogs like Peter Parker in the streets of New York. That's great. That's part of who you are. I love hot dogs. Yeah. And you should be proud of it. Food is something that really tells a story of who we are in powerful ways.

1:34:14José Andrés:And the same philosopher said even a more powerful phrase that both together very much are like the commandments of food. He said that the future of the nations will depend in how they feed themselves. so from culture to science to how we will feed people in the moon to food as art food as a social gathering food as Thanksgiving food as history food as health food as immigration food very much touches everything and you realize that sometimes everything uses starch in a humble plate of food that you may have in a faraway place sitting next to a stranger that's some of the most fascinating moments you can experience in life.

1:34:59You know, you just made me realize this is one of my favorite conversations. You've always been one of my favorite people. The only mistake I made was not having food for our conversation. I apologize. I just landed. I just landed. I came empty, but I have my book. No, no, no. I apologize.

1:35:14José Andrés:My new book has paid my way. I'm actually, are you going to leave that for me? This is for you, but I don't think that's it. No, this is not even the original yet because we are waiting. It's arriving by boat. Okay, I want it. But Spain my way. I want it. I want it. One day I should go to Spain with you. I just want to go somewhere random with you. We talk every year. You two coming with me to Spain. Just somewhere you'll invite me. You'll come back again. Jose Andres. Muchas gracias. Amigo, thank you. It's a pleasure to be in your presence. Thank you so much, man. Safe journey. Thank you.

1:35:46Apple Card is designed to support your financial well-being. With unlimited daily cash back on every purchase and the ability to track your spending on your iPhone, Apple Card helps you lead a healthier financial life. So you can stress less about money and focus more on enjoying life. And you know, that makes me think about something that I learned pretty early on in life. When I first started earning money, and I mean real money, not just the kind where you're doing like an odd job or hustling, I remember feeling the strange mix of excitement and pressure, right? Because on the one hand, you're like, Like, wow, I can finally buy things.

1:36:24And on the other hand, you realize, ooh, I can also mess this up. What do you do? It's your salary. It's your life. And then I remember someone once told me something and it stuck. They said, money is not just about what you earn. It's about what you understand about what you earn. And at the time, I didn't fully get it. Because when you're younger, you think financial success is just more money. But then you start noticing something interesting. You meet people who earn a lot, but are constantly stressed. And then you meet people who earn less, but seem calm and in control, like they understand where their money is going.

1:37:04And that's when it clicked for me. Financial health isn't just about having money. It's about having clarity. It's knowing what's coming in, what's going out, and not being surprised by your own life. I remember the first time I could make a purchase that actually meant something to me And it's not just because of what it was but because I knew I could afford it without worrying about it afterwards That feeling that's different. It's not excitement. It's peace And I think that's what most people are chasing when it comes to money Not the biggest purchase not the flashiest thing Just the ability to make a decision and not carry stress with it because money stress is sneaky.

1:37:47It doesn't show up when you're broke only. No, it shows up when things are unclear. And once you start removing that uncertainty, that's when everything changes. You think differently, you spend differently, and you live differently. And suddenly, money becomes something that supports your life instead of something that sits in the background worrying you. So remember, Apple Card is good for your wallet. It's designed to support your financial well-being. it's a no-fee credit card that lets you track your spending on your iPhone. Plus, you can get unlimited daily cash back on every purchase, stress less about money, and focus more on enjoying life.

1:38:25Apply for Apple Card in the Wallet app on your iPhone today, subject to credit approval. Apple Card issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City Branch, variable APRs for Apple Card range from 17.49 % to 27.74 % based on credit worthiness. Rates as of January 1, 2026. Existing customers can view their variable APR in the Wallets app or card.apple.com.

1:39:12Random Other Stuff by Ryan Harduth. Thank you so much for listening. Join me next week for another episode of What Now?

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