We Feed People (2022) Movie Script

(BIRDS CHIRPING)
(CAR ALARM BLARING IN DISTANCE)
JOS: Those are shelters, blues.
Those are neighborhoods.
Those are first responders.
Those are National Guard units
that... they need to be fed.
We have a plan.
FEMALE REPORTER:
-I'm Jos.
-FEMALE REPORTER:
-Jos.
-FEMALE REPORTER: Jos!
Seriously, what's your last name?
Yeah.
Because if we don't have systems,
we cannot take care of the people.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
NATE: Biggest challenge
is how spread out everything is.
Red Cross is still offline.
They can't deliver.
They can't do anything.
Even if we get nothing else
and we're cut off,
we can do 150,000 meals.
Cool. All right.
JASON: Make sure we got
40 in each one, guys.
Very important.
We don't want someone not to get fed.
(UTENSILS CLINKING)
JOS: Hey!
-How many shelters is it? Three?
-Three shelters.
Sir, we have the numbers.
One, two, and three.
Again, we're going through
very high water.
Take a look.
It's the only way to be delivering food.
We have here around 1,000 meals.
I'm so glad that we have this truck.
Whoo! (GRUNTS)
PASSENGER:
-CAMERAMAN: We're good. We're good.
-JOS: Get ready, okay?
CAMERAMAN: We're good.
-JOS:
-CAMERAMAN:
JOS:
-PASSENGER: Careful.
-CAMERAMAN: Yeah.
JOS:
-CAMERAMAN: Yeah.
-JOS:
-PASSENGER: All right.
-JOS:
-CAMERAMAN: Yeah.
-JOS: It's okay.
PASSENGER: Me, too.
JOS: Uh. We have here food.
I hope we are able to feed the people.
But I hope we are gonna be safe.
FIRST RESPONDER 1:
-FIRST RESPONDER 1:
-Okay.
FIRST RESPONDER 2: Hey, get this off rig!
(BOAT ENGINE RUMBLING LOUDLY)
(FOOD SIZZLING)
JOS: I love the word cook,
'cause the word cook in Spanish
is cocinero.
For me, it's very romantic.
A cocinero is a person that is there
on the stove with the fire.
Sometimes, burning yourself,
feeling the fire, sensing the fire.
You put everything in a pot.
You put water, and you put ingredients.
And after love, and time,
and heat, and warmth,
at the end, you come up with a dish.
Grouper...
Portuguese, Mozambiquan, Spanish,
Catalan, English, American stew!
-ELSA: Jason. This way, Jason. Ta-da!
-Hey!
JOS: So, this is how the sailors
in Catalonia will cook it
in the middle of the sea.
And that's why, for me, being a cook
is the word I like to use.
Being a chef is...
There's plenty of people in my teams
that they are much better at being a chef
and managing a kitchen than I am.
This is the spirit
of World Central Kitchen,
the pot that will fill the world.
I am good in... in seeing opportunity
where others see mayhem.
I am good in simplifying the big problems,
understanding that big problems,
actually, they have very simple solutions.
If you think about it,
we are all about the plate of food.
So, the least we can do
is cook for each other.
And that's why, for me, being a cook
is the best honor I can give myself.
I cook, and I feed.
Beautiful.
Look at this. Brown.
The cheese is lightly melted.
Hmm. And here we have a quick tapa,
simple, amazing, unique.
I arrived to Washington D.C.,
1993. I was 23, 24.
I was able to create
what became one of the most popular
-Spanish restaurants of tapas in America.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JOS: But many people challenged me
with if I was the right chef
for the place.
Well, let me tell you, probably I was not.
I was 23. What the heck?
Thinking about a tapas place, you know?
It's like, at that age,
you think you know everything.
I was like, "Really?"
He was very young,
but he had been working for El Bulli
-and really high-end restaurants in Spain.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
PATRICIA: One of his biggest influences
in life was Ferran.
Ferran was not just cooking
with what has been done before,
he developed new techniques.
JOS: I was in the moment that something
amazing was created.
A new universe was being created.
For me, owning a restaurant
was not the destiny,
it was the evolution of who I was.
But nonetheless,
I had the spirit and the passion.
-(FOOD SIZZLING)
-Oh!
RICHARD: There were lots of people
in the Washington establishment
-who saw him as being an upstart.
-(KISSES)
RICHARD: "Who is this Spanish guy?"
I mean, he was big, and ambitious,
and he was kind of too big
for his britches.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
RICHARD: And so, we wrote
a book about tapas.
But there was no Spanish chef
who represented Spain.
So, he could be Mr. Spain
with these books.
What is... what is tapas?
What are we talking about there?
-Well...
-Appetizers, is that what it is?
Tapas is little dishes from Spain.
-(DAVID HUMMING)
-JOS: Right there.
PATRICIA: His goal
was to showcase Spanish food.
But I think that is really just
a little piece of the puzzle.
More than the food that Jos brought
was an attitude.
That tapas experience
is kind of Jos's soul.
He likes to share everything.
He shares food,
but then he shares experiences.
It's like really the sense of community.
Imagine, it's an explosion in your mouth!
-Yes! It's gonna be explosion...
-Look at...
-...in my mouth right now.
-Go. Go.
I think you will agree with me
that enthusiasm is something I don't like.
-MALE HOST: Chef Jos Andrs...
-CAROLE: This idea of chefs
as celebrities, I mean,
that was kind of a new concept.
And Jos kind of caught that wave,
and there is a whole range
of what level of egomania
these celebrity chefs have.
I am Jos Andrs,
and this is Made in Spain.
CAROLE: And then he became
more like a brand.
You know, I mean, he's got, like,
a corporation now.
-Oh, my God. Take a look at this, guys!
-(AUDIENCE CHEERING)
INS: There was a drastic shift.
One ti... we, we always went
to the Dupont Circle Farmer's Market.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-INS: And I remember one Sunday,
the farmer's market,
people were suddenly stopping him,
and, like, "Oh, Jos Andrs!
Can we please get a picture?"
And I was actually fairly mad.
I was like, "He's mine." (CHUCKLES)
Like, "Why... why does everyone
suddenly want a picture with him?"
-Ins, are you gonna eat the paella?
-I'm gonna eat all of it.
All of it? You're gonna leave
me some for me, no?
PATRICIA: You know,
we had a conversation, and we said,
"TV, yes, to be on TV,
that won't make you happy."
I'm, kind of, attacked from all angles.
But if he has a message to give...
he uses his fame.
I believe my profession, we are not...
being influential enough
in the way we are feeding humanity.
Everyone always has a moment
in life that, kind of,
you'll receive a call.
And you never know when the call
is gonna arrive,
and from whom, or from where.
But one day, I get... I receive a call.
(CROWD CLAMORING)
JOS: The earthquake hitting Haiti.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JOS: I was in Cayman Islands on vacation.
And I felt powerless
that I was so close and so far.
-(SOBS, SCREAMS)
-(CROWD CLAMORING)
-(GROANS, SPEAKS HAITIAN CREOLE)
-(MALE HELPER SPEAKING HAITIAN CREOLE)
JOS: And watching those images
of destruction,
we kind of said, "Let's go."
And for me, it's not like
I was thinking, "I'm going to help."
For me, it was more, "I'm going to learn."
(SPEAKS HAITIAN CREOLE)
We need... we need help.
There's no food, no water. Nothing.
JOS: The city
was still very dark at night.
Nobody was out, and a lot of people
were in refugee camps.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JOS: We... we are outside
Port-au-Prince in this shelter.
Roughly 250 people.
I began cooking a stew of beans.
Many of the women in the camp
were helping me,
peeling potatoes, peeling onions.
I see a group
of the same women were helping me.
They had kind of a smile on their face.
Uh... uh...
And they were looking at me,
kind of sending me a message
that... while they appreciate
the work I was doing,
making meals for them every day...
that those beans we were cooking that day
is not the way they eat the black beans.
Me, to my surprise, I thought,
"Man, I'm making
the best beans in the world.
"After all, I'm Jos Andrs.
"I had a TV show in Spain.
I have restaurants in America."
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-JOS: But I listened to those women.
And with the help of a kind
of a big mortar and pestle,
at the end, we had this puree of beans
that was velvety and silky,
the way they like it.
RICHARD: In spite
of having his ego bruised...
he realized
that you have to respect people.
Food is about community.
It's about having food your way,
and not the way some white savior
thinks it should be cooked.
And I think that really shaped
World Central Kitchen
in all of its operations moving forward.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-JOS: In a way,
they were showing me the path
of what World Central Kitchen
should be doing.
To this day, when we go to faraway places,
we make sure that what we are feeding
is what the locals will love to eat.
For me, it was very clear
that I wanted to create organization,
that we will be able
to respond to events...
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-...that disturbs the lives of people.
And being able to be there,
to bring food and water.
I'm gonna try for two, three years,
to prove that it's something needed
out there that no one is providing.
We're here with a simple mission,
to make sure that food
is an agent of change.
(MALE VOICE SPEAKING SPANISH)
(KIDS CLAMORING)
We're out of food.
We're running out of food and water.
-It's gonna be all right.
-DONALD: I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico,
but you're throwing our budget
a little out of whack.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
MALE PORT WORKER:
People are just begging,
anxious, in the need of such important
supplies, and they are all sitting here.
(HELICOPTER WHIRRING IN DISTANCE)
PATRICIA: Puerto Rico
was a game changer in every aspect.
And he said, "Okay, you know,
I'm leaving for a week."
He basically took a backpack,
and I don't even know
how they got there. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
It was the first flight that landed
in Puerto Rico after Maria.
JOS: Nate Mook, who is like my saint,
I think I called him three hours
before I was taking the plane.
And I told him, "I'm going."
And three hours later, he was next to me.
NATE: We arrived on the ground
about three days
after the hurricane had hit,
not really knowing what to expect.
Jos and I packed
about three days' worth of clothes.
We thought we'd be there
for a couple of days.
We'd maybe help out a little bit.
But... what we found
when we landed was catastrophic.
TREVOR: The entire island was impacted.
And not just for a few days,
but for months, and months, and months.
And then the challenge
of getting logistics.
In a place like Puerto Rico,
just getting resources
to scale quickly to some place
that's hard to get to.
You know, most people who go
to Puerto Rico understand San Juan.
They've probably not been
to the other sides of the island.
They've not been out into the rural areas.
It's very difficult terrain.
It's hard to get around.
And in a hurricane, it's even harder.
NATE: So, we were able to get
to the convention center.
We walk upstairs, and we find
the right people, we get connected.
And we get called into a meeting,
and the meeting ends up being about fuel.
Everybody is freaking out
because there is no more access
to fuel on the island.
And so, we said, "Great, that's important.
What about food?"
Food becomes an afterthought.
There were MREs that were brought in.
These are meals-ready-to-eat.
These are shelf-stable,
heavily packaged things
that we give to our military
when they go into conflict zones.
And unfortunately, this is still
the default for many emergencies.
They're not very edible.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(IN SPANISH) The spoon, boy!
Wednesday night, and I told her,
"I don't think I'm coming back home."
'Cause Salvation Army
is asking me for food.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-JOS: Red Cross didn't have any kitchen.
And I asked them. I asked everybody.
I'm like, "What exactly
do you plan to feed?"
"Well, Jos, we are working on the plan."
Like... "Okay, is... You know you have...
"you know you have over two million people
that are hungry right now."
Food is very simple
because the mission is very clear.
People are hungry,
you cook, and you feed them.
That's it. There's nothing else requires.
There's not more planning.
NATE: We did what chefs do,
which is, we just started somewhere.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(SPEAKS SPANISH)
at the local food distributor,
and started buying their food.
We started small, getting requests
for 100 meals here, 30 meals here.
NATE: Started building a team.
We just scale up.
We make sandwiches. We cook paella.
We get another kitchen, and we're making
all types of Puerto Rican dishes.
JOS: This is how we are gonna
be feeding roughly
over half a million people a day.
We're gonna be opening kitchens.
Mayagez, Aguadilla.
We're gonna do one in Manat.
We're doing one in Ponce tomorrow.
-(CROWD CHEERS)
-(WHISTLES)
RICHARD: He knew people,
he knew chefs in Puerto Rico.
And he needed to connect with them,
and they knew people.
-(CROWD CHEERS)
-RICHARD: In a crisis,
you call on the experts.
Where there was a medical crisis...
you bring in doctors.
And no one was calling on the cooks
and chefs of the world
when there were people who are hungry.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-JOS: They are making a great rice
with the crab.
And this is one of my favorite places.
If you have to feed 10,000 people,
and everything is destroyed,
and you don't know how to do that
because still you don't even
have ingredients or a kitchen,
but nearby may be a woman
that is making tamales.
Is it not smart that we go
to that person and say,
"Can you make me 10,000 tamales?"
In the process,
you are helping the local economy
by empowering a local business.
(WHIMSICAL SPANISH SONG
PLAYING OVER SPEAKERS)
XIOMAR: After Hurricane Maria,
we were about to leave Puerto Rico.
We were wor...
very worried about the situation,
and things that were going on down here.
We had to close our business down.
It was like a third-world country,
which I... you know,
the things you see on... in TV,
those were the things we were looking at.
And we were being part of it,
and we were scared.
We were desperate.
So, we just wanted to leave.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(SPEAKS SPANISH)
So, then Jos Andrs showed up,
and he started writing on a wall,
like, on a piece of paper,
all the things that we were gonna do.
-He was talking about...
-MICHAEL: The whole plan.
...making 10,000 to 100,000 meals
for Puerto Ricans, and we were like,
"This guy must be nuts."
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JOS: The way
World Central Kitchen began was,
take care of the problem first...
(CHUCKLES) ...we will find out
how we'd uh... how we pay for it.
We were creating systems of the solution,
spending hundreds of thousands a day...
(CROWD CHANTING IN SPANISH)
...and we didn't even had a dollar
in the bank.
I came here with 10,000 dollars
in my pocket, credit cards.
I open an account in a couple of places...
RICHARD: Jos was putting things
on his own credit cards.
He didn't have the money
to finance this operation.
I mean, you're talking
about even 10,000 meals a day,
but certainly 100,000 meals a day,
you're burning cash.
I was, like, helping
manage the importation.
We were buying all... Like, one day,
I spent 70,000 dollars on fruit.
And I had to step back, and be like,
"Did I just spend, like,
an entire salary on fruit?"
We've been raising money. But, you know,
we've been raising money,
friends and family.
But, you know, a million meals is real.
The money we spend is real.
And I was going
to be asking your CEO and you
if there's any way that you could...
as the big brother
you are of catastrophes,
if there was a way that Red Cross
could be helping... financially
in a small or bigger way for the...
for the job we've done
on behalf of all Americans.
-So...
-BRAD: So, I... I uh, I did check
on the financial piece of this
before I gave you a call,
because I wanted to make sure
that I knew the full extent
of what was available.
But I'll be honest with you, Chef, um,
we're not fundraising
particularly well for this.
JOS: What they said was very clearly
that they couldn't help me
because Puerto Rico
was not bringing money to them.
So, even
if they were the big organization,
they couldn't be helping us.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
TREVOR: Because we're so... at least
for us, we're so protective of the people
impacted by disasters,
that we do create some walls around that,
because so many people
sometimes want to come in,
and not all have the best intentions.
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
in front of my people.
But at the same time, inside,
I was weak, and I was afraid.
And I was like, "How are we going to...
how are we going
to be taking care of that?"
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(JOS SPEAKS SPANISH)
There's always tension
when you have a group of people
working tirelessly to serve people.
And we all know it may not be fast enough
or good enough, right?
In every disaster,
we know it could be better.
And I think that's what Jos
was trying to do.
Does try to do still. Right?
He still looks to call out issues
when he sees them,
not because he wants to point fingers,
but because he wants to bring attention
to the opportunity.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-I just... I don't have more money.
Uh... FEMA is gonna release money,
but they're so slow to... They're so slow.
I'm asking for a line of credit,
but I'm almost getting
a million-dollar line of credit
of money I don't even have.
TREVOR: He was suffering from mental
and physical exhaustion.
NATE: You know,
I remember he just broke down,
and he just...
he couldn't hold it together.
It was really heartbreaking to see,
because he was doing so much,
and yet feeling like it wasn't sufficient.
RICHARD: We all said,
"You need to take a break.
"You need to sleep.
You need to see your family."
CARLOTA: I mean,
he needed a day of rest at least.
And I think the only reason
why he ended up coming back
was to see a doctor.
INS: He came back, and he was really
dehydrated and low on energy,
which is so unlike him.
And you could see in his eyes
that he was here physically,
but not emotionally or even mentally.
And my mom was begging him
not to go back just yet.
To just wait a little longer,
um, to refuel,
which he always forgets about himself.
I s... I worry a lot when he goes,
because you never know.
I mean, knowing him,
you never know
what crazy thing he would do.
VOLUNTEER 1: Oh, the bridge,
the bridge, the bridge.
-VOLUNTEER 2: Wow!
-VOLUNTEER 1: Hold on.
JOS: I'm going down and up.
If I don't come back, leave me.
I always tell him, like,
"Why did you make yourself the hero,
"and, like, the one
who has to help everyone?"
-Four thousand rice...
-INS: I remember when he was there,
we might've not talked to him
for a couple of days,
either because there's not
very good connection
or because he's really busy.
And then we'll see him on the news.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Or we'll see that he's Tweeted,
and it's like, "Okay, he's all right."
We actually got a Twitter
when we were younger
just to keep track of him.
I think, Mr. President,
we will feed the island.
We only need to make sure
that we put away the red tape.
The problem with seeing the president
throwing the towels
it's not the towels, or...
That was a nice thing to do.
The problem
is that that's what relief is becoming.
Let me throw you...
let me throw you the bones.
That's not relief.
Those people
that cannot move from their homes,
we have to bring it to them.
-Wow.
-VOLUNTEER:
Yeah, the guys. Yeah, from day one
to the entire community.
-(IN SPANISH) Happy birthday.
-Thank you.
Ninety years old, a veteran.
(ALL SINGING IN SPANISH)
of names like them.
They know them by heart.
They deliver by person.
When they say
they delivered 1,000 meals in a day,
they didn't throw 1,000 meals in a day.
That's relief.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(SPEAKS SPANISH)
Jos is a very pragmatic guy.
Right, he's got these big dreams
and this big vision,
but it's always rooted in what's possible.
So, it never comes across as these,
like, lofty, sort of crazy goals. Right?
It's like... "Yeah,
this just makes sense."
(BOTH SPEAK SPANISH)
but we believed he could do it,
and we decided to be part of it.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
ARTURO: My landlord told me,
"Jos Andrs is coming to Puerto Rico,
"and he wants to build something
to make food for people."
And I was like, "Yes!"
(IN SPANISH)
I told all my food truck friends,
once something really bad happens
in Puerto Rico,
we are an army of kitchens.
JOS: It is a big moment!
We got today, probably close
to 3,000 meals only with food trucks.
People underestimate Jos.
He only got an education to the age of 14.
And people look at him, and say,
"Oh, he's a big Spanish guy,
"so entertaining, and I love his food."
They underestimate him.
-Fifty thousand meals!
-RICHARD: They underestimate the bigness
-of the solutions that he's looking for...
-Tomorrow, we will deliver!
...the ability to find people
who can get stuff done.
-(CROWD CHEERS)
-He'll make it work.
He'll feed people.
-(TRUCK HORN HONKING)
-ARTURO: Today, we're gonna cook
our asses off.
We're gonna rock and roll!
We were cooking for thousands of people.
We were creating something
history has to study.
-(FEMALE COOK SPEAKING SPANISH)
-(IN SPANISH)
ARTURO:
ARTURO:
that we were cooking meals.
And all of a sudden,
the Salvation Army shows up,
and asks for food to take
to senior homes, hospitals.
Give us a call, and say, "Hey.
"We have nothing to feed
all of our patients."
It was a really powerful moment,
because you realize
that even though
we had no experience... (CHUCKLING)
...running a disaster relief operation
at that point,
it's also just so simple.
JOS: (IN SPANISH)
DRIVER:
At the very beginning,
I really tried hard.
I understand my NGO was not really
an entity that is known.
And then FEMA gave money
to World Central Kitchen
to do what we were doing.
But then in the local press came the news
that Jos Andrs
went to Puerto Rico to get rich.
RADIO HOST: (IN SPANISH)
JOS:
JOS:
Jos was deeply frustrated
with the bureaucracy.
Three thousand people died in Puerto Rico,
not because of the hurricane,
but because of the botched aftermath.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
NATE: He was incredulous.
And, of course, it's because he...
Jos doesn't come from that world.
Jos doesn't come
from government procurement.
Jos doesn't come from bureaucracy. Right?
He comes from the private sector.
He's an entrepreneur.
And what do you do
when you're an entrepreneur
is you do whatever you need
to do to get things done.
And that really is the model
that was created out of this moment.
(IN SPANISH)
but powerless at the same time.
You know you can do more,
but you're not able.
When you have hungry Americans
going to bed without anything to eat.
People ask me sometimes,
"How did you got to where you are today?"
And my answer sometimes is,
"I am who I am thanks to my parents."
My mom and my dad were nurses.
And they were working
in the same hospital.
I spent a lot of time in the hospital,
in the hallways of emergency rooms.
In that moment for me, I saw...
nurses and doctors
always going the extra mile.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
JOS: I would see them
reading a book to a child
that didn't have their family next to him,
or bringing an old woman to a walk
because nobody was there to do it,
and she needed to move.
Small gestures of empathy.
I saw my mom and my dad doing that.
I saw my father always feeding everybody
in his day off. He loved to cook.
My father always taught me
that if more people
came in the last minute,
you just add a little bit more of rice,
and everybody will eat.
I had a complicated relationship
with my mother.
My mom was a fascinating person,
a very loving person.
She would give herself to everybody.
(SMACKS LIPS) But then... she will have...
she will have...
she will have her moments of intensity.
And for me, being the older brother
was complicated
because I felt I had to be the protector
of my younger brothers.
But was complicated. Was...
that's maybe one of the reasons
I always was finding ways
to be away from home in creative ways.
Let me study, and stay away
in Barcelona even if I was 15, 16.
Let me stay to work, so I can make
some money to have cash.
But my mom was a lovely woman,
and I miss her.
But was very persistent,
and she would never take a "No."
And... And this is a trait probably
I learned from her, and is in my DNA.
And my father was, you know, a kind guy
that loves to cook for everybody.
And I have a feeling
I have that trait from him, too.
So, you know, I want to concentrate
in the very good traits
that my mother and father planted on me.
-Where are you going?
-Okay, see you.
-I'm leaving. I don't want to hear it.
-Why not?
-Don't wanna know.
-I'm not gonna say anything bad.
I know. I don't care.
-INS: But are you still gonna be home?
-Yeah.
-(IN SPANISH) Great.
INS: (IN SPANISH)
See you later.
-(BLOWS KISS) I love you.
Honestly, before any of my friends
ever meet my dad,
I'm usually already saying sorry,
because who knows what he's gonna do?
He's just very unpredictable.
You are doing the oranges!
You are in the...
INS: You always know
that he's not gonna be
on the quieter side.
-That's a given.
-(SPUTTERS) Put it down there.
INS: Like, we would want him
to kind of fit the norm
of, like, a typical dad. (CHUCKLING)
And he just totally breaks that barrier.
And that... that's taken us
a while to learn actually.
Like, he's not embarrassed of who he is.
Here we are, cooking from home,
because when we cook together,
we thrive together.
-Exactly.
-Boom.
Boom.
My family is very much
everything in my life.
Go over here.
My daughters are in this age
that before I know,
they're gonna be graduating
in the next year.
This is how the daughter of a chef
that goes to university cuts.
-I never...
-Take a look at...
...I never went to cooking school!
-JOS: This is...
This is a great way to do manicure.
-She never went to cooking school.
-CARLOTA: Okay.
JOS: I've been a very bad teacher
because she's learned nothing.
What I can say, though,
is that this is my knife.
JOS: I still, to this day,
I remember the many aromas
coming out of my mother's kitchen
in my house.
All the choreography of the making...
(VOCALIZES RYTHMICALLY)
...to this day, has had a huge impact
in how I see food.
If you have black pepper,
you put black pepper.
If you don't have black pepper,
you don't put black pepper.
I don't wanna romanticize it.
My father and mother were working, and...
-You know what we do...
-(SCREAMS)
...it was sometimes quick cooking
used to keep the family fed.
But love will be put into the process.
So, Dad, what are you excited
about for the next four years?
You know what I'm excited about?
That you're my daughter.
(KISSES)
-JOS: Carlota.
-Yep.
JOS: I remember being there with my wife,
having our first daughter, Carlota.
I think is one of the first times
I realized that I barely learned
how to be a grown-up,
I barely learned how to be a husband.
And now, I have to learn how to be a dad.
Oh, yeah.
But if I didn't have the beautiful
voice of my wife guiding me...
I don't think I would claim
I've been a successful dad.
For me, the most difficult times
were when Jos was gone,
and then coming back, and adapting again
to the routines of the family.
And the kids could be fighting,
and he's like,
"Please, can we have some peace?"
I'm like, "Well, welcome to life."
(CHUCKLES)
LUCIA: My mom's definitely
kind of the glue.
She keeps my dad intact.
Because he's all over the place.
-My wife married me because of my cooking.
-(GIRLS LAUGH)
-Tell... Tell your mom.
-But he married me because of my recipes.
(ALL LAUGH)
So, something my mom always says
when they ask, like,
"Oh, who cooks at home,"
is that my dad cooks,
but my mom feeds the family.
My wife and everything I know
about cooking, I owe it to her.
-(CHUCKLES)
-(BLOWS KISS)
When people ask me,
"Oh, so, you have only three girls?"
I'm like,
"Well, I have three girls and a boy."
(BOTH ARGUING IN SPANISH)
I'm a very cranky boy sometimes.
My wife keeps me always in check.
Sometimes she's looking at me,
sometimes with a smile,
sometimes with a serious face, saying,
"Who do you think you are?"
And she calms me down instantly.
PATRICIA: But the good thing
is that we laugh together,
which I think is very important.
So, that keeps me sane.
We say that Jos does what he does
because I do what I do.
He comes back, and he finds,
you know, a safe haven. (CLICKS TONGUE)
Safe haven, but it's a real place.
-We need to adapt.
-And if you get the recipe wrong,
-you change the name of the recipe.
-Boom!
I'm pretty sure that my mom
has a backpack ready for him all the time.
Because you never know
what's... coming our way.
MALE NEWSCASTER:
The images from the eruption
of Guatemala's Volcn de Fuego
seem apocalyptic.
MALE NEWSCASTER 1: Evacuations
and rescues are underway.
More than 3,000 people
have been forced from their homes.
NATALIE: The death toll is up
to at least 25 people.
And nearly two million
are being affected in some way.
VICTOR: Areas once vibrant and alive,
now frozen by the ash.
NATE: So, we go to here,
and then we go north.
-So, we have to come... come up.
-NATE: Yep.
-And then access through there.
-NATE: Yep.
And so, were going to go to a community.
We're gonna leave at 6:30 in the morning.
JOS: All right.
Sam is probably going to take
the lead on that.
-Thank you, Sam.
-So, he's on board
for the next couple of weeks,
helping us out.
Only two weeks?
-(CHUCKLES)
-SAM: Well, it's a start.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
I think the question is just what...
what's going to make their life better.
You know, if all they're getting
is bean sandwiches...
then obviously, if we're cooking
a fresh meal with chicken or beef,
and we've got proteins,
we have starches, we have vegetables.
Okay. Wait, where are we going?
-Side door.
-NATE: (GROANS) I hit my ankle.
-I think we can go to the side door.
-Okay.
We're gonna... You know, we're good.
-(GRUNTS)
-Okay, team, huddle.
Wherever there is a fight
so hungry people may eat,
we will be there.
-SAM: Yeah.
-Yes.
(WATER GUSHING)
JOS:
-Are you with me?
-SAM: I'm with you.
JOS:
-SAM: To warn people.
-JOS:
He was telling people, "Leave,
the volcano is going to explode!
And some people were thinking
he was crazy.
SAM: Yeah,
it's like the boy that cries wolf.
-Right?
-JOS: Yeah.
-What?
-SAM: The boy that cries wolf.
Like, when they keep saying so many times,
"Oh, theres a wolf,
there's a wolf, there's a wolf,"
-and there's no wolf.
-JOS: Ah.
SAM: Then when there's a real wolf,
no one listens.
JOS: Hey, I understand... English.
-You don't have to explain...
-SAM: I don't know if it's a...
-JOS: Okay, yes, yes...
-SAM: I don't know
-if it's an international thing or not.
-...I understand it. The wolf.
I know. You want to kill the wolf
because you're hungry.
SAM: No, that's not the... point.
-That's not the point.
-Sorry.
-Okay. I know, I know. (CHUCKLES)
-SAM: That's not the story.
JOS: I don't think anybody
that works in emergency
with World Central Kitchen
thought about working with us.
It's not because we choose them,
but it's because the circumstances
choose them.
SAM: A lot of people think that, like,
"Oh, you work
on all these dangerous situations.
"You know, you must not have fear,
or you must, you know, be reckless."
-There's another big rock right there.
-SAM: Yeah.
But if you didn't wanna take any risks,
you would just stay home,
which is really good.
I look at all of this, as I do life,
as calculated risks.
And we calculate
what the impact is gonna have
on other people or humanity
by putting yourself in that risk.
This is all ash. This isn't cloud.
This isn't fog.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(RAIN POURING)
SAM: This career can be incredibly lonely.
It's hard to, like,
hold down a relationship,
or you don't know
when you're going to be where.
Most people, even your friends
back home that have known you
for years and years of doing this,
can't really understand.
When I was 11,
my older brother, he was 15 at the time,
but he died saving my life
in a car accident.
And, uh, definitely shook me up
quite a bit as a kid.
And... finally, like, you know,
I always thought I wanted to get
some sort of tattoo or some way of, like,
you know, remembering him.
And then, finally,
I just... settled on "Thank you,"
'cause what else do you say?
So, that's like just a constant reminder
to be grateful.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(JOS SPEAKING SPANISH)
What I'm trying to accomplish is simple.
How can I empower communities?
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(WOMEN SPEAK SPANISH)
only thinking that we are gonna
give food away for free.
And we need to try to create systems
where people take ownership
of their situation
and of their own problems.
The community here,
they taught me today a big lesson
in a very remote area
in Guatemala, Ceyln,
five kilometers away
from the tip of the volcano.
This community may be humble in means,
but everybody came with a glass,
with a cup, with...
and their plate, with their fork,
and this is all the garbage.
And this is the way food aid
should be given.
We cannot be giving food away,
and creating more, more trash
and more waste.
-Adios, seoras.
-(WOMEN SPEAK SPANISH)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
We have given them a complete kitchen,
so they can continue feeding
the community of about 1,200 people here.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-SAM: (IN SPANISH) Here is fine.
of a disaster in the future,
they have food, purified water,
electricity, and communications.
For the most part, especially people
after natural disasters,
they've never wanted
to have their hand out.
It's not intentional,
but there is this exchange.
They're almost requiring to give up
a little bit of their dignity
in how it is in order
to receive that help.
And so, that's just something
I've always looked at,
is how can you more help somebody
help themselves?
And then there's how it is
that you do it.
There's the humanity part.
And that very last step
the way that you help somebody,
how does that make them feel?
How does that not require an exchange
-of their dignity in the process?
-(KIDS GIGGLE)
JOS: When we leave,
when the white men with its power,
and its nonprofit organizations
leave those countries,
we need to make sure
that what we leave behind
keeps moving forward on its own.
That's my dream.
-(CAR HORNS HONKING IN DISTANCE)
-(SIREN WAILING IN DISTANCE)
ROBERT: If you agree
to help us go out there,
and help prepare 3,000 meals every day
that look good and taste good,
and you study, and you show up,
and you work, we'll get you a great job.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-JOS: When I was 24 years old,
I was a volunteer at DC Central Kitchen,
and I began working alongside ex-convicts,
alongside homeless,
that all of a sudden,
they found a place to call home.
Robert Egger is a guy that began seeing
that food waste was a problem.
We're going to bring that food
into a kitchen,
we're going to repackage food
that is untouched,
and we're going to give it to people
in need around Washington.
BILL: Every single year here,
5,000 volunteers roll up their sleeves,
and give something back
to their community.
People like Jos Andrs,
one of the premier young chefs in America.
-Is he here today?
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-Stand up here, Jos.
-(CROWD CHEERING, APPLAUDING)
ROBERT: The door opens, and in comes Jos.
So, we started talking.
And he had never seen
the job training thing before.
And that idea of, like, you know,
you're teaching people to cook,
that really clicked with him.
Every person should be gaining
the respect of the person next to it.
If we don't have respect,
-we have nothing.
-(CROWD CHEERING)
And that's what DC Central Kitchen
stands for!
Robert Egger taught me a lesson
that took me years to really understand.
He taught me charity seems
it's about the redemption of the giver,
when charity should be about
the liberation of the receiver.
We give too much to feel good
about ourselves.
We don't do enough to make sure
that when we give,
we liberate people from their problems.
Jos was the wild card.
Nobody, nobody saw Jos coming.
He was coming into the culinary world,
and really kind of radicalizing us
with molecular gastronomy,
and all the things he was doing
that many chefs dismissed.
One of the things we're trying to do today
is to feed people maximum flavor
with the minimum quantity of food.
ROBERT: He just kept going,
and started changing things.
And everybody thought, "Wow!"
JOS: I think it's our destiny,
not only to have these great restaurants
with these amazing dishes,
but it has to be our destiny, too,
to try to fix the problems
that food is part of the equation.
MALE NEWSCASTER: Jos Andrs
is one of America's most celebrated chefs,
running a restaurant empire.
FEMALE NEWSCASTER: The eternal optimist
oversees 27 restaurants,
including ten in Washington, D.C.
MALE NEWSCASTER: But these days,
you're more likely to find him
in a relief effort
after a natural disaster.
JOS: Things have to change
in how we should be providing relief.
Don't follow a recipe.
When we go by the book,
we lose our ability to be creative.
-I am cooking, and only using the sun!
-VOLUNTEER: Hey!
We can feed anybody, anywhere, anytime.
What's your ultimate goal?
My ultimate goal,
probably every one of us,
we should have one.
I think we should be loud,
and we should look, like,
a little bit crazy.
I would love to be part of coming up
with a system to end hunger in the world.
FEMALE INTERVIEWER:
You have 30 restaurants.
You've got a wonderful wife,
and family, and home in D.C.
What compels you to put on your vest
and get on a plane and head for disasters?
JOS: Like many other people,
I feel even guilty sometimes, and...
And the least I can do
is give a little bit back.
FEMALE VOICE: (IN SPANISH)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
"Wow, okay, Jos's a chef,
"but he's also a humanitarian."
He's not choosing
between one or the other.
Yet look at how easy
he's making them come together.
That's what people need to see,
that you can do both.
That you don't have to choose
between your integrity and a paycheck.
MALE VOICE: This is the best meal
that I've eaten.
-(FEMALE VOICE SPEAKING SPANISH)
Thank you. Gracias.
-(IN SPANISH)
-(CROWD CHUCKLING)
(LOW TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
SAM: I just want to get
the Port Authority guy our list.
What... I mean, trucks, fuel, generators.
Like, are we thinking about...
are we talking about doing paella?
SAM: Yeah, or at distribution points,
things like that.
-JOSH: Propane, gas for trucks, trucks.
-SAM: We'll need ice. Do you have the ice?
JOS: One place
I think we became very wholly...
and all the experiences
of the many years...
TIM: Heaters, are they propane?
...came to fruition in a way
in the Bahamas.
How well-prepared is an airport like that
to be ready to receive some?
-SAM: Yeah.
-JOSH: We've been following the hurricane,
Dorian, for over a week now,
and we had a team ready to go
in Puerto Rico if it hit.
And it just barely missed,
and it's just been gaining strength.
And then we placed teams
all throughout Florida.
And then as the storm got more powerful
and changed course,
all the models started to point
towards coming to the Bahamas.
We're looking for about 1,200 pounds.
JOSH: We're about 80 miles south of there,
and we're prepping here in Nassau.
Talking to folks about logistics,
and how we can get things there
by boat, by plane.
You know, we won't know what's possible
until after it passes.
(MALE VOICE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY
OVER SPEAKER)
Right now, we are at the edge.
This is the winds that hit this part.
SAM: We're staging everything over here.
We've got teams over here,
and we're going to be transporting things
to Freeport as soon as possible.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
JOS: The emergency
has this amazing way to speak to you.
You only have to listen.
If you are with boots on the ground,
you can listen.
You can listen to the situation.
You can listen to the wind.
You can listen to the waves.
You can listen to the people.
-MALE VOICE:
-JOS: Yeah.
I wanted everybody to understand...
-(WAVES CRASHING)
-(GLASS SHATTERS)
(MUSIC TURNS SOMBER)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And we've got to call the minister
or whoever on the way
to get permission to fly.
We need to be careful on that, though,
because they told us
that we have permission
to move in today at 8:00.
-Yeah.
-JOS: It's too late.
-8:00 p.m.?
-Yeah, that's what they told us.
-SAM: Yeah, we don't want to go at night.
-I know, but that's what they said.
My point is why to put ourselves
in harm's way
if everybody saying it's dangerous.
The pilot... this pilot
will make the call of what's safe
and what's dangerous to fly,
but we need permission.
-JOS: Are we bringing sandwiches with us?
-Yes. There's a car meeting us.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Yeah, it's like, you know,
they're probably so busy right now,
-it's easier to ask for...
-Forgiveness.
(HELICOPTER ENGINE RUMBLING)
JOS: Can we bring some here inside? No.
-MALE PILOT: Yeah. We'll put some in here.
-All right.
(HELICOPTER WHIRRING)
Maybe I go back, and I report,
and you stay?
That's exactly... So, I stay,
but I think he needs to go very quickly.
JOS:
Five minutes.
When you first land on...
In a situation like this,
you have to just be, like,
extremely resourceful.
This is like an extreme situation
because you're on an island.
Is anything savable in your hotel?
Is the kitchen usable?
-No, nothing is usable right now.
-Zero?
Zero. We have no power.
-JOS: Okay.
-HOTEL EMPLOYEE: The generator
has dumped over on its side.
JOS: But if we get you a generator,
that kitchen can be functional.
-HOTEL EMPLOYEE: Yes, it can.
-JOS: Go, go, go...
We hear it's a lot of need of food here.
And, you know, we have some
sandwiches and some fruit.
So... we're gonna deliver it
to the people,
and we're going to make sure
that we find a place
for the first kitchen,
or it's gonna be a lot of hungry people.
-Everybody okay?
-BOTH: Yep. Yep.
Well, my son in Freeport,
I haven't heard from him yet.
Jeez.
(SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING)
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-(CAR HORN HONKING)
SAM: We'll feed
every shelter on the island...
for as long as it's needed.
How many people do you have here?
-RESIDENT: Three hundred plus.
-SAM: Three hundred plus?
RESIDENT: Yeah.
Sometimes, it's very difficult
to start doing hot food in the first hour.
But something you can be doing amazingly
is quick, fast sandwiches
that can bring very quick relief.
SAM: Well, right now,
we've got probably, like, 300 sandwiches
-and a bunch of fruit.
-Yes. Yes.
For now. We've got more
flying in on the helicopters.
JOS: It's almost, if you think about it,
like, the perfect MRE,
a meal ready to eat.
If you give that with a little fruit,
it's a very good combo that can at least
bring quick food relief.
SAM: ...to be sure that everybody
that's hungry gets to eat.
Thank you.
(SAM EXHALES)
Assessment of the kitchen here.
Well, the only standing kitchen
in Marsh Harbor was at the hotel.
And it had been completely submerged.
This was the restaurant here, um,
that obviously didn't make it.
But looks like the kitchen did.
It's amazing.
Got a range over there, a convection oven
we're going to try to get working.
This looks like something
we can work with.
JOS: Are we doing the kitchen here
or we are using the hotel in Abaco?
We need to make that decision and quick.
Right now, everything
has to come to Nassau.
Until we don't have a kitchen there,
we need to crank as many meals
as we can from this kitchen.
Elsa, you know how to do this
better than anybody.
(ALL LAUGH)
JOS: In this kitchen,
we can do 10,000 meals.
The issue is, how do we bring them there?
So, let's see how many we can fill
and how many we can put in the helicopter.
One, two, three.
ELSA: Every one
of these is a different thing.
Totally different thing.
Have you all watched The Walking Dead?
This is it.
It's really eerie. I told... Sam was like,
"Do you wanna go out alone?"
And I'm like, "Sam, really?"
I have done about 11 disasters,
maybe 12, with World Central Kitchen.
About half of them have been fires.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-Meyer lemon juice.
Salt.
I've set up kitchens
to provide lots and lots of meals.
It keeps me sane
to know I'm doing something
instead of watching the news
and seeing how horrible everything is.
And this way I can actually do something.
Tomorrow, the storm's coming in.
-You heard that, right?
-RESIDENT: Yeah, I did.
ELSA: A lot of times, I don't see
the people, I just make the food.
So, this time's a little bit different.
I actually like getting to see the people.
-Well, good luck to you tonight.
-RESIDENT: Thank you.
We'll try and find you
tomorrow, too, all right?
Don't allow anyone to determine
the outcome of your day.
Hurricane Dorian came,
but she will not determine my outcome.
I have control of my outcome,
and I will determine my outcome.
-MAN: There it is.
-You got to mark your corner now.
KENTON: I lost a business,
but I look at it, "Hey, this is now
the opportunity for me
"to make some changes inside."
Why cry over spilled milk?
It's already spilled.
The hurricane came, did what it had to do.
Now, we have to do
what we have to do to survive.
VOLUNTEER: Ready? One, two, three.
-Watch your legs!
-Down slowly. There we go.
SAM: Getting a kitchen operational
in this context
on a deserted island where, like,
you really got to work with the resources
that are already on the island...
it's challenging as always.
ALEJANDRO: Got no gas.
SAM: There might just be a lot of air
in the lines still.
So, we want to get this all cleared out.
But I didn't know what you'd want us to do
with all the tables and stuff.
VOLUNTEER: Ready? Three. (GRUNTS)
-ALEJANDRO:
-SAM: Yeah.
This will be the main kitchen,
and then we can deliver out from here.
Alejandro was here. He was a chef.
And he was concerned about, like,
can we actually
get this kitchen clean enough?
And I think we could've gotten it
clean enough.
But at the same time,
it takes a couple of days
for the smell of things that might've died
to start to really smell.
Yeah, fine.
-Good luck with that.
-Oh, gosh. It was...
JOS: Yeah.
So, then, what do we do?
JOS: I mean, I would not feed my family
from a kitchen like this.
-Period. We cannot do it.
-(FEMALE VOICE SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
We need to find the safest place
for us to cook.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
We can't move all of you at one time.
But the boats will be coming in.
JOS: Here in Marsh Harbor. It's a major
evacuation happening in the port.
Hundreds of people are slowly leaving.
Take a look, all the people waiting here.
All women and children,
-follow the lady!
-JOS: We have some food,
but I don't know
if it's smart to deliver it.
-I don't want to create mayhem, so...
-Give me five of your men, okay?
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Yeah?
VOLUNTEER: No, we...
That's what we have. We have food, yeah.
I know, I read it. I read...
I want something to drink.
I drink more than I eat.
JOS: Stop!
(IN SPANISH)
-(IN SPANISH)
And help me just to do a line. That's it.
And we'll feed until we run out of food.
WOMAN:
You don't apologize to me.
-Apologize to him.
-JOS: He's my friend.
-He's like my brother.
-WOMAN: He's not your friend. No.
-I do not wanna hear it.
-You know why I was upset, ma'am?
-You tell him sorry. I don't wanna...
-JOS: No, I did. Tell her.
-Mami, trust me, don't worry.
-No! No!
-JOS: Tell her what happened. Tell her.
-I don't wanna hear it.
JOS: Tell her what happened.
Tell her what happened.
-I don't want it.
-JOS: Ma'am,
you know why I was upset with him?
Because you know
what happen with these people?
When you start giving food sometimes
in a disorganized way,
you know what happens? Everybody
sometimes comes and creates problems.
-I do not wanna hear it.
-JOS: That's why I was upset.
-You have to believe me when I tell you.
-I understand.
That just maybe you saw me,
my response, but...
Yeah.
It's for a reason.
I've seen it before, ma'am.
-I know.
-And I... And now, I agree with you.
-Yeah.
-I don't wanna use that excuse
-of why I did it.
-No. No.
But at the same time,
when it happened, I want it.
Because sometimes what happens,
something like this happened,
and people see and everybody came.
Haiti, in... Because sometimes...
But for you to know.
No, it's all the contrary.
-All right.
-Bye.
But thank you, okay? Mr. Jos.
JOS: You know,
many people always say that,
"Jos, you're very hard on everybody."
Me, I would love to be the nice guy
all the time.
"Good job. Good job. Good job."
I'm sorry. When it ain't happening...
everything is...
especially when people
are hungry and thirsty.
Ain't a good job
because we're not maximizing
what we can do.
So, what else do you want me to tell you?
"Well, but you can say it
with nice words."
Okay, let me say it with nice words.
We are not maximizing the potential
of what we're doing.
All right, what's next?
If we go next, it's fine.
But if not, next is,
"We are not maximizing what we're doing!"
Now, guys, guys, guys, do a line.
Let's go.
Okay?
Hey, Sam, how are you?
NATE: You tell me,
you tell us what we need.
We've got staff on Abaco,
but there's no electricity,
there's no running water,
there's no refrigeration.
We can't bring food out,
and leave it there.
He waited. Hold on. He waited.
NATE: Chefs operate in chaos.
This is what they do for a living.
I don't want more of the... paella.
I'm tired of the... paella, okay?
...I want the paellas this high.
Somebody has to catch it.
It cannot be always me.
I'm tired of being the bad guy.
Sometimes, owning a restaurant
feels like organized chaos.
Because even when you have the menu
prepared, and everything is ready,
and the stations are ready,
many things happen.
Chaos happens.
They are filling boxes,
filling boxes, filling boxes.
The waiter confuses the table,
the cook forgets that somebody
had an allergy.
I told you this morning
we were taking this!
...People!
And to a degree, a kitchen
prepares many people
in the restaurant business
to adapt to the circumstances.
NATE: They actually are often
most comfortable in chaos.
And so, in disasters,
the context is different,
and the locations are different,
and the scale is different.
But chefs are really perfect
for the work that we do.
This is a great challenge for us.
I do believe we have enough experience
with the things we've done
around the world to overcome it.
Hey, guys, we got to get ready to load.
SAM: We wanna get a ton of food
flown in tonight.
And keep it all cold.
PORT OFFICIAL:
We have two more by tomorrow already.
SAM: The government brought two
40-foot containers in
right after the storm as morgues.
This is a very big refrigerator.
Fortunately enough,
they only had to use one of them.
And they said, "Yes, you can use it.
But you can't move it."
Let's get as much as we can out here.
We are. Tell him to bring it.
We cannot wait.
They need to start bringing it.
KYLE: When I first showed up,
we were driving,
and Sam just stopped
in the middle of this,
like, messed-up lot.
And... he said, "Here we are."
And I said, "Where is here?"
And he's like,
"This is going to be our kitchen."
(GLASS SHATTERS)
(BRIGHT MUSIC PLAYING)
We can use these to organize the kitchen.
Locks. New locks with the keys.
This is good.
-Hey, Kyle.
-KYLE: Yeah?
Do you see that big-ass pipe wrench
in the bed of the truck?
KYLE: It's crazy, we just... we just...
It's... it was a cowboy phase.
We were somewhere
between cowboys and pirates
for the first month really
that we were here.
What if you turn it?
And then we had to kind of
makeshift stuff.
I found this huge event tent
that had been completely destroyed,
but a lot of the canvas was still good.
Everything else kind of built off of that.
One, two, three!
ALL: Hot food!
SAM: Being an island nation,
to feed everybody that's affected
simultaneously in one country
that are literally completely
cut off from each other,
using almost everything available.
I mean, every different type of machine
imaginable outside of a submarine really
to get food to where...
to where it's needed.
There was a bridge that was cut off
the whole Little Abaco Island,
about 600 people out there.
(VEHICLE RUMBLING)
(CHUCKLING, CHEERING)
And so, we got
the amphibious vehicle here,
drive across where the bridge
was destroyed, and go door to door.
So, to see us with smiling faces,
and, like, this big crazy vehicle
come driving down their road
when nobody else has before
was, like, it was a morale, like,
shift change that came.
Did you order a pizza?
-RESIDENT: Pizza? Yes, sir.
-(CHUCKLES)
SAM: Is that... I'm just
the pizza delivery guy.
-SAM: It floats.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-What do you guys need?
-Good. We need everything right now.
ELSA: We're gonna be here for a while.
We're looking for some people to help us.
-Okay. And you...
-And we're looking for peop...
-Is this where you live?
-No, I live in Nassau actually. I...
ELSA: People really wanna help
their own communities,
but also feel that they can take
their mind off the immediate crisis,
and feel like they're doing something.
So, it redirects all that energy.
(CAR HORN HONKS)
SHIRLEY: I love delivery.
Let me see where this guy is.
Hi!
After the storm, everybody was just,
kind of just snacking,
eating chips and little noodles and stuff.
I do, I have apples today.
But to have, like, a hot meal,
like, real food, was life.
What's your name?
SHIRLEY: Devin. Come here, Devin.
-Come, have a conversation with me.
-DEVIN: So, right now...
Yeah, but... And you so...
And you still happy?
-(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
-Me, too. I said me too.
-I lost everything, but I have life.
-I got life!
-Right?
-Lady, I get meal every day.
-SHIRLEY: Free food.
-And plus, I'm working.
So, listen, I can't beat that.
I ain't got no bills to pay.
-SHIRLEY: That's true.
-So, what do I got to worry about?
(BOTH LAUGH)
Bye, Devin. Come, give me some love.
Come, give me some love, yeah?
-Honor up and bless up, okay?
-All right. Appreciate the food. Yeah.
SHIRLEY: Hello!
After the storm, I just wanted
to do something to help,
'cause we didn't leave.
They was telling everybody
that they had to evacuate.
And a lot of people left.
-Y'all want some food?
-And they gave me a tray that day,
so, I served people around
the government complex.
And I wanted to do more.
And that's how I got involved
with World Central Kitchen.
Yeah.
-(CAR HORN HONKS)
-Hot food, hot food!
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING)
JOS: When you see now every single
man and woman that works with us
or the many volunteers that join us...
Let the journey begin! (CHUCKLES)
ZOMI: We've got some chicken
and vegetable pasta.
-I hope you enjoy the food.
-Yeah.
...they all share the same call to action
and call to empathy.
-JOS: Thank you.
-You're a big dude. Give me a big hug!
I know.
ALICIA: I'm doing something useful,
you know, helping.
So, it's a good feeling.
JOS: We have so much empathy...
-KYLE: How are you?
-...that shows up in every moment.
-How are you, darling?
-I'm doing great. I'm doing great.
-Good to see you.
-I love y'all.
Do you know if shredded cabbage is okay?
It should be chopped, but...
-DAN: Chopped is better?
-Yeah.
DAN: If the traditional is chopped,
we can do that.
-Hey, Pastor, this is Chef Jos.
-Chef Jos?
-RAMIRO: Yeah.
-PASTOR: So, that's the cook.
-I thought it was you.
-He's the dishwasher.
(ALL CHUCKLE)
Bahamas strong.
It happened because every man
and woman of World Central Kitchen
owned the situation.
SHIRLEY: Hi, Rodrick!
You went... you went
and got anything to eat today?
JOS: That we owned the moment.
That we owned the responsibility
of providing for people
that are forgotten.
That we own it.
It's ours. It's our responsibility.
ELSA: All right, I'm going.
-Do it!
-Yes!
SAM: Y'all, hurry on back now.
ELSA: Definitely would prefer
that we were getting
this done before dark,
but we just have to get it done,
and get people fed.
As many people as we can.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-It's all systems go today.
-Good job, man. You've been doing great.
-VOLUNTEER: Thank you.
SAM: Well, we got some apples,
some water, and some sandwiches.
-SAM: Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-(CROWD CHUCKLES)
You have, like, a little motorbike
or something I can just take back?
JOS: I don't see this as a job.
This is a call.
SHIRLEY: Mm. Yes.
JOS: I love your smile to the people.
I love to see how much they love you.
And you embrace the spirit
of World Central Kitchen.
-Thank you.
-SHIRLEY: Thank you.
(MUSIC FADES)
JOS: I am in... I am in, uh,
Navajo Nation. I'm in Arizona.
MALE HELPER: (OVER PHONE) Oh, you are now?
JOS: Yeah. Well, every five kilometers
I drive, it's a sign that says,
"You are leaving Arizona.
Welcome to New Mexico."
And all of the sudden, "Welcome to N...
"You are leaving New Mexico,
welcome to Arizona."
I'm like, "What the... is wrong here?"
(MALE HELPER LAUGHING)
JOS: Hi, guys.
Sorry we're late.
Distances are far here,
and the truck went in the wrong way.
I'm sorry, but it's coming, okay?
I'm sorry, it's coming.
We got... The truck got lost.
NATE: This is the highest
COVID per capita.
So, that's why everybody
is focusing on Navajo right now.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
-NATE: This one's good to go.
JOS: On behalf of World Central Kitchen,
I apologize.
We'll only do better.
(MECHANICAL RUMBLING)
(TRUCK ALARM BEEPING)
Ooh, we are heavy.
We lost my cousin.
A week and a half later, we lost my uncle.
They caught the virus,
and it just... it took them.
It brought... more meaning
to me getting up every single morning
to continue to prepare these food kits,
this medicine.
We need to protect our elders,
because elders hold the key
to our culture, to our heritage.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
CAROLINA: (IN SPANISH)
farmer's organization
in California that they are trying
to protect the rights of the farmers,
and they're having some problems
with Corona.
But we've been doing feeding with them
to many farmer's villages.
(IN SPANISH)
(KIDS LAUGHING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
The line goes all the way around.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Buenos das. Buenos das.
Oh, thank you for waiting.
There is food today, really good food.
There's vegetables and fruits.
RESIDENT: Thank you.
VOLUNTEER 2:
Please get into the line.
And please create six feet of space
between one another.
RESIDENT 2: We've been through
some tough times.
-RESIDENT 3: Yep. So, thank you.
-Like now.
And I thank them for giving out the food.
'Cause I wanna cry right now.
VOLUNTEER 1: All right, that's it.
There's no more sandwiches.
-I'm sorry. It's just...
-RESIDENT 2: We'll survive.
-We'll survive.
-RESIDENT 4: Yep.
CARLOTA: I think
COVID was when I saw my dad really...
freak out.
JOS: Keeping the distance, huh?
Hey, keep the distance.
CARLOTA: He was in Japan
with the cruise ship.
(MALE VOLUNTEER SPEAKING JAPANESE)
and we need people.
-Yeah.
-MALE VISITOR: Yeah.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
CARLOTA: He was in California
with the other cruise ship.
JOS: If this becomes a true pandemic,
and in one week,
it's hundreds of thousands,
we're already... it's already too late.
-No, you can tell him to... off.
-WORKER: Okay.
CARLOTA: So, he had all of this intel
and information
from being there in person
that not many people had.
We can be left without food very easily.
And we saw it with COVID.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
The distribution was completely halted.
And it was the question
of what was gonna happen with restaurants.
What was gonna happen with the employees,
how can we make sure that they are okay,
even though they're not working?
JOS: I'm trying to reopen my restaurants.
And I have 800 employees still.
They cannot come back to work.
We are only doing 20 percent, if,
of the business we used to do.
It makes sense that in this moment,
it's a great way for us
to be part of the solution.
DAWN: This particular catering,
and I'm being brutally honest,
is really what's keeping us alive.
RUSSELL: How many meals
are you doing today?
VOLUNTEER: We're doing 3,250.
RUSSELL:
Three thousand two hundred and fifty.
We're engaging all these food trucks.
We're rehiring restaurant staff.
So, it's the whole...
It's like a mini stimulus.
For me, it was kind of like,
"Okay, who do I know
"that has big enough restaurants
that can hold a lot of food,
"and that they can then become leaders
of the community, and then distribute?"
-We're like the food patrol. (LAUGHS)
-(PASSENGER LAUGHS)
GRACE: Here we come to save the day.
That's why I'm so sensitive also
for the community's needs,
because not only is my family
in Venezuela every day
struggling to get a meal,
but I've been that person
who has had absolutely no money
to get a decent meal.
(CROWD CHEERS)
This is amazing.
JOS: In every operation,
we always do maps.
Yeah, we love... we love maps.
I don't know if they do maps
because they think it's helpful,
or they do maps only because I like them.
-I still don't know.
-(ZOMI CHUCKLING)
I want to believe that they do it
because they think it's helpful.
-(CHUCKLES)
-It is helpful?
It is. Very much so.
VOLUNTEER: This is our map
of all of our hospital sites.
Feeding hospitals
isn't something that's new.
I think, um, feeding the entire staff
of every New York City
public hospital is new.
Yesterday was 93,447 meals.
VOLUNTEER 1:
We're going to stop at Bellevue,
and then we're going
to North Central Bronx.
VOLUNTEER 2:
And then Harlem, and then Queens.
VOLUNTEER 1:
And then Harlem and then Queens. (LAUGHS)
People are looking
at World Central Kitchen
to lead the way as examples, nationally.
What should FEMA do?
What's really effective?
SAM: Jos says we're creating a model
for the U.S. government
to step in and be feeding its country.
We're essentially like a really big pilot.
Feed the system.
JOS: The government should be the reason
why America is better fed
in emergencies, like after a hurricane,
so what happened in Puerto Rico
never happens again.
We need to make sure
that part of the money
goes to buy what we call
the specialty crops.
NANCY: Well, I completely agree with you
because as you say,
that's really the healthy part...
-Yeah.
-The fresh vegetables.
NATE: It might look better
if it's further back a little bit.
Slide your... slide your chair
over towards the...
-RUSSELL: Come this way a little.
-NATE: Come this way a little bit.
And definitely
because you're so close to the camera,
-I would say, you know...
-RUSSELL: Not yell.
Yeah, don't... definitely don't yell.
Like, calm.
-Like, you know, boom, boom...
-RUSSELL: The mic is right there.
-Yeah.
-JOS: Yeah.
NATE: 'Cause then it'll be...
It'll sound too intense for people.
Like, important, you know...
-JOS: I don't sound intense when I talk.
-(ZOMI CHUCKLING)
We are pleased to welcome
Vice President Joe Biden,
the presumptive Democratic nominee,
and Jos Andrs, world-renowned chef.
Thanks for joining us, Mr. Vice President.
JOE: Thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
How are you, sir? I am Chef Jos Andrs.
-JOE: I know, Chef. How are you?
-It's great to see you...
-JOE: You're famous!
-...and hear your voice, sir.
-JOE: My wife met you...
-Yes.
...when you were with Michelle Obama...
-Plenty of times.
-...talking about Puerto Rico.
She said you're doing
God's work, man. (LAUGHING)
JOS: So far, so good.
But you know, it's...
We have a lot of work ahead.
A lot of work.
But if we follow your lead,
we'll get it done.
Okay, I wanna follow
your lead, sir. (CHUCKLES)
I do believe that we need to start
taking food seriously once and for all.
Gracias.
Food needs to be treated
as a national security issue.
We're doing this, almost like a test
of how restaurants are gonna be also
on the forefront of feeding.
The same restaurants of the world
that feed the few
will be at the service
of feeding the many.
That even if we don't know each other,
if we are able to connect in emergencies,
we can keep everybody fed no matter what.
And we can do this all across America.
NATE: The COVID pandemic
was really a transformative moment
for World Central Kitchen.
It sounds like they served
about 45,000 people yesterday.
VOLUNTEER: All children?
Okay, thank you. Five.
NATE: Not only in the scale of the work,
but also in understanding
that we can play a role
at looking at some of the deeper
systemic issues.
JOS: We have more than 1,700 restaurants
all across America help us
deliver food in every corner.
We have a humanitarian crisis
in our hands.
It's only gonna grow bigger.
And this is gonna explode
if we don't bring food everywhere.
We are in Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico.
We are in Colombia, Venezuela.
We are in Spain, where I come from.
(FIREFIGHTER SPEAKING SPANISH)
-FIREFIGHTERS: Adios.
-Muchas gracias.
We're in a world now
where disasters
are happening more frequently.
As you can see,
today is super active, the volcano.
-The winds are starting to really pick up!
-(STATIC FEEDBACK)
NATE: We have Category 5 hurricanes
every year now.
They used to be once a decade.
Wildfires in California now
are year round.
There used to be a wildfire season,
but not anymore.
Gracias.
VOLUNTEER 1: The firefighters
are still working hard every day.
We're doing what we can
to helping them keep going.
NATE: So, there's no sort of downtime.
VOLUNTEER 2: This team
is pumping out 12,000 meals.
We are here to set up
a distribution point.
We have already sent thousands
of hot meals.
VOLUNTEER 3: We're still feeding
about 1,200 people a day in Tijuana.
Most of these folks behind me now in tents
camping out have been in shelters.
VOLUNTEER 4: We'll be here
until we're out of corned beef sandwiches.
VOLUNTEER 5: I think it's a blessing
in disguise to wake up every day
and have purpose right now.
'Cause so many people wake up every day,
and don't have purpose.
VOLUNTEER 6:
Let's give them the magic, baby.
VOLUNTEER 7:
We're still working. We're still serving.
Still doing what we've got to do.
VOLUNTEER 8:
We've got snowy conditions,
but undiminished enthusiasm from our team.
VOLUNTEER 9: Feeding someone, period,
in times like this
can change your whole mindset.
SHIRLEY: Even though we feel
like our government didn't do much,
at the end of the day,
we have to do for ourself anyway.
VOLUNTEER 10:
It's an honor and a privilege
to be able to serve people
in what has probably been
the worst time of their life.
We're gonna to be reaching
some very remote communities up there,
and serving them some wonderful,
fresh, hot meals.
Okay, let's go.
In this last year, I've been dedicating
the biggest percentage of my time
to World Central Kitchen.
NATE:
NATE: A.m., yeah, yeah. 1:00 a.m.
JOS: I am at Houston.
-(LUCIA SPEAKING SPANISH OVER PHONE)
-NATE: Hola, Lucia.
-LUCIA: S! Hello!
NATE: Hello. How are you?
She's asking when we are coming back home.
-NATE: Soon.
-(CHUCKLES)
We got to feed some people,
and then your dad can come back.
She's saying,
"Are you guys going to China?
"Are you going to...
Where are you going?"
I'm sure it takes a toll. I mean...
I've not been there for my daughters
as much as I should. I...
haven't been there for my wife
as much as I should.
But it's hard sometimes.
You want some food?
RESIDENT: I guess so.
JOS: You have brothers, sisters here?
-ANGEL: Yeah.
-JOS: How many?
ANGEL: I've got two brothers.
JOS: Two brothers? Another one.
-They're...
-JOS: Good, man.
-ANGEL: Thanks. My dad.
-JOS: He needs food? No.
Yeah, he needs food a lot.
He's at a different house.
JOS: Okay,
we're going to be feeding people.
You want to show me
who live here that needs food?
I follow you. (CHUCKLES)
You see what he told me?
"I know people that need food."
A child can be the one guiding you
to people that need help.
And that has value that... you cannot pay.
-(ANGEL SPEAKING SPANISH)
When you go to different operations
like this, and you can stop anywhere,
and give people food
in the middle of the street.
That's for me my happy moment.
(MELANCHOLIC MUSIC PLAYING)
All right, all right.
Okay, whatever you say, boss.
Okay, you want a plate or no?
Come on, I cook it. It's good.
-So, you're gonna eat.
-(ANGEL SPEAKING SPANISH)
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
-ADULTS: Gracias.
(JOS SPEAKING SPANISH)
If you need me to, I can translate.
JOS: Oh, but I speak English and Spanish.
(CHUCKLING) Okay, where are we going?
To a degree, a lot of people
praise the work we do.
But we never respond
to every situation the same way,
because it'd be too slow
for us to do that.
You know, sometimes,
the circumstances are not the best ones
in the way we feed people,
but we are always feeding people
no matter what.
But I believe that everybody
needs to move quicker and faster.
When everybody asks,
"What do we need government for?"
That's what we need governments for.
Little bit better every day.
I'm very a bit grumpy.
I'm not going lie to you. I'm getting old.
But I think I'm controlling my grumpiness.
And there's no excuse for grumpiness.
It only comes for... (GRUNTS)
...perfection of whatever.
Yeah, I need
to be a little bit less grumpy.
That's good.
I love that you want to feed the cat.
We'll feed the cat.
Angel, you're a sweetheart.
-He's eating the meat?
-ANGEL: Mm-hmm.
-NATE: Yeah.
-JOS: Angel, thank you, my man.
-ANGEL: You're welcome.
-JOS: Hey, you're a good man.
-Never change, okay?
-I'm not... I'm not.
But there are some more people
on the first street and the second.
JOS: Well, we will feed everybody.
I need to go back home.
I've been away for too long, and...
and it's my wife and I's 25th anniversary
on the first, and...
and that's a big one,
and I need to be there next to my wife.
I'm going through so many disruptions
that it's becoming crazy.
And it's becoming like,
my brain is like, "Oh, man."
-(MUSIC STOPS)
-(CAR ENGINE SPUTTERING)
What happened?
(GASPS) Oh... I ran out of battery...
Of gas.
I forgot that we were empty for...
We've been empty for the last four hours.
(UPBEAT FOLK MUSIC PLAYING)
(MUSIC CONCLUDES)