There were a lot of bad things about the restaurant business I do not miss, but seeing the work that Chef Andrés is doing with the hundreds of professional and home cooks in Puerto Rico is heart warming if such a thing can exist in a tragic situation.
The response from Washington has been pathetic. I’m happy to say both my Senators have been vocal about the continued need for more federal response. The fact that less than 20% of the island is still without power is criminal.
The thought of doing a gofundme for a flight to PR has crossed my mind more than once, and I may look at the options if things don’t break my way this week. Plenty of people want to do something, but can see on the news getting supplies and money isn’t the real problem. Sponsoring someone to be on the ground might be a way to help. We’ll see. If this interests you, let me know.
Until then, read more about what Chef Andrés and the World Central Kitchen are doing right now in PR and call your representatives to demand more action.
“How we were able to go from 100 meals to a million meals,” he added. The secret, Andrés noted, was the chef community, the many volunteers who picked up a knife and got to it. A chef’s disposition, Andrés said, is to know how to adapt to crisis.
“We are survivors,” he said. “We never wanted to be here for so long . . . But circumstances invited us to be part of it.”
Then Andrés remembered a favorite quote from literature, taken from a John Steinbeck novel: “Where there’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I will be there,” he said.
Dude are you going to Puerto Rico ????