[#WorldKidLit Wednesday] Meet the Founder Of World Central Kitchen

Myra here.

I have always mentioned repeatedly to friends and fellow bibliophiles that ‘home is where the books are.’ Hence, the theme #ReadYourWayHome2024 seems apt. Tapping into the complexities and nuances of my cultural realities, I have broken down this larger theme to places and spaces I consider home – being born and raised in the Philippines, and having lived in Singapore for 11 years, and now in the UAE for nearly 5 years – I have come up with the additional hashtags: #SoutheastAsianLit2024, #ArabLit2024, #MiddleEasternLit2024, #TranslatedLit2024, and #DecolonizeBookshelf2024.

I am currently leading a Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (2023) project with students from our college. We are curating a set of diverse picturebook titles published over the past 13 years (2010-2023) that portray the 17 SDGs and three additional themes that the research team had come up with. I have created the above page to share our booklist with everyone once the research is completed.

This picturebook biography, is a good fit for SDG 2: Zero Hunger and SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals.

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José Feeds The World: How A Famous Chef Feeds Millions Of People In Need Around The World (Amazon)

Written by David Unger Illustrated by Marta Álvarez Miguéns
Published by Duopress (2024) ISBN: 9781728279527 (ISBN10: 1728279526) Borrowed via Libby. Book photos taken by me.

Occasionally you come across a story that you know is unforgettable; one that you would recommend unreservedly to people you know, because it is just that good. For this year, it is this book for me.

Chef José Ramón Andrés Puerta was born in Spain to parents who are both nurses. At a young age, he already knew the meaning of service and what it means to live a selfless life: one devoted to addressing people’s needs and building a sense of community, not just individual achievement or success. It was also noteworthy for me how Chef José learned the essentials of preparing meals from his parents, and in particular, his father who specializes in making paella (one of my favourite dishes, by the way). The image below is simply mouth-watering and adds an almost surreal, magical-realist kind of vibe to the narrative:

The narrative follows Chef José’s journey to Barcelona where he studied to become a cocinero, then eventually to New York where he was given even greater opportunities to learn from the best in the world, until he eventually opened his own restaurant in Washington, DC – where he gained multiple recognition for the creative and ingenious ways he paired food together: all rooted in the sense of community that preparing meals bring.

It was the earthquake in Haiti that changed everything for Chef José. In gifted education literature, we call this ‘pivotal moments’ in a gifted person’s life trajectory which defines what the exceptional individual does with his or her talent or expertise. This particular episode in Chef José’s life reminded me of Momofuku Ando’s own flash of insight when he witnessed war firsthand in Japan and inspired him to invent what people now know as Nissin’s Ramen as seen in the picturebook biography Magic Ramen: The Story Of Momofuku Ando by Andrea Wang and Kana Urbanowicz (Amazon – see my review here).

Not long after Haiti, Chef José gathered like-minded individuals committed to feeding people who are in need, and set up the World Central Kitchen. It was amazing to see Chef José travel to Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, Guatemala – to make sure that starving people are nourished and provided for. It was humbling how he also did not barge in as an ‘expert’ chef, but rather took the opportunity to learn from locals who knew best what types of dishes are considered ‘comfort food’ in their part of the world:

He learned the lesson that it was important to cook food in the local style to make people feel better cared for and to build a community.

Chef José also tended to often-neglected and forgotten populations, such as the Native American elder communities and food pickers – in addition to healthcare workers – who were affected by the pandemic. It was goosebumps-inducing for me to witness the humanitarian efforts the World Central Kitchen extended to those who are affected by the war in Ukraine.

This PBB was just released January of this year. I hope they issue an updated edition where Chef José’s incredible efforts to feed the starving population of Gaza are featured – alongside the names of the World Central Kitchen’s members who were killed by a target-precision airstrike as they were doing what they do best: feed hungry people. See the youtube link below and consider donating to this foundation whose courageous work becomes even more noteworthy in the face of senseless chaos and war.

I also found this Disney+ trailer on Youtube of a documentary that has been made to celebrate Chef José’s humanitarian efforts. What an opportunity to share this with bright-eyed children in the classroom who I am sure would be inspired by this great man’s life.

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#ReadYourWayHome2024 Update: 20 out of 100