Politics and Government

How To Keep Everyone Fed During The Pandemic

WAMU 88.5 | By Arfie Ghedi

Published May 12, 2020 at 12:41 PM CDT

This is a nacho salad prepared at the World Central Kitchen, a food bank and food distribution center established by celebrity chef José Andrés. World Central Kitchen and a bipartisan group of lawmakers are working on efforts to feed the hungry during the COVID-19 pandemic.

When a natural disaster happens, the government sends FEMA—the Federal Emergency Management Agency—to manage the crisis.

But in the case of COVID-19—how to help those who are in need is not as clear.

Here’s how The Washington Post described a solution cooked up by some lawmakers and the culinary industry.

Which is one reason a bipartisan group of lawmakers has been working with chef and humanitarian José Andrés and his nonprofit organization, World Central Kitchen, to introduce the FEMA Empowering Essential Deliveries Act, a bill that will expand the range of people eligible for FEMA assistance. It will allow local and state governments to partner with restaurants and nonprofit groups to feed all those in need during covid-19, with the federal agency picking up the costs of the programs.

Chef and humanitarian José Andrés and community leaders from around the country join us to talk about this bill and how his organization has distributed millions of meals in over 100 American cities.