We Fed an Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time - José Andrés, Richard Wolffe Audiobook

Written by José Andrés, Richard Wolffe
Read by Jose Andres, Luis A. Miranda
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Anthony Bourdain/Ecco
Release date: September 11, 2018
Duration: 10:35:12

The true story of how a group of chefs fed hundreds of thousands of hungry Americans after Hurricane Maria and touched the hearts of many more.

Chef José Andrés arrived in Puerto Rico four days after Hurricane Maria ripped through the island. The economy was destroyed and for most people there was no clean water, no food, no power, no gas, and no way to communicate with the outside world.

Andrés addressed the humanitarian crisis the only way he knew how: by feeding people, one hot meal at a time. From serving sancocho with his friend José Enrique at Enrique’s ravaged restaurant in San Juan to eventually cooking 100,000 meals a day at more than a dozen kitchens across the island, Andrés and his team fed hundreds of thousands of people, including with massive paellas made to serve thousands of people alone..(Andres has contempt for the idea that disaster victims deserve only lousy food).

At the same time, they also confronted a crisis with deep roots, as well as the broken and wasteful system that helps keep some of the biggest charities and NGOs in business. Andrés tells how his nonprofit organization thrived despite the fumbling incompetence of government agencies—and an American president who “seemed to have no idea what his role was.”

“We solved the problems as they popped up,” Andres writes, “as chefs do.” This is a powerful story of the impact a well-meaning group can have on the world.

We Fed an Island movingly describes how a network of community kitchens activated real change and tells an extraordinary story of hope in the face of disasters both natural and man-made, offering suggestions for how to address a crisis like this in the future. If you should buy a copy of the book, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Chef Relief Network of World Central Kitchen for efforts in Puerto Rico and beyond.

If you are in Australia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, any area with a strong regional accent, you may have trouble at first with chef Andres’s accent but stick with it.