Chef Andrés, welcome back to The Daily Show.
Thank you for having me.
Um, let's talk about this issue.
It seems like such a paradox.
And-and, honestly, I think, for many people,
their minds don't seem to grasp,
like, not what the problem is
but how there can be a problem in America.
How is it that at least 10% of America's population
is food insecure in a country
where something like 40% of the food goes wasted?
How is this possible?
So, Trevor, this is the conundrum we're facing,
not only in America but around the world.
-Mm. -The problem of hunger is real.
What happened is we don't know people that are hungry, right?
Because if, you and I, we know them,
the problem is fairly simple--
we share with them what we have
and the problem is solved.
So hunger is a problem
that actually has a very simple solution.
Let's put democracy, let's put our government,
the institutions at the service of making sure
that hunger is a problem of the past.
Because, yes, there's enough food to feed everybody.
We need to make sure that food stops being the problem
but food actually becomes the solution of having,
-you know, a community, a society... -Right, right, right.
...that keeps looking forward to the future
one plate of food at a time.
Now, have you-- have you come across any specific models
that work better than others?
I mean, you know, you've been in disaster zones
helping people get food,
everywhere from Puerto Rico to-to Texas.
You know, you've been in situations
where people don't have the infrastructure
to get the food, and so,
you have to find a way to build that.
Or there are people who are just food insecure,
and they don't have the meals,
but they do have the infrastructure.
Is there a catch-all that works,
or does each city and each place need
to find something that works for them?
What-what is the solution, from your perspective?
Obviously, it's not one solution
that just covers everything and everywhere.
Every community will need its own response.
But let me show you what we did with World Central Kitchen.
In the moment that the entire restaurant system
was shutting down all across America,
what we did at World Central Kitchen was very simple.
If you need to stop a fire, you send the firefighters.
If you need to feed people,
who you should be putting in charge of achieving this?
Cooks, restaurants.
How many tens of thousands of restaurants
we don't have in America? In the moment
that they were shut down,
what World Central Kitchen did was simple.
Let's partner with them.
We had more than 3,000 restaurants in our system.
-Wow. -And let's-- one restaurant at a time--
be feeding the elderly homes, the homeless shelters,
the hospitals, who... whatever was in need of a plate of food.
What we did was keeping the system working.
We put the money that people were giving to us
at the service of feeding American people.
We didn't only solve the problem.
We kept the system working.
The restaurants could keep employing their cooks.
The restaurants could keep paying the rent.
The restaurants could keep paying the farmers.
What we did was keeping the system wholly,
-360 degrees, not only feeding the hungry... -Right.
...but maintaining the economy up and running.
When you look at the challenges that people face,
whether it's food deserts, you know, whether it's trying
to find food banks that give people food
that is actually good for them,
that presents a different challenge.
And I know that that's something
that you're very passionate about.
What can we do to improve those conditions for people
so that they can eat something that can help them?
Let's take a look at something so simple
that does so much good.
SNAP-- what people know as food stamps.
When a single mother, maybe with three, four children
that is working outside the home and has to feed their children,
with food stamps, she gets the help she needs
to make sure that puts food on the table
as she can take care of education for the children,
the health issues that they may have, etcetera, etcetera.
But take a look at what happens.
If we only give her money to buy food, and all of a sudden,
in the community that woman lives,
-she has no supermarket to buy fresh foods... -Mm.
and she has to go ten, 20, 30 minutes away
to another community that maybe's a richer community.
If all of a sudden, we make that the federal government
supports the ending of food deserts in America,
that woman will be able to buy locally
with the same money of solving the problem of hunger,
we are helping the economy to become more productive,
creating jobs, helping that woman to live
in a community that actually she's proud of.
All of a sudden, we don't only end hunger,
we don't only end food deserts,
but we make one community at the time better.
This is a way we need to be... start thinking
in smarter ways to end hunger.
Not only you throwing money at the problem...
-Right. -...but investing in smart solutions
that make one community at the time better.
I love that. Man, you're just showing how,
like, the food chain impacts every single aspect of society.
And if we figure that out, we can help to try
and impact more parts of society.
Um, Chef José, thank you so much
for joining me again on the show.
Good luck with everything that you're doing.
You know, at the end of the show, we're going
to give people information on how they can help
with your organization,
which may end up helping them one day.
So thank you so much for taking the time.
Trevor, thank you.
Let's all think about building longer tables,
not higher walls, and the world will be a better place.