As "We Feed People" (2022 release; 87 min) opens, we are in "Wilmington, North Carolina 2018" and Jose Andres and his team at World Central Kitchen is gearing up to cook 100,000 meals every day. Of course the meals must get to the people who are affected by Hurricane Florence, and we watch harrowing footage of massive flooding as far as the eye can see. We then go back in time to 1993, when Jose arrived in Washington DC to lead the kitchen at the Spanish restaurant Jaleo. At this point we are 10 min into the film.
Couple of comments: this is the latest documentary from producer-director Ron Howard, working with the National Geographic. Here he looks back at the life and times of celebrity chef Jose Andres (who famously detests that label, saying "I cook and I feed"). In 2010, seeing the sheer devastation and utter destruction in Haiti, Andres cannot sit back and goes to Haiti to help out and cook meals. It turns out to be the beginning of his NGO World Central Kitchen. Along the way we also get a look at Andres as a husband and a dad. Once can't help but be struck by the always energetic and upbeat attitude that Andres displays in even the most dire circumstances. Along the way, we get unforgettable footage from 2016's Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, 2018's volcano Fuego's explosion in Guatemala, etc.
"We Feed People" premiered this weekend on Disney+. It is currently rated 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. I wouldn't go that far (for that, the documentary is a bit too predictable), but this is a worthwhile look at someone who puts his money where his mouth is--literally, and does an immense amount of good through his World Kitchen Central. Of course you don't have to take my word for it, so I encourage you to check it out and draw your own conclusion.