We Feed People

Ron Howard (2022, U.S., 89 min.) + post-film discussion

What’s the first thing you think about when responding to a natural disaster? Securing infrastructure? Rebuilding lost homes? For chef José Andrés, the answer is simple: food. But it’s also complicated, because food means so much more than nourishment; it also reconnects us to our sense of identity and place. So, in his view, food service in disaster response must not just be prepackaged and unappetizing meals–it must incorporate local cuisine and must nourish the community. And who better to spearhead that response than chefs, professionals trained to prepare lots of food quickly and used to improvising rapidly to adapt to changing supply chains?

In Ron Howard’s riveting We Feed People, we watch Andrés, a renowned celebrity tapas chef based in Washington, D.C., as he criss-crosses the globe to get on the ground immediately following natural disasters with his team from World Central Kitchen. Financed on a wing and a prayer, Andrés successfully gets tens of thousands of hot meals distributed in areas where government response teams still haven’t arrived, let alone restored power or cleared the roads. In the process he enlists both global and local volunteers into a community of neighbors helping neighbors and paints a portrait of a tireless spirit adapting to a world of climate change in which his skills are ever more needed. 

Following the film, we held a panel discussion about disaster response and preparedness, examining both local and global issues of food and medical care issues, featuring:

• Mel Curtis, Anti-Hunger Program Director, YMCA of Centre County
• Erin Kitt-Lewis, Associate Research Professor, Nursing, Penn State
• Brandon Rothrock, Former Climate Corps Fellow, Environmental Defense Fund and Penn State Alumnus
• Jillian Smith, Vice-President, Student Anti-Hunger Club, Penn State
• Leslie Womeldorf, Assistant Teaching Professor, Nursing, Penn State