Ron Howard’s latest NatGeo documentary, “We Feed People,” premieres today on Disney+, and it follows a man who you’ve likely seen in the news or on social media in the past few years.
Mr. Rogers once said that in times of trouble, one should “look for the helpers.” It seems that these days, whenever you look for a helper, you’ll likely find Chef José Andrés and his team at World Central Kitchen.
For a decade, Andrés has rapidly deployed to sites of disaster and strife across the globe to serve hot meals to those in need, and 2022 has brought the biggest World Central Kitchen mission yet: Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, the group has served over 27 million meals across eight countries to Ukrainians impacted by the war.
Howard’s documentary is a portrait of the man behind the mission, as well as the early days of the organization and the formative experiences that taught them how to take on such an endeavor.
While “We Feed People” doesn’t cover World Central Kitchen’s work in Ukraine, it offers up a look at how Andrés came to head up the organization, what drives him to continue this relief work, and some of the influential experiences that he and the team went through in developing their strategies for getting hot meals to people suffering through disaster. Andrés volunteered with the job training program D.C. Central Kitchen in the early 1990s when he arrived in Washington, D.C., from Spain to head up the Spanish tapas restaurant Jaleo, and that model of dignity and empowerment in charity work stuck with him when he began WCK in 2010, in Haiti after its devastating earthquake.
“We Feed People” tracks World Central Kitchen’s growth into an organization capable of rapid-response relief just about anywhere in any conditions.
The group’s goal is to feed people, and getting food to those in need is often challenging, but the the impact is vast, serving an urgent need wrapped up with a powerful message of peace, humanity and connection. Stream “We Feed People” on Disney+.
“We Feed People” speaks directly to Howard’s last documentary, “Rebuilding Paradise” (2020), about the devastating 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif., the deadliest wildfire in state history. Howard turns his lens toward the aftermath of the fire in Paradise, taking a look at how one town copes with a disaster that could have wiped it off the map entirely. Stream “Rebuilding Paradise” on Tubi or rent it for $3.99 on all other digital platforms.
Since 2013, Howard has mixed more documentary filmmaking along with narrative features, directing a handful of wide-ranging music docs, including the 2013 Jay-Z doc “Made in America” (stream it on Tubi), the 2016 Beatles doc “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week — The Touring Years” (stream it on Hulu) and the 2019 doc “Pavarotti” (stream it on Tubi and Kanopy, or rent it elsewhere).
