Corby Kummer: Chef José Andrés provides meals to Ukrainian refugees

As scores of Ukrainian citizens cross the border into Poland fleeing the Russian invasion, chef José Andrés greets them with warm meals. Award-winning food writer Corby Kummer joined Boston Public Radio on Wednesday to talk about Andrés work in feeding refugees as the crisis grows.

Currently, Andrés is set up in Poland, providing food to refugees through his group World Central Kitchen, which works to feed people on the frontline of global disasters.

“These refugees who are spending 36, 48 hours in the road, in lines, how are they managing to survive?,” Kummer asked. “Throwing their possessions away, waiting with children, it's freezing cold. I don't know how they make it. So he's right there where need is great.”

Kummer said that the group is hoping to make it into Ukraine itself, particularly to deliver flour to a group of nuns in Lviv also working to prepare meals.

Andrés got his start in Spain, and first made national headlines after pulling a contract from Trump Hotel over the former President’s comments about refugees. In addition to his work feeding refugees, Kummer said he’s constantly working to support young chefs, and is “a legend in the food world.”

Kummer is the executive director of the Food and Society policy program at the Aspen Institute, a senior editor at The Atlantic and a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy.