We Fed An Island

We Fed An Island

Adult nonfiction
"Now imagine a different kind of waiting and not knowing.
Waiting without power. Waiting for food. Waiting for running water.
Not knowing if your family one town over is alive...Not knowing if
anyone from the mainland is on their way with relief or if they even
have a strategy in place to help you. Not knowing if your entire
island has been forgotten."
Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Electricity and
communications were taken out. Bridges collapsed and roads became
unnavigable. Sea water and torrential rains flooded homes and
hospitals. Government and nonprofit organizations were caught off
guard, not having protocol or plans to handle such unprecedented chaos
and disaster.
Chef Jose Andres flew down to do what he believed should be the
number one recovery priority. His We Fed An Island is the inspiring
story of how he overcame not only the hurricane's effects, but lack of
help and even opposition from powerful government agencies and
nonprofit organizations that were supposed to be handling the
situation. The book is like a Little Engine Who Could for adults. As
people in high administrative places kept telling Andres what he could
not do, he went ahead and did it, outperforming the big guys, not for
the sake of showing them up, but because of his passion for providing
hungry people with good food created from ingredients at hand. The
high stakes challenge his team took on would in itself make We Fed An
Island an unforgettable read.
There is, however, a second layer of narrative: a scathing
critique of government agencies and nonprofit organizations tackling a
21st Century catastrophe with 20th Century methods. For example, they
take the top down approach which assumes they are the experts and
things must be done their way. Andres, in contrast, realized that the
Puerto Ricans were the ones who knew what was needed, where it was
needed, and what human and material assets were on hand to facilitate
his mission.
"A military meal that is 'ready-to-eat is something no human
being is ever ready to eat. Stuck on a battlefield, far from home or
any kind of kitchen, an MRE (meal, ready to eat) may be a lifesaver.
But it is not a meal as anybody would understand it. The contents of
a brown plastic MRE bag are so heavily processed and preserved that
they have only a distant relationship with food."
One of Andres' pet peeves was that most relief agencies were
distributing MREs as food. In contrast, he was serving up foods
Puerto Ricans knew and loved in communal settings. He considers a hot
meal to be a plate of hope. The people he served were able to put him
in contact with more people in need. By buying ingredients locally,
he was able to help kick start the island economy.
Whether you're in need of a heart warming story or want to know
why responses to disasters are so often inadequate, you'll find We Fed
An Island to be a must read.
On a purrrsonal note, I had a really exciting experience last night.
I've never been a good pie maker. My problem was the crust. Mine
tended to have the texture of work boot leather. Try as I might I
could not concoct a crust suitable for human (or even canine)
consumption. So that became a pandemic quest. Lucky for me Amber and
her fiancée, Brian, have started a recipe blog:
https://amberandbriansrecipe.blogspot.com
(which I highly reccommend, BTW. You can add a touch of variety to
your recipe repetoire and maybe even discover a new family favorite).
Anyway I tried an apple pie recipe Brian got from his grandmother and
their crust recipe, which I found easy to follow. Last night I was
able to serve up a seriously good pie with an edible crust. From the
joy I experienced you'd have thought I'd won a Pulitzer. Eugene was
unable to get why I was so excited. But he ate a big piece.
Poor Tobago cat had a scare. The big machines went around the trailer
park to repair winter road ravages. Between the noise, their
appearance (an excavator could have made a good T Rex), and the way
the trailor shook a little she was terrified. (Jules)
Oh the hoomanity of it all! How could I tell they were not apex
preditors? I hope they do not come back! (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to Amber and Brian with best wishes for
success for their very much in good taste new Internet adventure!
Tobago and Jules Hathaway




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