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Last edited: 28 January 2021      
Jose' Andre's photo

José Andrés is an internationally known chef with many successful restaurants around the USA. He is originally from Spain. He is also a social activist, who uses his entrepreneurial success and boundless energy to help peoples in disadvantaged countries. In spring 2010 he was part of a team from Solar For Hope, which headed to Haiti to help with earthquake relief. As part of their efforts they distributed parabolic solar cookers and provided training. Inspired by this project, José founded the World Central Kitchen, a foundation focused on feeding vulnerable people, supporting the local agricultural economy through local food purchases, and promoting nutritious foods, recipes, and environmentally sustainable cooking fuels and technologies.

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Adam Savage Chats with Chef José Andrés at The White House-1

  • December 2016: Chef José Andrés taught Adam Savage, former co-host of Mythbusters, about solar and fuel-efficient cooking at the White House during the South by South Lawn festival.
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SolSource and GoSun solar cookers at the White House. Photo credit: José Andrés

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Chef José Andrés (left) and his team demonstrate solar cooking at the Bite conference in Silicon Valley. Photo credit: BiteSV Instagram

  • June 2015: Chef José Andrés demos solar cooking at Bite conference in Silicon Valley - World-renowned chef and solar cooking advocate, José Andrés, held a solar cooking demonstration at the Bite conference in Silicon valley using several SolSource ovens, a popular parabolic solar cooker developed by One Earth Designs. Chef Andrés' goal was to convey the importance of clean cooking technology, especially in developing countries where the availability of cooking fuel is limited and respiratory disease from cooking indoors is prevalent. During the conference, Chef Andrés spoke to attendees about increasing investment is clean cooking technology development.
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  • May 2015: In an interview with MUNCHIES, Chef José Andrés describes when he first got excited about solar cooking, how solar and efficient cooking technology can help those in developing countries, and what he is doing to promote these technologies around the world. Read article...
  • January 2015: Writing in National Geographic, José Andrés discusses his New Year's Resolutions which include the goal to "cook cleaner"! Read article...
  • December 2014: In an article for National Geographic, Chef José Andrés writes about his pop-up restaurant, Sunny Day, which he opened at the Life is Beatufiul event in Las Vegas, NV. Sunny Day used solar cookers to cook their signature dish, vegetarian tacos, during the day and clean-burining ethanol in the evening. Read article...
  • November 2014: As part of the "What I'm Thankful For" series, José Andrés explains that he is thankful that his family has a simple and safe method to cook their food, and how solar cooking and other fuel-efficient cooking methods are bringing this benefit to the world's poor, for whom access to traditional cooking fuels is becoming more difficult and expensive every year. Read more...
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  • October 2014: At the Life is Beautiful festival in Las Vegas, NV, José Andrés debuted Sunny Day, his new solar-powered pop-up restaurant. His goal for the new pop-up restaurant is to educate Americans about clean cooking around the world. Interview with José Andrés
  • July 2014: Chef José Andrés was recognized by President Barack Obama during a naturalization ceremony as an "Outstanding American by Choice" for his work as founder of the World Central Kitchen.
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  • November 2012: Solar cooking advocate Manolo Vilchez writes from Spain, that Washington, D.C. celebrity chef and Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves Culinary Ambassador José Andrés visited the country of his birth last August to be honored for his humanitarian and international culinary achievements. While in Spain, Andres demonstrated once again his commitment to solar cooking, which he discovered after a huge snowstorm in Washington, D.C. knocked out power and closed roads for several days in 2010, and Andres discovered that he could cook delicious food in the middle of winter with his parabolic solar cooker. "Cooking food with the solar energy is unsurpassed for the pleasure of using a clean, renewable source of energy,” said Andres, while showing his countrymen in Bullas, Murcia, how to cook with an alSol parabolic solar cooker. Andres was fresh from his recent trip to Haiti, where he has trained eighty young people at a school in Fond Verrettes to use the alSol parabolic solar cookers he has brought to Haiti in cooperation with the Spanish NGO CESAL. His students are also learning about other clean cooking systems. The students recently experimented with making espresso using their parabolic solar cookers. Andres, founder of the World Central Kitchen, is also interested in promoting solar food dehydration. He is currently investigating the use of this green energy technology to help Haitians dry fish. AlSol Tecnologias Solares designs, manufactures and distributes solar parabolic cookers and solar food dryers with the development support of Gehrlicher Solar Spain.
  • November 2011: Celebrity chef José Andrés makes an impassioned plea for improved cookstoves and solar cookers to benefit the world's poor.
  • November 2010: This past year José Andrés, an internationally known chef and social activist, has been doing his part to help the people of Haiti. When he had lost power at his own home for a few days, following a severe snowstorm, he discovered the magic of solar cooking. He was amazed how efficiently a parabolic solar cooker, which had been given to him and had sat unused, performed on a cold but cloudless day. In spring 2010 he was part of a team from Solar For Hope, which headed to Haiti to help with earthquake relief. As part of their efforts they distributed parabolic solar cookers and provided training. He feels the parabolic cooker is well-suited to prepare the traditional local fried food recipes. Andrés believes a pressurized cook pot is also a valuable asset to promote with solar cooking. It can shorten cooking times, and provide additional cooking, once the pot is removed from the oven. Listen to a recent interview with José about the project. Inspired by his initial experience in Haiti, José created the World Central Kitchen, a foundation focused on feeding vulnerable people, supporting the local agricultural economy through local food purchases, and promoting nutritious foods, recipes, and environmentally sustainable cooking fuels and technologies. José is returning to Haiti, and the World Central Kitchen, in partnership with Grameen Creative Lab, is planning to build a commercial kitchen with the capacity to feed 10,000 people daily. The goal is to create a sustainable "social business" for the people that have the least. They plan to serve a nearby orphanage, school, hospital, and local residents. Solar cookers will be play a central role in the project.
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José Andrés serving solar cooked food to Haitian earthquake survivor. (Photo: Manolo Vílchez)

  • April 2010: A Solar For Hope team headed for Haiti to help provide earthquake relief. As part of their efforts, they distributed ten AlSol 1.4 parabolic solar cookers. The package included accessories and equipment for cooking with retained heat, and also workshop training for preparation of indigenous foods. Noted international chef and social activist, José Andrés, was part of the team that also included writers, environmental activists, and members of Engineers Without Borders.

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Email: info@worldcentralkitchen.org