Feeding Dangerously

by José Andrés, Steve Orlando

Fires. Hurricanes. Volcanoes. Floods. Earthquakes. Food is hope.

Join Chef José Andrés and World Central Kitchen for the incredible story of how their mission began and expanded across the globe, serving millions of meals in the most dangerous conditions to bring comfort and hope, one plate at a time.

Natural disasters strike in all corners of the world, relentless and massive in strength. When relief pours in, it’s often focused on supplies, medicine, and reconstruction. Food is so often an afterthought. Who feeds the survivors? Who feeds the first responders? And how can a simple dish rebuild a devastated community?

$3 of every book sold will be donated directly to the World Central Kitchen

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Comics

240 pages, Hardcover

Published November 8, 2023

About the author

José Ramón Andrés Puerta, más conocido como José Andrés, es un cocinero español-estadounidense. Desde 2013 tiene también la nacionalidad estadounidense.

Chef/Owner of ThinkFoodGroup, star of the "Made In Spain" television series, and culinary creator and advocate.

Reviews

[Bharath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little illustrated book on how the ‘World Central Kitchen’ steps in to feed people in case of natural disasters such as fires, floods, storms, volcanoes & earthquakes. The book has details of how they contributed in NY, Puerto Rico, California, Guatemala, The Bahamas and North Carolina.

The initiatives are inspiring.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feeding Dangerously is a graphic novel produced by TKO Comics written by José Andrés and Steve Orlando, illustrated by Alberto Ponticelli, and colored by Giulia Brusco.

Feeding Dangerously is a first hand account from culinary chef and international humanitarian José Andrés and his organization World Central Kitchen and their mission to bring food, supplies, aid, and hope as first responders to anyone in need of help.

I love José Andrés. He is an incredibly selfless and caring individual while standing up for humanitarian aide and rights. Even with all the accolades, he and the WCK still don’t get all the recognition they deserve.

While the book does showcase all the aide that the WCK and Chef Andrés deliver, it is hampered by poor editing. I expect more from a seasoned writer like Steve Orlando to get the message across clearly. Instead it feels overly wordy and the way the writing is broken up across multiple word blocks makes it sound like William Shatner is narrating the book. The book is a mix of Chef Andrés life, the disasters and relief work, and metaphors that come off as awkward and incomplete. I would have appreciated more actual stories that Chef Andrés and WCK volunteers faced to really humanize the struggles involved. It gets better as the book progresses, especially the epilogue, but they should have revisited the material at the beginning and tightened it up. The art is good throughout showcasing a mix of disaster art, humanitarian relief, and food. Ponticelli does a really great job of capturing Chef Andrés’s likeness.

While I’m not including this in my score, I do not like the design, format, and production of this book. I do not believe the “widescreen” format adds much that couldn’t be captured in a traditional size book. Because of the length of the story and the thicker pages, this book is surprisingly heavy. The binding doesn’t feel secure and I do not believe the book will hold up well over time with multiple readings. Overall, I don’t think this book does enough justice to Chef Andrés and the World Central Kitchen. To me this book should stand up there up with the likes of Maus and March in conveying important messages in the graphic medium, but it misses the mark.

[Betsy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous pix and text of Jose Andre’s World Central Kitchen volunteers feeding victims of disasters around the world. He has prepared millions of meals through the years. Such an inspiration.

[Bruce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This non-fiction graphic work is an inspiring history of the World Central Kitchen and its philosophy. It starts with a brief 'bio' of Chef Andres life and the inspiration he attributes to his father "add more rice". The book goes through various disasters and what was learned from them, e.g. as the need to feed the responders and volunteers as well as the victims. Chef Andres points out the need to involve the community in any relief effort. That includes using local recipes for comfort food and listening to the people. Part of the mission is to continue helping the people get on their feet, going from feeding them to providing them with fresh produce from local suppliers to prepare their own meals. And WCK also provides grants to those in the food chain that need financial assistance.
While natural disaster responses predominate in the book in the end there is mention of response to COVID-19 (feeding medical personnel) and war.
But the ending comment is perhaps the best "don't build higher walls, build longer tables.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book describes and illustrates the origins, drive, and philosophy that has been behind the origin, mission and growth of World Central Kitchen into a world class humanitarian organization.
I am glad to have supported this group in the past, and will do so again in the future. Their humanitarian work has an even larger context - building stronger connections between all humanity to create a stronger global Community. What worthwhile and meaningful intention.

[Monical · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't exactly say that I "read" this book, as it is a graphic presentation. I admire Andres immensely, and although this book is meant for a YA type audience (and thus is rather edited and compressed), Andres acknowledges his co-worker and discusses the challenges the he (and World Central Kitchen) have faced.

[Nadia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply inspirational story covering the amazing work that World Central Kitchen is doing all over the world. Gives one a reason to remain hopeful about the future of our world especially amidst all the disasters and crises going on today

[Matthew Noe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The decision to make this a huge, horizontal book makes it heavy and hard to read... but it does pay off in some panels.