Chef Jose Andres on feeding hungry Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic
Chef and restaurant owner Jose Andres, founder of World Central Kitchen, joins Bret Baier on 'Special Report.'
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Celebrity chef Jose Andres joined "Special Report" Tuesday to talk about food issues affecting America due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"We want the federal government to pull their weight to solve these problems," the Spain-born Andres said. "We should be bringing both sides, Republicans and Democrats, together. And when this happens is when America, we the people show its best."
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Andres supports a bill called the FEMA Empowering Essential Deliveries (FEED) Act, which would have the federal government fully reimburse local and state governments for working with restaurants and nonprofits to prepare food for vulnerable populations, including seniors and underprivileged children.
Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and Rodney Davis, R-Ill., along with Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Kamala Harris, D-Calif., introduced the legislation Tuesday.
"They're coming together to come with more solutions, bringing the private sector, partnering with the federal government, the states and the neighbors to come up with a simple idea to feed America," Andres said. "Let's put restaurants to work and let's at the local level cover every single problem that we're going to facing the weeks and months ahead."
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Andres said safety should be the first priority when reopening but he wants to bring restaurants back online to help those in need.
"You know, in the process of moving away from this pandemic, we put America to work. We make sure that restaurants are part of the solution. We bring Americans back to work and doing good," Andres said. "That is what everybody wants to be, back to work and be an agent of change. One meal at a time. we can be solving some of the bigger problems we face right now in America. Right now a need is keeping everybody who needs food, fed."