The chef and social worker Andrés Torres stars in the new episode of the podcast Stay to eat. From a very young age he dedicated himself to traveling as a reporter to places of conflict, where he felt the need to help and ended up founding, 30 years ago, the Global Humanitarian NGO in which nearly 600 people currently work to attend to projects in twelve countries.
Torres, who in last year's Michelin guide obtained a green star for his restaurant Casa Nova del Penedès, in which they themselves produce most of the food they consume (wine, salt, smoked meats, chocolate, coffee, honey... ) explains his daily life combining humanitarian work and cooking.
During the conversation he explains his most recent experiences bringing food to Gaza or building bunkers for 1,500 children in Ukraine. The values that she has found in places of conflict or famine, she explains, “I would like to find them in the West.” Torres encourages politicians who brag about sending funds to see the extraordinary work that NGOs do.
His projects, he explains, focus above all on health, food and education. “These are performances that cannot wait. I am not one for large meetings and I have been summoned to talk about the millennium goals. But I know what it's like for a child to die of hunger in your arms, because it's happened to me. And I know that we have to feed now.”
From Global Humanitaria, he explains, they have set up 400 school cafeterias in various countries. “Because the children are the innocent and they are the future.” The cook assures that he does not protect himself from the pain that he encounters on his trips to places of conflict. “Why should I hide an emotion without which everything I do would be meaningless? I have been lucky to be here and if I had been there I would like them to help me.”
The abuse of minors, which in Spain is one of the countries in the world where it occurs the most, or the radicalization of children in war are some of the issues addressed in the conversation and on which they have been working since their foundation. Many of the projects in which they are involved, he says, “are in places where no one wants to go or where I think I can help the most.” They, he says, do not undertake a project and leave to follow it from a distance. “I live with the people there and we always work with local people who know the culture, customs and way of life of their own people.”
"In Spain, which is one of the most supportive countries in the world, we have many people who contribute a fee. I always say that with small fees, great things are done." Also many of the diners at his restaurant in Penedès, where he practices learned sustainability where there is more scarcity, they make donations for some of the NGO's projects.
