Fighting nutrition insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic
Hunger has been a pressing global issue for years due to factors including economic shocks, poverty, war, conflict and more. The United Nations estimates that between 720 and 811 million people in the world faced hunger in 2020.
In 2010, Chef José Andrés founded World Central Kitchen with a mission to be the first to the frontlines and provide meals in response to humanitarian, climate and community crises. Now, over a decade after it was established, the organization continues to provide hunger relief in communities around the world.
The COVID-19 pandemic drastically impacted access to food and nutrition globally and continues to do so today. It is estimated that nearly 660 million people may still face hunger in 2030 partly due to lasting effects of the pandemic on global food security.
In the United States, the restaurant and hospitality industries were immediately impacted by the pandemic. The average total dollars spent at restaurants dropped to $27.13 billion between March and May 2020 compared to $37.28 billion between December 2019 and February 2020. In response, World Central Kitchen launched WCK Direct, a free text-to-order platform that provided restaurant-prepared meals for families experiencing food and nutrition insecurity. In collaboration with community partners, the tech-driven program gave people flexibility and convenience to safely order meals on their own schedule directly from participating restaurants for delivery or pickup.
After its launch in New York City in 2020, a grant from Principal Foundation allowed WCK Direct to expand in 2022 to eight cities adding: Minneapolis, Charlotte, Los Angeles, Oakland, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Chicago. Within four days of the launch in Charlotte, WCK Direct received over a thousand orders, demonstrating the need for the program in the community. By late 2022, WCK Direct had served 34,900 meals in Charlotte and 11,419 meals in Minneapolis to hundreds of households directly through the text-to-order program.
George and the Dragon, a participating WCK Direct restaurant in Minneapolis served more than 1,500 meals. They said: “Partnering with [World Central Kitchen] has allowed us to help and touch those in need in our community. Often businesses and people ask themselves what they can do to help those in need in their community, and that question is met with a lot of obstacles. The number of questions and hurdles to climb can be a lot for a small business. World Central Kitchen’s partnership allows us to overcome those challenges by providing a seamless system with the proper tools and economic support to succeed. Our greatest joy with this partnership is getting to know the people we are helping.”
Ensuring access to essential needs like food and nutrition is the first step on the journey to financial security. Principal Foundation champions initiatives that remove barriers and empower people and communities so they may build better futures. Supporting World Central Kitchen is an important part of that work.
To learn more about World Central Kitchen and WCK Direct, visit https://wck.org/wck-direct.
