Chef José Andrés pushing Biden for creation of a food czar
WASHINGTON — Restaurateur and activist José Andrés is calling for the incoming Biden administration to create a new cabinet position to address the growing food and hunger needs of the country as coronavirus cases steadily increase into the holiday season.
In an interview with Yahoo News, Andrés — who started working with Joe Biden before the election — stressed the need for a new position, a “secretary of food” that exists outside of the Department of Agriculture to oversee communications among various angencies and bring both practical and political insight into food and hunger to the White House and appropriate policy makers.
“We need to understand one thing: that food is more than the USDA. Food is more than just all of the mechanics of a smart agricultural system,” Andrés said. “Food is immigration. Food is health. Food is national security. Food is job creation. Food is economic growth.”
Andrés, who was awarded the National Humanities Medal during the Obama administration for his humanitarian work, publicly supported Biden’s candidacy and hosted a get-out-the-vote roundtable with business leaders in October. Last year, the two spoke about food insecurity caused by the coronavirus pandemic during an hour-long town hall with Yahoo News.
Since Biden won the November election, Andrés has continued to push for attention to food and hunger. “We need to make sure that we have somebody near the president that sees food as what it is: a very important issue that sometimes falls between the cracks,” he said.
According to a Northwestern University study conducted in June, food insecurity has doubled nationally and tripled within households with children since the onset of the pandemic. Requests for the supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP) have reached record-breaking highs as families wait for a another stimulus package from a deadlocked Congress.
Andrés wouldn’t name his top picks for the proposed position, instead insisting that Biden’s recently announced nominee for secretary of agriculture, Tom Vilsack, is “the right secretary for the moment.”
Still, Andrés insisted that Vilsack, who served in the position under Obama, would need an outside adviser, much like the position he is proposing, to focus on food-related policies. If that kind of individual doesn’t exist, or food policies aren’t modernized, Andrés warns that the U.S. would be vulnerable in case of national disasters, another pandemic and even threats to national security.
Andrés declined to say whether he would accept the position, and insisted that he is content with his life as it is. “I live very well in the limbo of both helping the people create policy, but then we need good smart people in power to be successful on the ground. There is where I see myself.”
He did not, however, rule out assisting president-elect Biden in any capacity, formal or informal.
“I’m only as good as the people I have around me. And I know that President Biden, Vice President Harris will only be as good as the people they will have around them,” he said. “I know any American should be there providing support and help to this administration.”
He pointed toward his work over the past few years lobbying Congress to allocate more resources to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as an example of his involvement in politics while maintaining his other humanitarian work.
“If President Biden needs my help or the help of the other 350 million Americans I know, all of us, we will be there,” he said. “Myself, I’m there already, I don’t need to be called.”
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