Latest news with #WorldCentralKitchen
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- General
- Irish Independent
Dublin baker's Palestinian inspired bagel raises €3,700 for food relief in Gaza
Kieran Clifford, of Fat Baby Bakes in Ringsend, began making the Palestinian bagels – baked with Za'atar spice, chopped olives and topped with black sesame seeds – last October. Ms Clifford, who is originally from New York, chose to fundraise for food aid in the region as it is a cause close to her heart. 'The people are starving in Gaza and I'm a baker. It made sense,' she said. 'I launched the micro bakery out of my house in June of last year. Up to that point I'd been participating in the marches for Palestine. I'd been signing petitions and writing letters and doing whatever I could. 'When the bagels started to take off and there seemed to be some real traction, I thought well, we should do something about raising money for food aid in particular. 'I have a long history in human rights and have done a lot of work on Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories. It's always been an issue near and dear to my heart. ' I just feel like our common humanity demands that we do something,' she added. She came up with the key ingredients for the Za'atar bagel after 'some experimentation with the recipe'. 'I talked to some friends who are bakers and who are very talented chefs. I thought Za'atar was a natural choice,' she said. 'We decided we would launch it as a fundraiser. So every penny of the €3 retail price goes to food aid and we've donated to a variety of different places.' Ms Clifford bakes around 100 Za'atar bagels weekly, but said getting the money across to Gaza has been difficult. 'We've gotten the money via back channels to people on the ground in Gaza,' she said. 'That's been quite difficult, but we've managed it in some ways. We've donated money to World Central Kitchen and to a couple of other food related charities. 'The origins of bagels are Jewish. Jewish Polish bakers brought bagels to New York at a time when they were really discriminated against, not only in New York, but equally in Poland. 'So I thought, by taking something historically Jewish and putting a twist on it to make an effort to contribute something on a peaceful level, I thought was kind of important.' Ms Clifford sells these bagels twice weekly on her Instagram bakes page. Two days ago the business took to social media to thank customers for their continued support on the Za'atar bagel. 'This week we are joining @oneplateforpalestine with all of the sales of our Za'atar bagel going to their designated charities addressing the dire conditions in Gaza,' the post said.
a day ago
- Politics
Chef José Andrés speaks out as World Central Kitchen forced to pause cooking in Gaza
World Central Kitchen has been forced to once again suspend cooking in Gaza due to a lack of ingredients, the food aid organization said Sunday. In a joint social media post with its founder Chef José Andrés, the not-for-profit humanitarian group said it had "run out of food in Gaza." "We have finished all the stock in hand, and our trucks are stuck at the border," WCK wrote in an Instagram caption. "We are continuing to bake bread and deliver water. But the people of Gaza still need a hot meal. Yesterday, we served 80,000+ meals -- and we are ready to start cooking again the moment that aid trucks make it safely to our field kitchens." Andrés shared the post on his Instagram story Sunday, adding in part, "Once again, @WCKitchen we have run out of food in Gaza. Our brave teams on the ground report the security situation has deteriorated significantly, and our ability to operate is severely constrained. We need to get trucks of supplies safely to our field kitchens ASAP so that we can get cooking!" In an update on its website Sunday, WCK noted that this was the second time it had been forced to pause kitchen operations over "lack of access to aid." The first instance occurred in May, following what it described then as a "complete depletion of food supplies." The group's operations restarted 12 weeks later, in June, after it received new aid shipments. The pause in operations comes as hundreds of Palestinians have been killed trying to access food from aid distribution sites run by a U.S.- and Israeli-backed group, amid what the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health and global humanitarian groups have described as a forced starvation campaign by Israel. Israel previously barred humanitarian aid shipments from entering Gaza for 11 weeks this spring before lifting the blockade to allow for limited aid deliveries. Israel has denied accusations that it is using starvation tactics against Palestinians, claiming the humanitarian groups are aligned with Hamas. On Sunday, at least 81 Palestinians were killed trying to obtain food, with another 150 people injured, according to the Ministry of Health. The Israeli military has said it is aware of reports of casualties near aid distribution sites and claimed its troops fired near crowds to "remove an immediate threat posed to them," but did not provide details.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
World Central Kitchen's Gaza team runs out of ingredients for warm meals
WCK claimed this is the second time that lack of access to aid in the Gaza Strip "forced our kitchen operations to pause," noting that their operations resumed one month ago. World Central Kitchen teams in the Gaza Strip ran out of ingredients to cook warm meals, while still maintaining the ability to bake bread and deliver water to Gazans, WCK confirmed on Sunday. "We served 80,000 meals yesterday, emptying the last of our replenished stocks while aid trucks remain stuck at the border," WCK stated. WCK claimed this is the second time that lack of access to aid in the Gaza Strip "forced our kitchen operations to pause," noting that their operations resumed one month ago after being allegedly halted for 12 weeks. This is a developing story. Solve the daily Crossword
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
I'm a private chef in New York City. Sending one DM changed my entire career trajectory.
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Maddy DeVita, 26, a private chef and content creator based in New York City. It has been edited for length and clarity. For me, the spring of 2022 was spent applying to pretty much every job under the sun that I was remotely interested in. I had been working at a global health nonprofit since graduating from college during the pandemic, but realized that, despite always thinking I'd go into medicine, I actually wanted to work in food. My cover letter was sparse — I didn't have any professional experience, I just loved to cook, and was a halfway knowledgeable home chef. The search felt endless. I interviewed at World Central Kitchen and never heard back. I tried test kitchens, like Food52, to no avail. At one point, I decided to try going into management consulting, because I'd at least make a lot of money. Rejections kept rolling into my inbox, and I reached a breaking point. Related video When she started her career switch, DeVita had zero professional food experience. Maddy DeVita A string of rejections made me braver But the rejections also made me bold — what else did I have to lose? What's something crazier I could try? I was so used to getting nos, so one more wasn't going to make much of a difference. I'd been following a small Italian farm, Ebbio, on Instagram for a while, so I sent them a DM to see if there was any way to work together. They read it but didn't respond, but I weirdly wasn't deterred. I'd been turned away from so many jobs at that point, so I figured I'd just pitch myself to them once more. Related stories Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know And this time, it worked. They responded and said they were working on a cookbook project and that they'd love to have me help. By early August, I'd booked a flight to Italy and put in my two weeks' notice. DeVita spent six weeks on a farm. Maddy DeVita Quitting was never part of my plan It's not like I woke up one day and decided to quit my job. In fact, as the supremely logical oldest of three girls, I never thought I'd quit without a clear career plan. If I'd gotten an offer from any of the more practical jobs I'd applied to, I probably would've taken it. So many people are stuck in the thought loop I was in: "Oh my gosh, I want to do this, but it will never happen," or "I'm not the type of person who would do this." I learned, though, that there's actually a narrow pool of people who actually go after the crazy idea, so your odds of getting what you want might be better than you'd first think. After spending six weeks on the farm and getting back to New York, I enrolled in culinary school and started private chefing for clients in the city after graduating. I kept posting content on my food Instagram, HandMeTheFork, which had mainly consisted of filtered photos of avocado toast when I first started my frantic job search. The decision to go to Italy changed her whole career path. Maddy DeVita Listening to my gut gave me the life I love now I spent most of the past two years cooking consistently for families — getting embedded in their homes, spending a summer out in the Hamptons, making everything from meal-prepped lunches to Sunday dinner — but I don't do that as much these days, since I'm starting to earn money from my online content. Now, I'm doing more one-off, larger dinner parties and figuring out how to manage the world of social media, so my schedule is way more flexible. If I'm not cooking for an event and I'm feeling disciplined, I'll start my day with a Barry's Bootcamp-style workout class, which kicks my butt. I'll then do my admin work at a café in my Brooklyn neighborhood, likely while listening to bossa nova music, my current obsession. After finishing up any video or Substack editing and recipe planning, I'll go grocery shopping, ideally at the farmers market. DeVita is now a full-time private chef. Maddy DeVita The afternoon is usually filled with recipe testing and filming content, and I actually try to limit my social media time to the midday hours. Evening means cooking dinner for myself and my fiancée, and doing some more editing. All along, I've just wanted days that are dynamic, that are always different, and I've found that. Every day is different. Maddy DeVita Listening to my gut has been my north star these past few years, though it often feels like my brain has to catch up to my instincts. I haven't made decisions based on right or wrong, or the next most practical career step, but instead based on what I'm called to do in the moment. Of course, I've gotten lucky, but I'm so glad that I've led with what I feel pulled to internally. While at my college reunion a few months ago, I saw a ton of friends who were in my pre-med class, some of whom have finished med school and are fully doctors. It was such a surreal experience, realizing that could have easily been me, but that, despite my early expectations, it's not my life at all.
CBS News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBS News
TikTok users rediscovering Twin Cities HGTV show "Decorating Cents" decades later
If you've been scrolling TikTok lately, you've probably seen the internet's newest obsession: a show called "Decorating Cents." Most of the longtime HGTV makeover series was shot in the Twin Cities, and is now going viral decades later. The show was hosted by Joan Steffend and ran on HGTV from 1997 to 2008, with the former channel 11 anchor and reporter narrating and assisting designers, who were given a $500 budget and a few hours to transform rooms. The first five seasons of "Decorating Cents" are now streaming. They've caught the attention of TikTok users, including comedian Rob Anderson. The two have connected and he's shared with her that many of the designs were great. In his TikTok videos, Anderson says he's picking on the show's most outrageous transformations. "I understand some of the stuff is crazy looking right now . . . but that was also their job to do wild decorating," said Steffend. Now a 70-year-old grandmother of four, Steffend is using the show's newfound fame for good. She's selling shirts, mugs, and other items to mark the occassion with a portion of the proceeds going to World Central Kitchen. Since "Decorating Cents," Steffend has focused on projects that spread kindness. She's written two books and is working on a documentary with her husband about former Minnesota Twins legend Joe Mauer.
