Bon Appetit's Variety Show will Raise Money For World Central Kitchen
/Fundraiser on Friday, May 1 will tap Bon Appetit’s rising video fan base to give on behalf of the hungry
By Annalise Morrone | Edible DC
Bon Appetit Magazine’s Test Kitchen personalities will be hosting a live Variety Show via YouTube, tomorrow, Friday, May 1st at 7pm EST, and they have promised fun content like cooking challenges and cute pets to raise money for José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen’s response to COVID-19. Donations to the Chef José Andrés’ DC-based non-profit can be made on the YouTube livestream via a donate button.
World Central Kitchen activated #chefsforAmerica at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, providing fresh meals to vulnerable populations and feeding frontline healthcare workers, including in Washington, DC. Serving a handful of U.S. states, as well as some of the hardest hit countries, such as Spain, volunteers have helped serve an average of 200,000 meals a day, totaling over three million meals since the pandemic began. World Central Kitchen partnered this week with Little Sesame, which will allow the restaurant to continue their work giving out free meals in Anacostia.
The partnership with Bon Appetit appears as a natural fit to drum up support for World Central Kitchen’s mission. With more people at home looking for cooking inspiration, Bon Appetit’s videos have taken on a new role in the culinary sphere. Recipe testers for the glossy food mag not only develop recipes for the print magazine, they have become YouTube stars overnight. From videos on gourmet Pop-Tarts, to the fermentation of your own hot sauce, Bon Appetit has appears to be giving Buzzfeed’s “Tasty” videos a run for their money as Generation Z’s go-to food content. Their channel boasts an impressive five million subscribers, and each video pulls in over one million views.
The fandom has grown beyond the YouTube space. Meme accounts on Instagram have gathered thousands of followers, test kitchen Tik-Tok parodies consistently trend, and discourse between Gen-Z’s in quarantine often includes friends forwarding each other the newest episode of ‘Gourmet Makes’. Bon Appetit has built a network of eager viewers and have opted to use their platform for good during this bleak time.
As a former intern at World Central Kitchen, I know donations get put to good use.
Not only does World Central Kitchen organize community kitchens around the world at the drop of a hat, they have incorporated resilience building and community empowerment into their model.
Since 2010, they have initiated a handful of locally lead programs to improve human and environmental health, create jobs, and improve food security for communities around the world. One of their largest programs, Plow to Plate, was launched in Puerto Rico amidst the aftermath of Hurricane Maria to promote the development of sustainable food systems that are resilient to future disasters. A lot of people are convinced that José Andrés is leading a staff as deep as a football team, this is not the case at all. What drives World Central Kitchen’s reach is the power of management and the hearts of local volunteers that have driven the success and impact of this organization.
If you would like to make a donation, you can use this link to go to their donation page.
Annalise Morrone is a senior at George Washington University and an intern at Edible DC. A former intern at World Central Kitchen, she also interned at FRESHFARM Market and Immigrant Foods. She is from Addison, IL.
