Photo courtesy of Jose Andres.

Photo courtesy of Jose Andres.

By DCist Contributor Elizabeth Traynor

Jose Andres’ newest charity initiative is easy to spot—just check out the chef’s social media channels. You’ll find him there, grinning and holding some cauliflower. Or carrots. Or even some red peppers.

The photo series is part of his new partnership with Naked Juice and Wholesome Wave, an organization that helps grant access to fresh, local and regional food to those in need. The campaign is simple in nature: take a photo of yourself holding a fruit or vegetable, tag a friend and include #DrinkGoodDoGood, and Naked Juice will donate the monetary equivalent of 10 pounds of produce to neighbors in need.

The digital campaign is designed to address the very real problem of food deserts, a neighborhood that lacks access to fresh, healthy and affordable food.

“To think that somebody’s putting in the effort to bring it to the people that need it, that live in food deserts with no access to fresh fruits and vegetables,” Andres said, “That enough is worthy of becoming an ambassador of this campaign.”

It’s a crisis that hits home for Andres, who is a proud 24-year resident of Washington, D.C.—a city where 13.4 percent of households lack adequate access to food.

Access to food and hunger are inextricably linked. Andres, who is historically outspoken about addressing food policy issues, said the difficulties of combating hunger are compounded by its nature as a silent dilemma.

“The issue of hunger is that usually, you and I, we don’t know people that are hungry. We know people that are sick, but we don’t know people that are hungry. Hunger, sometimes, is a very silent issue,” Andres said.

“It’s a silent issue because people don’t like to be going around and saying, ‘I don’t have food to bring today to my table.’ But hunger is a true issue.”

And while Andres says that the issue of food desert—and hunger—is one that, ultimately, those in power will need to address, he’s confident that campaigns like this put the power to help in the hands of the people.

“This is something that one day, the politicians will be able to fix. But right now, people like us, we can already be bringing certain solutions to the table,” Andres said. “And this is one of those solutions.”

Filed Under: DrinkGoodDoGood, jose andres, naked juice, selfies, vegetables,