Hello there!
World Central Kitchen is a nonprofit organization, founded in 2010 by Chef José Andrés, that provides meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. We are currently seeking food trucks interested in providing meals to their communities during times of crisis.
About World Central Kitchen
World Central Kitchen is a nonprofit organization, founded in 2010 by Chef José Andrés, that provides meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises. WCK has recently provided meals to people impacted by deadly tornadoes in the southeastern US, catastrophic earthquakes throughout eastern Türkiye and Syria, and historic flooding in eastern Kentucky. Read more about our past and current responses here.
Currently Seeking Food Trucks as Potential Partners
We are currently reaching out to food trucks across the country interested in providing food to your community, should an emergency occur in your area. As part of the outreach, we are gauging food trucks’ interest and ability to serve meals within 12-48 hours after a disaster. Food trucks often provide a unique advantage for community outreach during the immediate response. Due to the unpredictable nature of disasters, we don’t know when or where we’ll be needed, and we hope there’s never a need to respond to a disaster in your community.
World Central Kitchen understands that good food provides not only nourishment, but also comfort and hope, especially in times of crisis, so our meals are always provided at no cost. If you are called to work with WCK in the future, we would reimburse you for each meal, so that your food can be provided to the public for free. If you express interest and meet our culinary standards, more specific details will be provided at a later time prior to any expectation of serving meals.
If you are interested in being part of our global network and meet the guidelines provided below, please fill out this form. Feel free to share this information with other food truck owners in your network.
Guidelines and Qualifications
Before applying to be a potential food truck partner, please review the following guidelines and qualifications to determine your eligibility and capacity to work with WCK.
Guidelines for food trucks:
Food Truck Restaurant Partners will provide meals that are:
- Culturally appropriate and widely appealing in the community.
- Free to recipients and of restaurant quality.
- Comforting and served with dignity.
- Balanced and nutritious weighing 10-16 oz. (285-450g) in total food weight (excluding packaging) and containing a starch, a vegetable, and a protein. Nutritious meals are provided on priority, and we often supplement with snacks, sandwiches + fruit, and other comfort items. Please consult our Meal Type Definitions on this page to understand how your food truck may still be able to support future responses.
- Handled and prepared safely, served at the correct temperature, and free from food borne illnesses or any contaminants that could make a person sick.
- Prepared and delivered with environmentally sustainable practices in mind.
Mandatory food truck qualifications:
For consideration of future partnership with WCK, Food Truck Restaurant Partners must meet the following requirements:
- Your food truck has a minimum daily capacity of providing 100 meals. The maximum daily capacity we will request of you is 500 meals.
- Your food truck can provide WCK with valid health permits and documentation that employees have passed food safety training (e.g. ServSafe).
- Your food truck is mobile and road legal.
- Your food truck can provide proof of a fire suppression system on board.
You have read and agreed to WCK’s Culinary Standards.
Meal type definitions:
When disaster strikes, WCK’s Relief Team mobilizes with the urgency of now to start cooking and serving meals to people in need. By partnering with organizations on the ground and activating a network of local restaurants, food trucks, or emergency kitchens, WCK serves comforting meals to survivors of disasters quickly and effectively.
We prioritize hot meals, but due to available supplies, temperature-controlled resources, and transportation it is not always feasible to provide this exclusively. Therefore WCK often searches for additional meal type resources to uplift communities in times of emergency response.
The following is a definition of meal types WCK provides to communities in need, and should be used as a guideline when assessing your own ability to potentially partner with WCK.
- A prepared meal is 10-16oz in weight and contains a cereal or potato, vegetable, and protein and is served with the intention to provide comfort and complete nutritional benefits.
- A snack is any prepared food that does not meet the meal requirements and is served mainly with the intention of providing comfort and partial nutritional benefits.
- A sandwich is an item of food that meets the meal requirement when it consists of two pieces of bread (or equal cereal substitute) with meat, cheese, or other filling, served with a side of fruit.
Join our network!
If you are interested in being part of our global network and meet the guidelines listed above, please fill out this form. For questions, please contact foodtrucks@wck.org.