Beirut, Lebanon — World Central Kitchen (WCK) has now served more than two million meals across Lebanon in the three months since the escalation of hostilities on March 2—a milestone that speaks less to achievement than to the scale of an unrelenting humanitarian crisis. With more than 1.3 million people internally displaced, food prices soaring, and international organizations exhausting reserves, WCK’s has network of 13 kitchens across Lebanon, including in the hardest-hit areas of the South, where needs remain acute and humanitarian access is increasingly difficult. Entire villages continue to be evacuated. Families who once relied on farms, small businesses, and steady livelihoods now depend on humanitarian organizations for one meal a day—if that.
WCK’s locally led model—sourcing from Lebanese farmers where possible and staffing kitchens with displaced community members—remains one of the few large-scale food relief systems still operating consistently across the country. As staple food prices keep rising and displacement deepens, WCK teams are providing hot meals, bread, water, and emergency food support to families with nowhere else to turn.
World Central Kitchen Chef Corps member Aline Kamakian says:
“Two million meals is not a celebration. It is a measure of a crisis that shows no sign of easing. But the love I receive when I arrive at a shelter or a kitchen is beyond everything I can tell you. I’ve opened restaurants, been interviewed, and been celebrated. And it is nothing—nothing—compared to a child looking into my eyes and reaching for an egg, a small cake, or a piece of chocolate. This is the new meaning of being a chef. What World Central Kitchen gave me is the meaning of being a chef—the real meaning of being a chef.”
“I have a choice. I can leave my country and pretend nothing happened—cover my eyes. But since the war, I have not left because I’m afraid I won’t be able to come back, not because I’m afraid to go to the airport. This is my way of staying with the people who don’t have a choice, who don’t have a voice. To be their voice. To be their eyes. To be their hope. It’s a plate of hot food. But it means so much more.”
According to Chef Aline, many families are now facing impossible choices as inflation and displacement worsen conditions across the country. Since the escalation of conflict in March, food prices across Lebanon have surged, with vegetable prices increasing approximately 49% and meat and poultry prices rising between 20% and 45%. At the same time, rising fuel costs—including diesel increasing from approximately $700 to $1,350 and cooking gas from $0.62 to $1.01 per liter—are making it even more difficult for families and community kitchens to access and prepare food.
“People are becoming dependent on NGOs. But these people were entrepreneurs, creators—self-sufficient people who built their own lives. Now, through no choice of their own, they have been forced into dependency. Unfortunately, this is where we are, and we’re going deeper and deeper. These people were farmers, mechanics, and hard workers. Today they are sitting and waiting. They come every day and knock on doors asking for work. If there is no solution, it will become a catastrophe—a huge catastrophe.”
For more information or media enquiries, please contact:
Roberta Alves, Director of Media Relations at ralves@worldcentralkitchen.org or +1 202.400.7483
Our full media team is reachable at press@wck.org
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