Newsom announces program for eateries to prepare, deliver meals to seniors

In a move he said will help restaurants across the state re-hire workers while also generating sales tax revenue for local governments, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a partnership with the federal government Friday to provide three meals a day to needy seniors.

The partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state and local governments will provide eligible seniors with 21 meals a week, he said.

“This partnership will allow for the ability for restaurants to start rehiring people or keep people currently employed and start preparing meals, three meals a day, seven days a week, and have those meals delivered to our seniors all throughout the state of California,” Newsom said. “We will provide an unlimited number of meals, no cap in terms of that support.”

He said there will be eligibility requirements for seniors, based in part on their income but also based on their risk of exposure to COVID-19, if they have a compromised immune system or if they have been directly impacted or exposed to the coronavirus.

Newsom said exact eligibility requirements will be decided at the local level.

FEMA will cover 75% of the costs of the meals, with the state contributing a majority of the remaining cost, he said. Restaurants would be reimbursed at rates of $16 for breakfasts, $17 for lunches and up to $28 for dinners, Newsom said, calling the program the first of its kind in the nation.

He also noted that in addition to providing business for restaurants that have been forced to dramatically scale back operations, the costs of meals will also generate tax revenue for local governments.

“Now we have the ability to have a locally driven decision-making to start employing workers and get these restaurants reopened and provide hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of prepared meals every day delivered to our seniors throughout the state of California,” he said.

The governor said the program will also have nutrition guidelines for the meals.

“We want to make sure we are focused on locally produced produce,” he said. “We want to connect our farms to this effort. We want to focus our values throughout the state of California to get a lot of independent restaurants up and running again as well, and have a diversity of options. And make sure what we are sending to our seniors is low sodium, not high fructose drinks or sugary drinks and the like, so there’s guidelines that we’re putting out and we’re just very excited about this partnership.”

Information on the program — dubbed “Restaurants Deliver: Home Meals for Older Californians” — is available on the state’s website at https://covid19.ca.gov/restaurants-deliver-home-meals-for-seniors/.

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