The Counter - What if we turned restaurants into government contractors?

Many important points made in this article addressing the challenges of implementing Biden’s new order allowing FEMA to reimburse 100 percent of meals provided by small businesses. Excepts below or read the full article here.

“We’ve scaled back in a lot of places as philanthropic dollars ran out,” said Mook. “Philanthropy can’t do this alone—feed our country and save our restaurants based on people online giving $10 or $50 contributions.”

“We may have a federal mandate to pay restaurants to feed people, but it’s not going to happen without a funding bridge that requires buy-in on the local level.”

“The executive order will work only as long as local governments free up funds, restaurants sign on, nonprofits continue to broker relationships—and FEMA does its job in a timely fashion.”

“Aid recipients will get a prepared meal—not an assortment of packaged, processed foods from a food bank but a meal, with all the nutritional advantage that implies.”

“…the benefits of the executive order extend beyond the literal inventory of hundreds of meals per week multiplied, potentially, by thousands of participating restaurants. A partial list: More people can stop standing in lines for free food that might run out before they get to the front; more people can devote their energies to other aspects of pandemic recovery, like finding work and providing a more stable reality for their families; more people can enjoy not only the literal meal but the “symbolic” meal, said Mook, “the idea that somebody has prepared this with love and intention.”

“Cities are hamstrung as well. “The challenge is that states and cities and counties are so strapped, with huge budget shortfalls, not receiving sales tax revenues, huge deficits in lots of places,” said Mook. “Our hope is that if those entities know the federal government will pay for this 100 percent, they’ll be willing to put the effort in.”

”The restaurant industry has the chance to find solid ground by an unexpected route.”

”The answer could be hiding in plain sight for owners who pay rent on a space 24 hours a day but only use it when they’re open for business. A dinner place could run a shift early in the day to make food-aid meals. A breakfast and lunch spot could transform itself in the late afternoon and evening hours. Two businesses could co-exist where one had lived before.”