Great Plates Delivered (GPD) is a home-delivered restaurant meals program that was piloted by Governor
Gavin Newsom on April 24, 2020, amidst a global pandemic caused by COVID-19. Modeled after World
Central Kitchen’s Restaurants For the People initiative, Great Plates Delivered has the dual purpose of getting prepared meals to isolated seniors and supporting restaurants across California. The program played a unique role in Governor Newsom’s broader economic and social response to the pandemic. The program is being managed at the state level through the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (CalOES), the California Department of Aging, California Health and Human Services Agency, and California ALL, with additional funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). At its peak, the program was operational in 40 out of 58 counties in California and still remains in effect in many.

Through qualitative interviews and surveys with administrators, and public information requests of CalOES, we have learned that the Great Plates Delivered was ultimately successful at reaching its two primary goals: supporting isolated older adults with prepared meals and providing economic support to restaurants and meal providers across the state. Cities and counties that operated the program encountered different opportunities and challenges that were largely determined by the size of the primary agency that ran the program, their capacity to staff the program, the availability of meal providers, and their ability to work collaboratively with governmental, private, and community partners.