Family Meal Sacramento Report
In 2020, The Center at Sierra Health Foundation was awarded $3 million from the California Department of Housing and Community Development to administer Family Meal Sacramento (Family Meal), a chef-driven initiative originally launched at the start of the COVID pandemic. Family Meal restaurants received funding to prepare meals which were distributed free of charge through community-based organizations to serve racially and culturally diverse communities.
About the Evaluation
In 2024, The Center contracted Social Research and Evaluation Consultant Tiffany Wilson and Civic Thread to conduct the first evaluation of the Family Meal program. The evaluation focused on understanding the current program model, how partners operationalized cultural responsiveness, the program’s contribution to food security and its economic impact. Evidence collection included interviews with program partners, interviews with the Family Meal program administrator and a review of relevant documents.
Evaluation Findings
Since its inception in 2020, the Family Meal program has evolved through three phases: Emergency, Community Recovery and Sustaining. The evaluation focused on the Sustaining phase, which had goals to develop a scalable and replicable program that could adapt to various funding sources and to strengthen collaboration with local restaurant partners to increase access to healthy food. Evaluation findings include:
- The Family Meal program model relied on local restauranteurs’ expertise, leveraged existing community-based programs and gave its partners autonomy to effectively address an urgent need while showing genuine care for the people served.
- The Family Meal program increased access to healthly food by leveraging the capacity of local community-based organizations to deliver high-quality meals to individuals and families in need.
- The Family Meal program intentionally partnered with restaurants owned by people from diverse racial and cultural backgrounds, who prepared meals that reflected the cultures of most meal recipients.
- The Family Meal program provided financial support to restaurants during COVID-19-related closures, while also offering an opportunity to support the community.
Key Learnings and Recommendations
The evaluation report lifted up strengths and opportunities as well as recommendations to enhance the program:
- The Family Meal program integrated seamlessly into community-based programs and services without straining staff capacity. Community-based organizations had discretion regarding whom to give meals to and how many meals a household received, without having to adhere to eligibility requirements. However, the demand for food significantly exceeded the resources available.
- The individuals who received meals represented various ages, ethnicities, cultures, races, and lived experiences. The restaurant partners were also racially and culturally diverse.
- Seeking opportunities to convene community and restaurant partners regularly could build and strengthen relationships; share resources, knowledge and expertise; discuss program experiences and best practices; and strategize for program improvement and growth.
- Increasing frequency of communication between all partners could enhance program responsiveness, flexibility and adaptability.