James Beard Foundation Offers Suggestions on How to Help the Restaurant Industry During the COVID-19 Crisis

By Kimberly Krol

As all of us know, the travel industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. But, we’re not the only industry feeling the devastating effects of the virus — the restaurant industry is also suffering, with upwards of 7 million people laid off and chefs and restaurant owners pivoting dine-in restaurants to handle take-out and delivery or completely closing doors to wait out the spread.

In keeping with the mantra of “we’re all in this together,” the James Beard Foundation offers suggestions for how we can all help the restaurant industry in the meantime:

Buy

The restaurant industry employs more than 16 million people, and each of those jobs are at risk. We can help by ordering take-out and tipping the to-go staff generously or by buying gift certificates to help them sustain now and to give you a reason to dine out once the quarantine is over.

Donate

Donate to various relief funds. One such fund is the James Beard Foundation’s Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund. It was created with the support of S. Pellegrino and Patrón tequila to help businesses survive the crisis and reopen safely.

Advocate

As we advocate for the travel industry, we can also do so for the restaurant industry. With loans, unemployment benefits and emergency assistance and relief packages becoming available, we can all do our parts to reach out to our state and federal governments with the message to save restaurants.

Let’s all work united to save the industries we love.