AlterNet – by Rebecca LeberTwenty-six members of Congress will live off of a food stamp budget this week to draw attention to House Republicans cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The program’s eligibility requirements already leave out 50 million food insecure households, but another 2 million Americans would lose access to food stamps in the proposed changes for the Farm Bill.
The SNAP challenge means that Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and 25 participating members must try to live off of under $4.50 per day for food and drink.
Lee detailed the tough decisions she made grocery shopping — butter and milk were outside her budget and a McDonalds value menu item will count as her midweek break — in a blog post. “What I’m thinking about most during this trip is that I’m shopping only for myself,” she wrote, comparing the difficult decisions now to when she needed public assistance as a single mother. “When I was a young, single mother, I was on public assistance. It was a bridge over troubled water, and without it, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I spent hours debating what to buy and what to skip, all the while keeping my sons in my mind.” Many Americans receiving SNAP benefits are under 18 years old and live in working households.
On Wednesday, the participating Democrats chronicled their trips to the grocery store, where they poured over coupons and attempted to buy a week’s worth of food for about $30:
51 cents to spare. Hardest shopping trip in memory. Two small bags of groceries, not a lot of food. #SNAPchallenge pic.twitter.com/3k4lkmiu9y
Rep. Dan Kildee ✔ @RepDanKildee
Other officials have attempted to live off of food stamps for short periods of time. Newark Mayor Cory Booker took the challenge earlier this year. When Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton participated in the challenge, he found he was “tired” and it was “hard to focus” by day four. “If I were doing this with no end in sight, I probably wouldn’t be so pleasant,” he wrote. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), who recently participated in the SNAP challenge, found “I’m hungry for five days…I lost six pounds in four days.”
Compare these reactions to the arguments made by conservatives, who pan food stamps as government dependency. “Unfortunately, the rapid growth of this program has only increased dependency on government and added to our federal deficit,” 25 Republican members wrote in a letter Tuesday. Last Thanksgiving, a Fox News host joked she would look “fabulous” on a food stamp diet.
Rebecca Leber is a research assistant for the ThinkProgress war room. She graduated from the University of Rochester and holds a B.A. in political science and English with a minor in economics.
They make too much money to get food stamps .
Let’s see them pay their bills with no money THE FRAUDSTERS
This band of merry fools must think we are all insane as they are as they go home to their gated secure communities to live like those on food stamps do.If this wasn’t so sad it would be funny. These people are getting desperate and this country is in decline and is being held up with kite string!
For one week – such dedication.
How about they do something useful like cut waste in Gov instead. They could transfer a small percentage of the money used through stopping bogus studies and programs and job positions into progs like food stamps and others.
Perhaps they could stop cronyism… fraud and other bunk things in the gov.
Perhaps they could focus ( for a painful one week!) on reducing deadly regulations for small business allowing for jobs to remain open and maybe new ones to appear.
Perhaps they could work toward generating an environment where job would be available not eliminated by absurd gov regs & oversight.
Maybe they could find someone to advise them what people need not what they desire the people do. Less representation of big biz and some representation of the people in their districts, even help America.
Why are so many on food stamps?
No, just think about keeping the life boat afloat in lieu of repairing the sinking ship – damn morons.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! RLMAO!!!!!
I take it this is the comic relief for the day?
Yep #1, that is how I took it too. They don`t even get it. A week or two on that stamp program and they think they know? That is a joke. Make them start all over living on the streets, with plastic sheetining for a roof over their heads with no gated community to fall back on when their week or two is done with it is like a family outing to them ptb.
Agreed. 🙂
Let’s see those clowns try living on that pittance of a check that goes along with those food stamps, digger.
THAT might be worth bragging on.
Exactly. 🙂
LOL, Yea #1, but then they would not be able to put gas in that Hummer or limmo or what ever gas guzzler that they are driving.
Hunger strike.