Can a politician live on food stamps? CA Congresswoman Jackie Speier plans to find out. She's going to spend the next five days feeding herself on $4.50 a day in an effort to spotlight the plight of those in her district who rely on the $140 monthly allowance paid by the state.
Speier will be chronicling the experience on her Facebook page, but so far the items she picked up from a dollar store show that nutrition may be a lower priority than convenience for those who count on food stamps throughout the entire month.
On her first day she purchased a bag of coffee, a loaf of bread and a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup. Sounds more like a light breakfast and a quick lunch.
Speier also picked up a can of sweet peas, to beef up a tuna casserole she'll be making later in the week. Once she can afford some tuna.
The effort should help to illustrate the difficulty of staying healthy with the food people are practically forced to purchase on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. It sounds like people can get enough to stay alive, but too little to thrive. Imagine raising a family on such a paltry amount.
What do you think? Could you survive on $4.50 a day?
Please leave a comment below.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia
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Comments: 6
I have worked two jobs more often than not, and most were off the books.
Get off your lazy ass and cut a lawn for money.
It can be done, but it would suck.