Two must-read blogs are currently being penned by lawmakers who are taking a challenge to live for a period of time on what Americans who receive food stamps must live on. On the second day of the Food Stamp Challenge, Congressman Tim Ryan blogged:
My biggest concern today is running out of food before the end of the week. One loaf of bread doesn’t make as many sandwiches as you’d think, and I’m running through my cottage cheese pretty fast as well. The budgeting was hard enough, rationing what I do have will present another challenge.
Meanwhile, Congressman Jim McGovern describes here how hard it is to see the wonderful spreads of food at recptions and other events when he is restricted to his $21 a day limit:
Last night I attended a banquet for the National Immigration Forum at the Mayflower Hotel, where I was a guest speaker. I had planned to eat dinner before hand -- knowing that a sit-down dinner was to be served. Unfortunately, the Rules Committee hearing on the Defense Bill went extra long. I didn't have a chance to eat.I was extremely hungry. The hors d'oeuvres looked terrific -- so did the red wine. I settled for a glass of tap water.
Thankfully, my wife, Lisa, arrived at the beginning of the dinner with an egg and cheese sandwich on a tortilla. I ate it in 3 seconds (people looked at me as if I were crazy).
As an added bonus, he even provides a snap shot of one of his and his wife's grocery store receipts.
Two particular points of interest to me involve (1) the challenge of addressing chronic health problems that require certain healthy diets on this kind of budget, and (2) the environmental constraints inherent in the types of grocery outlets within walking/busing distance to inner city neighborhoods and the prices and selections of these stores. For those following issues of poverty, none of this will come as a surprise. But it does bring into sharp focus the ripple effects of poverty and environment and health disparities.
Of course the question remains: Will this effort--no matter how interesting--do any good?
(Washington Post story here.)
Posted by perry032 at May 18, 2007 09:43 AM