Will's Thoughtstream: Food Challenges

I already wrote about Rebecca Blood's Eating Organic on a Food Stamp Budget project. Via her site, I found a link to an interesting article in the Washington post about four U.S. representatives who are taking a food challenge:

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) stood before the refrigerated section of the Safeway on Capitol Hill yesterday and looked longingly at the eggs.

At $1.29 for a half-dozen, he couldn't afford them.

According to the rules of the challenge, the four House members cannot eat anything beside their $21 worth of groceries. That means no food at the many receptions, dinners and fundraisers that fill a lawmaker's week.
At yesterday's weekly lunch meeting of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass) was mesmerized by an attractive roast beef sandwich with cheese. He noted the potato chips came in two flavors: sour cream and plain. But his own lunch consisted of some lentils he cooked for himself and brought to work in a plastic container.

I think it is fascinating to watch these lawmakers grapple with a situation that they've probably never had to deal with before. I've read that some people think it is nothing but a gimmick, but I disagree. I have a lot of admiration for these people for putting themselves in a new situation and committing themselves to deal with it. Granted, even if they ate nothing for a week, they wouldn't starve to death or develop a lasting illness. But certainly they are gaining a better understanding of the difficulty of shopping on such a limited budget, and of the necessary tradeoffs that people of low income must make. Here are two examples:

"No organic foods, no fresh vegetables, we were looking for the cheapest of everything," McGovern said. "We got spaghetti and hamburger meat that was high in fat -- the fattiest meat on the shelf. I have high cholesterol and always try to get the leanest, but it's expensive. It's almost impossible to make healthy choices on a food stamp diet."

At the Safeway, Ryan seemed to grow depressed as he realized the limits of his budget. "It's unbelievable," he said, filling his small grocery basket with peanut butter, jelly and bread. He bought a big bag of cornmeal that he says he'll try to fashion into grits for breakfast and polenta for dinner. And he grabbed some canned tomato sauce and pasta on sale. No money for meat, milk, juice, fresh fruit or vegetables, save for a single head of 32-cent garlic to flavor the tomato sauce.

In addition to Ryan and McGovern, Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) and Janice Schakowsky (D-Ill.) has taken up the Food Stamp Challenge.

You can read Ryan's blog and McGovern's blog about their experiences.

Other related resources: