Gwyneth Paltrow Eats $1.38 Meals, the Food Stamp Value Millions of Americans Rely On
Gwyneth Paltrow, actress and founder of GOOP, the upscale lifestyle website, has taken on the Food Bank NYC food stamps challenge presented to her by chef Mario Batali.
For one week, Paltrow will only eat what she can purchase with her food stamps equivalent in funds. It comes out to about $1.38 per meal ($29 for her for the whole week).
If it seems like a gimmick, it certainly is, but for an important cause: Paltrow, like Batali, aims to bring attention to the SNAP program, which millions of Americans rely on daily to not only feed themselves, but their families, too.
Paltrow has started documenting what she’s eating, which, not surprisingly, includes inexpensive foods such as eggs, beans, rice and a variety of vegetables and fruits including jalapeno peppers, romaine lettuce and limes.
Her efforts though have been criticized, mainly because the A-list actress is a multi-millionaire who can certainly afford to buy and eat whatever she wants (and will presumably do so after the challenge ends), but she can also afford to feed quite a few families as well, without it making a big dent in her bank account.
But is her move a slap in the face of SNAP subscribers or is it helping to deliver an important message to other Americans? Anyone, celebrity or not, can take the Food Bank NYC Challenge and live off of the $29 a week. According to the rules, you can use coupons when shopping, but you can’t eat food given to you by others or eat food you already have in the house before the challenge started.
“For one week, walk in someone else’s shoes,” chef Mario Batali said in the Food Bank challenge video. “Knowledge is power, and by truly understanding what our friends are going through, we will be better equipped to find solutions.”
Image via yausseur
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