Prev Next
Featured Quizzes
Politix Daily Headlines
Featured Debates
Issues

See all 19 issues

SNAP

Cory Booker Begins His Food Stamp Diet

Is it possible to eat a healthy diet on food stamps?

Next>

by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t +

Image: Politix

Cory Booker kicked off his month-long food stamp diet by posting his Pathmark grocery receipt on Twitter. Totaling $29.78, his bill came in just under the New Jersey SNAP budget of $30 per week.

Booker's diet is going to be a little monotonous: according to the receipt he bought 7 cans of black beans, 6 cans of corn, and 2 cans of chick peas, along with apples and yams.

The Newark mayor describes his project as part of the "movement towards food justice." In an op-ed published on LinkedIn he explained what he aims to do by living on the SNAP diet:

My goals for the #SNAPChallenge are to raise awareness and understanding of food insecurity; reduce the stigma of SNAP participation; elevate innovative local and national food justice initiatives and food policy; and, amplify compassion for individuals and communities in need of assistance...As more and more working people and families - many holding down more than one job - face greater and greater challenges to juggle housing, medical, and transportation costs, meeting nutritional needs becomes a serious problem and a social justice issue.

Via Politico, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Like this article? B Vote Up
?

Is it possible to eat a healthy diet on food stamps?

View results

83 Comments (view in Forum)

  • Buzzfriendly
    !
    @Fishbone345 well that would add an additional 880 calories which would still keep you trim. Makes me wonder on the validity of the statement that the biggest threat to people on welfare is obesity. What other nation could have so many poor people that are overweight?

  • Load more replies >

  • jmann88
    !
    @bsking oh yea plenty of times. Get 2-3 kings size candy bars couple cases of pop. Then they whip out that food stamp card while talkin on their new iPhone while wearin American eagle cloths and nice Nike shoes. The leave and get into that nice new car. I work 2 jobs and barely make it pay day to pay day while these bums work the system. It makes me sick to know people have no pride in working for things they want instead they want someone else to work for it.
  • bsking
    !
    @jmann88 exactly that's the new America. the low information nation brought to us by the Liberal Democrat Socialist Party, whose motto is keep them on the plantation and we will keep ruining the nation.
  • Cheenoguy
    !
    It can be done but he is about to find out that he didn't budget his $30 as well as he thinks. You have to bulk fillers like rice and oatmeal and just surround it with beans, fruits, and veggies.
  • UnCommonBoston
    !
    Hmmm, people who get food stamps often don't have the time or equipment to do much cooking. Remember, people who work at Walmart get food stamps. These are families that are doing their best to get by. They are looking for jobs, raising children and sometimes caring for other family members. The idea of buying a cheap chicken, cooking it on Sunday and eating it in other recipes through out the week requires creativity and time. Yes, people think there are the loafers who do nothing but live in government housing, get food stamps and welfare.

    Visit our urban poor and ASK. Yup, find out. When I lived in a bad part of DC, what people wanted more than anything was job training. Programs exist for women, but not men. They don't want a hand out, but a hand up. DC police told me there is direct relationship between who is in the White House and street crime. People want HOPE. It is a powerful incentive. I knew some drug addicts who were living off the government while they died a slow death.

    Some of the people I knew lived in large houses (rental) with many family members. Somebody had the time to cook. The household shared responsibilities, which freed up people to cook and there was enough money to buy larger amounts of food to save money.

    Imagine if you can only afford to buy toilet paper a roll at a time? Do you? I go to Costco and buy things like canned goods in bulk. I save money by shopping specials, if something I use is on sale, I buy enough to last until the next time it is on sale. People who can afford to, find ways to get things cheaper, which often requires more money at one time.

    Even with more money and time, many Americans do not eat a healthy diet, yet we expect people who have less time and money to meet standards we can't even reach?
  • jessejaymes
    !
    You know we all have different experiences. I can't speak to D.C. but I can speak to Los Angeles where the welfare I've seen for more than 40 years having been both poor myself and then running business in poor neighborhoods, take great pride in "getting over" on the system, not having to work and they don't worry for much. Subsidized housing, money, EBT card, Free medical and LOTS of drugs and alcohol. And that's just fact.
  • texas_cutie75
    !
    May I tell you a little story? I was a full time nursing student and was holding down a fulltime caregiver job.(I cared for a set of elderly twins). I was not eligible for any assistance, hence the job. I purchased my food on a Sunday and prepared meals that same day for the week. Money was tight! I got by, I was determined. I do not feel alot of sympathy for people who justify eating junk while using assistance , when I was not only cash strapped, but time strapped as well. If you want something badly enough, you can do anything!!
  • IMAQT
    !
    "These are families that are doing their best to get by. They are looking for jobs, raising children and sometimes caring for other family members" And the politically incorrect question..why do they have children they cannot afford to raise?
  • ACTSmom
    !
    "Hmmm, people who get food stamps often don't have the time or equipment to do much cooking. Remember, people who work at Walmart get food stamps. These are families that are doing their best to get by." --Ok...back in the late 70's I was a divorced mother of 4. I worked a full time job in a government social service agency. There was a period of time I didn't receive any child support and I went on food stamps. It was embarrassing, unlike today. I went to a grocery store 10 miles from home so nobody would know me. But we ate better than we ever had. My kids had good meals because after working all day, I'd come home and cook. How could I stop at McDonald's when I was trying to figure out whether to pay my water or electric bill? Anybody can cook if they have a heat source and a couple of pans. That is just not a good excuse, and I did it after at least 8 hours of work, plus the drive to and from. Sometimes my oldest daughters would start some of the supper....peeling potatoes and such. They were 10-12 years old. Now you see the kids out running in the streets instead of doing any chores to help mom, if mom's doing anything in the first place.

  • Load more replies >

  • DerivePI
    !
    The practice of fasting can be very revealing to an American lifestyle. It's amazing how much of our lives are spent thinking about what we are going to eat next. Even a three day fast will reveal how self absorbed we are.
  • ACTSmom
    !
    It's human nature to think about food when you know you can't have it. Just last week I had to do an 18 hour fast for lab work. I wasn't even hungry but I could have eaten everything in the refrigerator just because I couldn't. I think it's more of a matter of "can't have" makes you dwell on it so much more.
  • Cheenoguy
    !
    $30 a week for one person could be a bit difficult.$120 a week for a family of 4 can be done. Our family of 3 eats primarily veggies and primarily organic and with decent variety and plenty of good taste for a budget of $100 a week. If we run into a tight month we just ditch meat and our "fun foods" and get down much lower and still eat mostly organic. We are going to have a lot of rice, quinoa, and oatmeal for bulk but a variety of spices and veggies can make those 3 bases into more variety then you can eat in a couple of weeks.
  • harold
    !
    People get by on less, but it takes attention to dietary needs to do it and stay healthy. I'll bet he loses a few pounds if he really sticks with it.
  • FollowTheMoney
    !
    This politicians stunt is just that, a stunt. I have a family member who lives off food stamps and has for years. They eat better than I do. But there are plenty of gullible people that will think this guy is brave and admirable for his great sacrifice. ;-[
  • David944
    !
    This would not be an issue if people could find jobs. My job has taken me into a lot of homes and it appears people who live in poverty live as good as I do if not better.
  • NO-BAMA
    !
    Isn't that nice, the Liberals are publicizing food stamps. I guess their tired of just pushing government dependence in Mexico. Now they are going full bore in America with the "welfare state" mentality. These clowns have no shame.
  • Neo_NtheMatrix
    !
    $30 a week is not enough to eat healthy. I couldn't vote otherwise. However, the poll for this article is so liberally biased that the correct answer was not there. People shouldn't be living off of $30 a week worth of food. What people should do though, is double down their work ethic and ingenuity and get themselves to a position of independence where they are not depending on a measly $30 a week handout from a nanny government.

    In some neighborhoods there are co-ops, families and neighbors could pool their resources together, plus there are many other things people can do besides bleed the government dry. When my mother was a kid her family and neighbors would get together a few times a week and have cook offs. It allowed a lot more food to be produced off a smaller amount of money, because the community was working together. It was unheard of to depend on handouts back then.
  • Jackie312gm
    !
    @Neo_NtheMatrix borrac husain obama should do the same. Two democrats promoting more liberal freebees . What is happening to this great country ?
  • DyingBreed
    !
    @Neo_NtheMatrix Actually, my wife and i eat healthy and live on $50 a week between us. It really isn't too difficult, you just cant buy steak all the time. Heck, in that $50 a week we can even get a few bags of potato chips to snack on as well. Its just takes some budgeting and meal planning.
  • jessejaymes
    !
    I don't wish to anger my more liberal friends on here but sometimes you need to live the life instead of believing what your other liberal friends say. In my lifetime I have been homeless. I have also made right at 200,000.00 a year as a self employed business owner. For almost half my 65 years I was poor. My family was poor. I went to bed hungry often as a child. A slice of fried bologna and some mac and cheese was often "dinner". I grew up skinny and fit. Excelled at several sports despite being hungry. Never EVER ate at a fast food/junk food place until after I was 21 years old.

    As a business owner in poor areas I saw the reality over and over again. The laughter and scorn about people who work for a living. Subsidized housing,. free medical, EBT cards and cash. What more can you give people who simply not work and take pride in not working? They know every scam going to get on disability for life, they know the doctors who will do this for them and renew them on reviews. They know where to go to get food from food banks, the days of the week, they know every alley and street of the something for nothing system. And it's not just black people. White ghetto people do it, illegals do it, all poor people in Los Angeles who are not mentally incapable do it.

    In my 65 years I have never collected welfare, food stamps, workman's comp, disability nor have I ever collected a single unemployment check. Nobody in my family has. It has always been a matter of self pride that I haven't. But the pride among L.A. welfare is pride in gaming the system. I have no problem in tough economic times with helping people out. People who are willing to work but just can't make enough to get by like the "Wal Mart people" some mention. But I am sick to death of instutionalized cradle to grave welfare. It's time for some workfare.
  • jessejaymes
    !
    @classychazy Both liberals and conservatives drive me nuts with their wild generalizations. Liberals say "yeah but 30% of people on food stamps are working". OK? And? That means 70% are not. But even if only 30% of welfare was cradle to grave welfare then we could eliminate 30% of welfare by refusing to fund these people for their entire lives for God's sake.

    The state of Pennsylvania tried workfare back in the 1970's, requiring everyone on welfare had to take a physical and if found to be capable of working had to work for the state in return for their welfare. At the rate of minimum wage. Cut grass, weed flower beds, take out trash, clean empty lots and so on. MORE than SEVENTY percent chose to get a job instead. Of course that was overturned by our Supreme court saying labor for welfare was "demeaning". What a load of CRAP.
  • Kptpredsfan
    !
    It's possible, but it isn't easy. I would recommend finding discount grocers, like the places that sell what the big stores can't or won't. We have saved a lot of money there and I know for a fact that all the ones in this area take Food Stamps.
  • Dan_Tien
    !
    He could save more money buying dry beans rather than canned. Rice and beans together form a complete protein, as does corn, beans and squash eaten together. I scrimped my way through college with that sort of diet. Stayed healthy but trim.
  • HughAkston
    !
    I think it would be VERY difficult to eat healthy on food stamps. The price of fresh fruit and vegetables is outrageous even when they're in season. The price of protein (excluding eggs) is also quite high. However, I think the biggest obstacle to eating healthy is time. Sometimes I'm out the door at 5 am and get home at 9 pm. Realistically, who feels like devoting time to preparing decent food after a 16 hour day? It also damned near impossible to eat healthy on the road unless you pack your own. All restaurant food is high sodium corn syrup laden slop.
  • jessejaymes
    !
    Several things wrong with this publicity stunt. Corn is almost all sugar. That's not good for you. Cook your own vegetables and beans. A monkey could do it and canned food is not as good for you as those you cook yourself. Why would you buy yams instead of the lesser expensive but same basic nutritional value red potatoes? Reads like the Mayor is doing what most welfare people do.; Buying what he likes with little attention to what is actually economical or good for you.
  • ACTSmom
    !
    As someone stated last week (maybe on here), it's Food Assistance...emphasis on Assistance. Food stamps were probably never meant to make up the entire diet.
  • R Load more comments...