Congresscritters try to survive on $21 in food stamps for a week

Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) are among a handful of congresscritters participating in an experiment in which they must subsist on standard US food stamp rations for one week.

The shocking conclusion, so far? $21 worth of stamps a week doesn't add up to much, and it's "almost impossible" to maintain a healthy diet for $1 a meal (huh, wonder why America's poor suffer obesity in such great numbers?).

Both lawmakers are blogging about the experience: McGovern here, Ryan here. Snip from Ryan's latest post:

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.

Link to Washington Post story (thanks, Rebecca).

(From Boing Boing)