If you’ve been following the news you may have heard some negative chatter about Gwyneth Paltrow and the $29 food stamp challenge that she is participating this week. Basically, people are giving her sh$t for the foods that she purchased. I think people aren’t being fair and that people are completely missing the point of the challenge.
I should also say that I think doing a one week food stamp challenge is lame in general. It’s like, you just begin to feel the pain of eating on “food stamps” and then-oops! The challenge is done and I can finish it now because the week is up. As a long time challenge lover and participant, I just am not sure that doing anything for a week really does much. Whether it’s Gwyneth Paltrow, myself, or anyone else doing the challenge a week feels kind of lame. I’m a 30 day challenge girl. To prove this, I’m going to share some of the challenges that I’ve done.
- Vegan Challenge-Felt great for the first two weeks…then I crashed!
- No Shopping Challenge-1 year of not shopping for fashion.
- No Grocery Shopping Challenge-I ate what was in my home for as long as possible. I did a big fresh items top off at the beginning and then picked up some items about 4 weeks in. I lasted 9 weeks.
So, whenever I hear of a 1 week challenge I think-I can rock that challenge…because it’s so easy. Ahem.
Joking aside, I think that what Gwyneth was trying to do was to create some energy around the conversation of food stamps allocation, the ability to eat healthy and well on food stamps within the average dollar amount allocated to each family which is not enough for the majority of families. So what was all the furor about? Let’s look at what she bought.
What was in Gwyneth’s grocery cart
and
what would I make with those items?
- Eggs
- Lettuce
- Yam
- Brown Rice
- Beans (dried)
- Cilantro
- Peas
- Garlic
- Onion (1 white)
- Kale
- Tortillas
- Tomato (1)
- 4 limes (probably 4 for a dollar)
- Avocado
- Green Onion
- 1 Ear of Corn
One week is 7 days. So, here is what I would do with those groceries. Please remember that I also think Americans eat to much, so the portions are smaller (and match my current portions).
Meals in no particular order:
- There are a dozen eggs so I would eat one egg a day for breakfast.
- Black bean soup with a clove of garlic and rice. Some avocado and onion
- Green soup made with onion, kale, peas, cilantro I would add avocado on top. I would add lime juice to keep from getting scurvy (blend together) Toast a tortilla add salt and lime to it and turn it into tortilla chips. And a parboiled egg
- Black beans and tortillas. I would add onion and rice and sprinkle lime juice on it. Add the remaining slice of avocado and some tomato and cilantro
- Chop the corn into two parts. Eat one on one day, and the other piece on another.
- Cut the yam in half. Eat one half on one day, the other on another. Pair it with either raw or cooked kale and black bean soup.
- Tortillas with black beans, a fried egg, onion, tomato, and cilantro
- Rice cakes (cooked rice, onion, garlic, and an egg) then fry it in a pan. Could also top it with the freaking black bean soup and some chopped green onion.
- Cilantro rice-rice with garlic, cilantro, and lime, tortilla and beans, avocado and onion
Interestingly, I have all of these food items in my kitchen right now.
There are a couple of points that I want to bring up concerning this challenge. Who says that someone on food stamps isn’t allowed to eat healthy food?? Why is Gwyneth slammed for making that choice? I eat healthy food and am a healthy food advocate. I do believe that there is connection between what you eat and your health.
In general, I think that there are large segments of Americans who are very removed from the process of cooking and what it entails. What I mean is that there are large numbers of people who rely on microwaveable foods, already made meals, and eating out daily for their food intake. How are they able to look at the food items in Gwyneth’s grocery basket and imagine what could be made with them if they don’t even cook or handle these food items themselves?
Ultimately, Gwyneth kicked a@@ in this challenge. Her goal was to encourage active conversation and dialogue about food stamps. She also stumbled on some additional unspoken issues such as grocery choice and the perception of what people should/can buy and cook while using food stamps.
I wonder how many of the people criticizing her have even done this challenge. She can be out of touch sometimes and you may not like her-but you have to give her props for trying.
Have You Heard of the $29 Food Stamp Challenge? What Do You Think?
**In her natural environment**
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All good points Michelle. I must admit, I looked at the limes and cilantro and wondered…
But, I recently watched “A Place at the Table” and was appalled to learn that there are vast areas in the US where, even if you could afford it, there are no fresh fruits or vegetables available.
I think you’re right, Gwyneth certainly shone a light on the challenge of buying real food (and probably more importantly, enough of it) on food stamps. Hopefully, some of that light will spill over onto the very real issue of food deserts.
As always, awareness is the first step.
The food desert phenomena is a horrible reality and the frustrating thing about it is that obesity tends to be higher in this areas. People rely on fast-food for their food intake but don’t really get nutrients. I live out West so I buy those food items regularly and knew right away what I could do with a lot of those items. Also, I think the limes were 4 for a $1
The way I see it – she set about to raise awareness. And that’s what she did. Now more people know about $29. They know that poor people live in areas where the “stores” might not even carry produce. Do regardless of her choices, more people are talking and learning. Success.
I agree. I think the better conversation to have is: why are there food deserts in America? Or, why don’t we incorporate food growing programs on a local level to help supplement people’s food supply? Teach people how to grow a garden and how to cook? I really think a big problem is not knowing how to cook.
Yeah, I have to say this is one case of celebrity outrage I don’t really “get.” I have some upcoming posts in mind about these challenges (also the online game where you try to last til the end of the month on benefits income) and they have issues, sure. But if I were taking the $29/1 week challenge my cart would have looked a lot like Gwyneth’s. Given the constraints she set out with, I think she did a decent job.
I regularly buy what Gwyneth bought so I didn’t think it was fair to bully her on her choices. I would say that the bigger conversation would be why doesn’t everyone have access to fresh food? Looking forward to those challenge posts.
I love that she did this challenge. However, I’d like to have seen her do it for a longer period of time, and include her children.Maybe she would consider that. The kids could learn a valuable lesson. There are many issues surrounding food and eating well. This is a start to talking about those issues, as well as the a conversation about the stigma and misconceptions of receiving foodstamps.
I also love that she did the challenge! Clearly I’m in agreement with you because I do think that doing the challenge for a slightly long amount of time would be a lot more affective. And you’re completely right about including her kids. What a learning experience this would be for them.
I don’t know why everyone is hating on her so much, that’s a rockstar shopping list and proves an important point about not having to sacrifice health even on a budget. I have to agree that I wish it were a 30 day challenge though 🙂
I liked what she purchased and I had to really think about what could you make with what she purchased. I hate the fact that people don’t believe that it’s possible to eat good food when you’re on public assistance. The real problem that I see is that people don’t know how to cook or even how to imagine recipes.
Ohhh it was only a week and she didn´t even make it through! She went to some $80 dinner, apparently. Poor baby.
I didn’t realize she ate an $80 dinner!! I thought she would spend more.
I agree that one week is not long enough to feel the pain of living on a food stamp budget. Also, most people on food stamps don’t have access to healthy foods because there seems to be a problem with getting healthy groceries into lower income neighborhoods in this country.
The food deserts are so upsetting because the simple solution is to plant gardens and encourage urban garden initiatives. I don’t know why politicians overthink policy and do go for the simple solutions.
Those sound like awesome meals… are you going to be eating them this week, now that you’ve thought them up?
I didn’t actually read any of the “outrage” articles, but I certainly saw a lot of them. She definitely managed to get more people discussing food issues, hopefully at least some of the dialogue is positive.
No, I just happened to have all that stuff on hand LOL! I’m eating a lot of salads/fish/chicken right now. But, I might make some lime rice-I haven’t done that in awhile 🙂 She just pisses people off.