Gwyneth Paltrow tries to live for a Week on $29 in Food Stamps

No steak. Check. No lobster. Check. In taking the #FoodBankNYCChallenge, Gwyneth Paltrow didn’t run afoul of proposed Missouri restrictions on how food-stamp money can be spent. Nor did she use any for cruise ships, movies or going swimming, which would violate rules that could soon take effect in Kansas.

Patrow said through social media that she was taking the challenge and “walking in their shoes to see how far we get.” She hasn’t posted any updates on how she is doing.

Still, her choices on how to spend $29 for a week of food raised plenty of eyebrows. Critics complained it was too healthy, not enough food or just another form of white privilege.

And those seven limes!

SNAP stands for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and what was previously called food stamps. It provides food assistance for nearly 1.8 million low-income New Yorkers including families, the elderly and the disabled, according to New York City’s Human Resources Administration.

To her credit, Paltrow actually showed what the $29 could buy after being issued the challenge by celebrity chef Mario Batali, a board member of Food Bank for New York City and now the honorary chair. Batali took the challenge in 2012 and he and Paltrow are fellow foodies who road-tripped through Spain for a PBS food series.

Source: MarketWatch