Actress and “grandstanding limousine liberal” Gwyneth Paltrow’s promise to live on a food stamp budget for a week managed to secure her quite a bit of news coverage Saturday. Media outlets ranging from the New York Daily News to the Daily Mail to the Huffington Post to the Tech Times detailed her challenge to live on a food budget of $29 a week.
As usual with such challenges, the fact that the “S” stands for “supplemental” was lost entirely, with many families receiving WIC benefits. Even so, is Paltrow’s budget of $29 — “what families on SNAP (i.e. food stamps) have to live on for a week” — correct? When Senator (then-Mayor) Cory Booker took the SNAP challenge as a single man, he was given a weekly budget of $35. FreedomWorks’ Kristina Ribali, on the other hand, estimated that a family of four would receive an average of $126 for food expenses.
.@GwynethPaltrow's claim that a family has $29 per week to live on through SNAP is a complete fabrication. The facts: http://t.co/ithfYXZ5If
— Ari Armstrong (@ariarmstrong) April 11, 2015
Have a click through and see if you don’t calculate quite a bit more than Paltrow’s $29.
https://twitter.com/GayPatriot/status/586984729733234689
https://twitter.com/MrDonCarpenter/status/586985661812441091
The average benefit in 2014 for a family of four was $110.75 per week. @MrDonCarpenter @GayPatriot @GwynethPaltrow pic.twitter.com/FUysdsKMf7
— Erik Soderstrom (@soderstrom) April 11, 2015
@soderstrom @MrDonCarpenter @GayPatriot @GwynethPaltrow it's actually $102.23 for fy 2014 according to the picture you posted.
— Danny Biscuits (@DaninFortWorth) April 11, 2015
Yeah yeah, I divided by 4, I should've multiplied by 12 and divided by 52. @Dan_in_Ft_Worth @MrDonCarpenter @GayPatriot @GwynethPaltrow
— Erik Soderstrom (@soderstrom) April 11, 2015
Recommended
https://twitter.com/MrDonCarpenter/status/587002120634662913
Close enough: better put back a sprig of fresh parsley and maybe the clove of garlic.
@soderstrom @MrDonCarpenter @GayPatriot @GwynethPaltrow either way, if you can't feed a family on that each week, you're doing it wrong.
— Danny Biscuits (@DaninFortWorth) April 11, 2015
The S is for "supplemental." It's not supposed to cover everything anyway. @Dan_in_Ft_Worth @MrDonCarpenter @GayPatriot @GwynethPaltrow
— Erik Soderstrom (@soderstrom) April 11, 2015
@soderstrom @MrDonCarpenter @GayPatriot @GwynethPaltrow wow, I didn't realize that. Unbelievable.
— Danny Biscuits (@DaninFortWorth) April 11, 2015
Paltrow really might want to consider checking out Kristina Ribali’s demonstration of the SNAP challenge done right.
https://twitter.com/KristinaRibali/status/345667185949167616
https://twitter.com/KristinaRibali/status/345667873693380608
Once more, for laughs:
This is what $29 gets you at the grocery store—what families on SNAP (i.e. food stamps) have to live on for a week. pic.twitter.com/OZMPA3nxij
— Gwyneth Paltrow (@GwynethPaltrow) April 9, 2015
Join the conversation as a VIP Member