Gwyneth Paltrow recently announced that she was taking the Food Bank NYC Challenge, where you have to live off of $29 dollars of food a week, the average amount for a normal NYC family gets in SNAP benefits. However, the Iron Man and Avengers actress wasn’t able to stand up to the challenge. Paltrow recently revealed on her Goop website that she failed the challenge, lasting only four days.
“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.”
Paltrow then went on to post that she was taking the challenge to see how far she could get:
However, Paltrow didn’t last long before she broke as she details in her Goop blog:
“As I suspected, we only made it through about four days, when I personally broke and had some chicken and fresh vegetables (and in full transparency, half a bag of black licorice). My perspective has been forever altered by how difficult it was to eat wholesome, nutritious food on that budget, even for just a few days—a challenge that 47 million Americans face every day, week, and year. A few takeaways from the week were that vegetarian staples liked dried beans and rice go a long way—and we were able to come up with a few recipes on a super tight budget.”
Paltrow went on to grade herself on the challenge, as well as tackle the equal pay issue:
“After trying to complete this challenge (I would give myself a C-), I am even more outraged that there is still not equal pay in the workplace. Sorry to go on a tangent, but many hardworking mothers are being asked to do the impossible: Feed their families on a budget which can only support food businesses that provide low-quality food. “
What do you think of Gwyneth Paltrow’s efforts? Could you live on $29 dollars worth of food a week? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
