Hollywood actress and food and lifestyle writer, Gwyneth Paltrow, has confessed her family failed in its attempt to survive on $29 worth of food for a whole week—the equivalent of what poor families in the U.S. get in food stamps.
The actress and her family, as well as Paltrow's colleagues at her website Goop.com, took part in the challenge as part of a campaign to raise awareness for the Food Bank For New York City, which provides free meals to the city's poorest.
Paltrow has confessed on Goop.com that four days into the challenge, she "personally broke and had some chicken and fresh vegetables (and in full transparency, half a bag of black licorice)."
She added that she would give herself a "C-" for her effort.
1.7 million New Yorkers depend on food stamps, which work out at $1.38 per meal, according to Food Bank For New York City. Furthermore, 1.4 million people across the five boroughs rely on soup kitchens, it said.
Paltrow uses Goop.com to publicise her lifestyle and eating habits, which are termed "healthy" or "faddish" depending on view point.
She met with a mixed response from the public and media after discussing to the challenges of trying to east "wholesome, nutritious food" on a $29 budget.
Some Twitter users praised her for destigmatising the use of food stamps and publicising the difficulties involved.
However, the actress was heavily criticized when the celebrity gossip website E! Online reported that she had celebrated finishing the challenge with a $80 gourmet meal at Animal restaurant in Los Angeles. She was also criticized on Twitter for her supposedly upmarket choice of food during the challenge, with purchases including kale, black beans and avocado.
This is her tweet: 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.
Nonetheless, other celebrities are now joining the food bank campaign, including pop musicians Blondie and Sting.
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
Poor Gwyneth. She needs to stop trying to make wonderful moving political statements. She has no grip on reality.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
She can't win. If nothing else, she brought a lot of publicity to the issue. She has undoubtedly given a lot of money to the cause--through taxes if nothing else. She didn't have to even attempt this.
Yet now all she gets for it is ridicule.
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I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I'm right.
Well, I could agree with you--but then we'd both be wrong.
So I'm looking at the picture and thinking...kale? limes? cilantro? green onions? and for goodness sake an AVOCADO? Those are EXPENSIVE. Kale is worthless as far as making a whole meal. Sure it's great in smoothies but how many welfare people are making smoothies? Now I'm not saying $29 is a lot but she sure as hell doesn't know how to shop.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
She can't win. If nothing else, she brought a lot of publicity to the issue. She has undoubtedly given a lot of money to the cause--through taxes if nothing else. She didn't have to even attempt this.
Yet now all she gets for it is ridicule.
She brings it on herself!
__________________
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
She can't win. If nothing else, she brought a lot of publicity to the issue. She has undoubtedly given a lot of money to the cause--through taxes if nothing else. She didn't have to even attempt this.
Yet now all she gets for it is ridicule.
I hadn't read the full story, but saw the headline. Good for her!
This is why snap needs to be done away with. Hungry? Show up at designated area for a bag of healthy inexpensive food. None of this steak and lobster with food stamps crap. No bags of chips and bags of sugar cereal. No soda and kool aid.
So she shouldn't draw attention to this or give money to this cause?
SHOULD she or COULD she? SHOULD she? Probably not. She's not really the right person to be drawing attention to poverty. COULD she? Most definitely. She COULD. This was just the absolutely worst way to go about it. I can think of a hundred more constructive ways to bring attention to the cause.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
The average welfare recipient, the ones who are actually in need of it, don't have the option to fail.
You stretch, do without and make do with what you have.
And yeah. She tried and didn't have to and she brought a spotlight to the situation. But she also made a mockery of those who cant fail on this type of budget.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
No. She didn't last the whole week. She quit after FOUR DAYS. And even before then she admits she cheated.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
The average welfare recipient, the ones who are actually in need of it, don't have the option to fail.
You stretch, do without and make do with what you have.
And yeah. She tried and didn't have to and she brought a spotlight to the situation. But she also made a mockery of those who cant fail on this type of budget.
Exactly. I'd have been more impressed if she had stuck it out. Who buys cilantro off of $29 a week?
She didn't even give it a serious attempt. She didn't make it four days. And she didn't even bother buying normal food. Avocado's here are almost a dollar. Someone on food stamps doesn't buy that!! And kale. WTF? Who eats kale except for those super model and "in" people who put it in smoothies? It's unrealistic. If you look at that picture she didn't buy normal balanced food.
And she celebrated by having an $80 meal. Yep. She takes the poor seriously.
__________________
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
The average welfare recipient, the ones who are actually in need of it, don't have the option to fail.
You stretch, do without and make do with what you have.
And yeah. She tried and didn't have to and she brought a spotlight to the situation. But she also made a mockery of those who cant fail on this type of budget.
Exactly. I'd have been more impressed if she had stuck it out. Who buys cilantro off of $29 a week?
Cilantro, kale, green onions, and an AVOCADO!
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
33 calories
High in Dietary Fiber, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese.
It's considered a "diet food".
So, while it has a lot of vitamins it's not very nutritious to a growing body.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
I don't think we should tar and feather her. I do think she's dumb. She continually makes stupid comments in the public. She is one of probably one percent of Americans. For her to pretend she isn't is just dumb on her part. For her to stand up and say she understands the problems us "commoners" have and go through is stupid. Do you think she's ever had a check bounce or had to worry about how much money was in her checking account? Of course not. She continually makes dumb comments like she understands what it's like to being a single working mom. Yes, because we all have nannies and cooks and personal trainers. And that's just one of her statements.
There would have been so many other really valid ways for her to bring light to the subject. I can personally think of several.
And remember, this is the woman who steam cleans her vagina...
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
Of course she could have probably used coupons if she could find them.
It isn't all the wonderful fresh veggies but it keeps you from being hungry. And when you don't have the luxury of failing, you keep yourself as full as possible.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I don't think we should tar and feather her. I do think she's dumb. She continually makes stupid comments in the public. She is one of probably one percent of Americans. For her to pretend she isn't is just dumb on her part. For her to stand up and say she understands the problems us "commoners" have and go through is stupid. Do you think she's ever had a check bounce or had to worry about how much money was in her checking account? Of course not. She continually makes dumb comments like she understands what it's like to being a single working mom. Yes, because we all have nannies and cooks and personal trainers. And that's just one of her statements.
There would have been so many other really valid ways for her to bring light to the subject. I can personally think of several.
And remember, this is the woman who steam cleans her vagina...
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
The average welfare recipient, the ones who are actually in need of it, don't have the option to fail.
You stretch, do without and make do with what you have.
And yeah. She tried and didn't have to and she brought a spotlight to the situation. But she also made a mockery of those who cant fail on this type of budget.
Welfare recipients have already failed, or they wouldn't be on welfare.
__________________
I'm not arguing, I'm just explaining why I'm right.
Well, I could agree with you--but then we'd both be wrong.
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
The average welfare recipient, the ones who are actually in need of it, don't have the option to fail.
You stretch, do without and make do with what you have.
And yeah. She tried and didn't have to and she brought a spotlight to the situation. But she also made a mockery of those who cant fail on this type of budget.
Welfare recipients have already failed, or they wouldn't be on welfare.
Bless your heart.
Love the smugness.
Shows your complete lack of knowing what you are talking about.
Not getting into the same argument with you.
Be thankful you never had to deal with all the crap you like to dish out.
__________________
A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
I knew when I saw what she bought that she wouldn't make it. You can tell she has NO idea what she is talking about.
And Husker, her website is all about the best of the best. The very best yoga mat, regardless of price. Etc. So to pretend she cares about the poor when she has made it a point to put herself in a position of being an expert on the best of the best would automatically open her up for criticism. I would much rather have seen her spend a week with a single working mother and try to keep up, and eat on their budget. That would have been more beneficial to Gwyneth PR wise AND would have given her a much better take on things. I admire her for trying, but I think she chose a crappy way to try.
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Out of all the lies I have told, "just kidding" is my favorite !
I knew when I saw what she bought that she wouldn't make it. You can tell she has NO idea what she is talking about.
And Husker, her website is all about the best of the best. The very best yoga mat, regardless of price. Etc. So to pretend she cares about the poor when she has made it a point to put herself in a position of being an expert on the best of the best would automatically open her up for criticism. I would much rather have seen her spend a week with a single working mother and try to keep up, and eat on their budget. That would have been more beneficial to Gwyneth PR wise AND would have given her a much better take on things. I admire her for trying, but I think she chose a crappy way to try.
This. How about...
Donate $500,000 to a food bank? That is a drop in the bucket for her.
Build a food bank.
Offer to fund a food bank for a year.
Work in a food bank for a week.
Work in a soup kitchen every evening for a month.
Donate what she spends on her families food budget for a month, both dining out and eating in, to a food bank.
Donate all the supplies to a school to help grow a sustainable garden to help with their food budget since she's so into healthy food choices.
Donate seeds and buckets (they have one foot by one foot square "buckets" made specifically for indoor or window planting) to the poor.
I can think of a bunch more too. And any of them would have made me take her more seriously than this little PR stunt.
eta: for spelling
-- Edited by Nobody Just Nobody on Friday 17th of April 2015 06:20:30 PM
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
Snap, + the cash from welfare, + plus food banks + free meals at school for the kids. One can do that and not starve. Can't live off expensive legumes and nuts and fresh vegetables, but you won't starve. Which is the point of supplemental food benefits. yep, must suck but gives one a motivation to do better.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
This is why so many are fed up with paying for the deadbeats. They don't appreciate it, anyway.
Yup. No matter what you do for them it is NEVER enough. Gimme gimme more.
Well not everyone on SNAP and such are deadbeats, some have just found themselves is a horrible situation in life they never thought they would be in. But these are the same people that will dig themselves out of their hole in a short while and won't complain about the benefits, rather be grateful the benefits are there for them.
__________________
Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
I knew when I saw what she bought that she wouldn't make it. You can tell she has NO idea what she is talking about.
And Husker, her website is all about the best of the best. The very best yoga mat, regardless of price. Etc. So to pretend she cares about the poor when she has made it a point to put herself in a position of being an expert on the best of the best would automatically open her up for criticism. I would much rather have seen her spend a week with a single working mother and try to keep up, and eat on their budget. That would have been more beneficial to Gwyneth PR wise AND would have given her a much better take on things. I admire her for trying, but I think she chose a crappy way to try.
This. How about...
Donate $500,000 to a food bank? That is a drop in the bucket for her.
Build a food bank.
Offer to fund a food bank for a year.
Work in a food bank for a week.
Work in a soup kitchen every evening for a month.
Donate what she spends on her families food budget for a month, both dining out and eating in, to a food bank.
Donate all the supplies to a school to help grow a sustainable garden to help with their food budget since she's so into healthy food choices.
Donate seeds and buckets (they have one foot by one foot square "buckets" made specifically for indoor or window planting) to the poor.
I can think of a bunch more too. And any of them would have made me take her more seriously than this little PR stunt.
eta: for spelling
-- Edited by Nobody Just Nobody on Friday 17th of April 2015 06:20:30 PM
Wow. A program to provide indoor or window gardens to food stamp recipients woups be really awesome.
I knew when I saw what she bought that she wouldn't make it. You can tell she has NO idea what she is talking about.
And Husker, her website is all about the best of the best. The very best yoga mat, regardless of price. Etc. So to pretend she cares about the poor when she has made it a point to put herself in a position of being an expert on the best of the best would automatically open her up for criticism. I would much rather have seen her spend a week with a single working mother and try to keep up, and eat on their budget. That would have been more beneficial to Gwyneth PR wise AND would have given her a much better take on things. I admire her for trying, but I think she chose a crappy way to try.
This. How about...
Donate $500,000 to a food bank? That is a drop in the bucket for her.
Build a food bank.
Offer to fund a food bank for a year.
Work in a food bank for a week.
Work in a soup kitchen every evening for a month.
Donate what she spends on her families food budget for a month, both dining out and eating in, to a food bank.
Donate all the supplies to a school to help grow a sustainable garden to help with their food budget since she's so into healthy food choices.
Donate seeds and buckets (they have one foot by one foot square "buckets" made specifically for indoor or window planting) to the poor.
I can think of a bunch more too. And any of them would have made me take her more seriously than this little PR stunt.
eta: for spelling
-- Edited by Nobody Just Nobody on Friday 17th of April 2015 06:20:30 PM
Wow. A program to provide indoor or window gardens to food stamp recipients woups be really awesome.
No it wouldnt'. It's not as though public housing has those expensive green house windows.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.
It would be FAR cheaper for society to say, OK, we are going to pay you a salary of $35K a year. NOW, go and find your own food, housing, heat, daycare, formula, diapers, cell phone, blah, blah.
You don't need special windows. We went to a seminar about indoor gardens. There are some square "buckets" that are one foot by one foot. It tells you what you can plant in them. Like some plants you can only plant one in but some you can plant four seeds in. You can plant them indoors or put them near a window, ANY WINDOW, to grow. She is so into healthy eating. This would have been a way better option for her to go with than the one she did. And there are some things you can grow that you simply can't kill. Lettuce for instance. It will grow on a wet sponge. No lie.
My whole point was she could have done a bunch of others things to bring light to the subject that would have given her a ton more credibility.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
You don't need special windows. We went to a seminar about indoor gardens. There are some square "buckets" that are one foot by one foot. It tells you what you can plant in them. Like some plants you can only plant one in but some you can plant four seeds in. You can plant them indoors or put them near a window, ANY WINDOW, to grow. She is so into healthy eating. This would have been a way better option for her to go with than the one she did. And there are some things you can grow that you simply can't kill. Lettuce for instance. It will grow on a wet sponge. No lie.
My whole point was she could have done a bunch of others things to bring light to the subject that would have given her a ton more credibility.
Um, that sounds like of like WORK, you know and if someone is motivated enough to grow their own food, then perhaps they could get a job instead?
You don't need special windows. We went to a seminar about indoor gardens. There are some square "buckets" that are one foot by one foot. It tells you what you can plant in them. Like some plants you can only plant one in but some you can plant four seeds in. You can plant them indoors or put them near a window, ANY WINDOW, to grow. She is so into healthy eating. This would have been a way better option for her to go with than the one she did. And there are some things you can grow that you simply can't kill. Lettuce for instance. It will grow on a wet sponge. No lie.
My whole point was she could have done a bunch of others things to bring light to the subject that would have given her a ton more credibility.
You don't need special windows. We went to a seminar about indoor gardens. There are some square "buckets" that are one foot by one foot. It tells you what you can plant in them. Like some plants you can only plant one in but some you can plant four seeds in. You can plant them indoors or put them near a window, ANY WINDOW, to grow. She is so into healthy eating. This would have been a way better option for her to go with than the one she did. And there are some things you can grow that you simply can't kill. Lettuce for instance. It will grow on a wet sponge. No lie.
My whole point was she could have done a bunch of others things to bring light to the subject that would have given her a ton more credibility.
Um, that sounds like of like WORK, you know and if someone is motivated enough to grow their own food, then perhaps they could get a job instead?
And that's the point right there! None of this was about HELPING the poor. This was all about SHEDDING the light on poverty. That was exactly what she said. No one really wants to help. They just want PR that makes them look like they're caring and sympathetic.
__________________
“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
You don't need special windows. We went to a seminar about indoor gardens. There are some square "buckets" that are one foot by one foot. It tells you what you can plant in them. Like some plants you can only plant one in but some you can plant four seeds in. You can plant them indoors or put them near a window, ANY WINDOW, to grow. She is so into healthy eating. This would have been a way better option for her to go with than the one she did. And there are some things you can grow that you simply can't kill. Lettuce for instance. It will grow on a wet sponge. No lie.
My whole point was she could have done a bunch of others things to bring light to the subject that would have given her a ton more credibility.
I thought it was a great idea.
Thank you Tang! I think it's a good idea too actually. A lot of schools around the country are now offering FFA courses where they grow and manage gardens that grow foods that the cafeteria serves. If some of these rich people want to donate money for start up of this it would a great idea and the beginning of healthier eating. Gwyneth is such a health food nut. You would think she could do something along the lines of setting up a fund to teach people to do simple gardening at home to supplement their food supply.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
Tang, try the sponge thing with Bunny! He'll love it. Get a plain cheap sponge. Get it really wet and put it on plate. Sprinkle lettuce seeds on the top. Make sure to keep the sponge moist. In a matter of days lettuce will be growing.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou