Gwyneth Paltrow Lives On $29 Weekly Food Stamp Allowance

Gwyneth Paltrow has become a part of the campaign promoting Mario Batali’s Food Bank NYC Challenge in an effort to demonstrate what exactly $29 in food stamp allowance will get a typical family at the grocery store when relying on SNAP (formerly called Food Stamps).

Families taking the Food Bank NYC Challenge are asked to live on $29 in groceries for a week to walk in the shoes of SNAP families. Supporters of the campaign argue that $29 worth of food stamp allowance would equate to an intake of roughly 1000 calories if a family purchases healthy, unprocessed foods, but when people have labor intensive working class jobs, an excess of 3500 calories per day is often required to support activity.

TODAY reported on the actress’s support of the campaign, citing both social media defense and backlash.

What do you think of the Food Bank NYC Challenge? Is $29/week in groceries enough for the average family to live and have the energy needed to thrive?