Food stamp challenge

Poor Beth Schwartz tried to follow the food stamp challenge; eating on $21, per person, per week and found herself eating all kinds of unhealthy things

Schwartz went from a diet high in protein and fresh produce to pasta, hot dogs, eggs and peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches. She began hoarding food and counting bites.

She was hungry all the time and constantly worried that she was going to run out of food. She found herself cringing when her daughter asked to have a slice of her cheese.

Schwartz logged her thoughts in a blog. Day one, she was "more aware of my hunger" than usual and thankful for the coffee at work.

On day two, she was comparing apples to gold. On day three she was "impatient and cranky."

"I'm ashamed at how important food has become for me. I feel unabashedly blessed that this is just one week of my life. I feel guilt that this is just one week of my life."

On day four, Schwartz said her brain felt "fuzzy" and she wondered what effect this type of diet has on schoolchildren.

By day six, she was doing the math for her final day of the challenge.

"I calculated that I have $1.67 left to last me the rest of the day," Schwartz said on Sunday morning, the last day of her challenge. "I calculated that's two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, carrots, two eggs and a cup of milk."

At first I thought I would take up the food stamp challenge, until I realized that I've already done it.... Only we called it college.

See, in college, students on limited budgets eat things like mac and cheese (.50 a box), hamburger helper (about 3.00 with hamburger), and spaghetti (about 2.00 with sauce), and Ramen noodles about (.50 a package). I was in a Kroger's the other day and you can still get frozen pizzas for 1.29 a piece.

So spare me if you can't eat a nice diet of Salmon, rice pilaf and brocolli. But isn't that the deal with food stamps and any other public assistance, you get enough to subsist, not enough to get fat on. If you want something more.... go earn it.