Ted Kulongoski isn't a poor man, but he is living on food stamps for a week. In order to see how it feels to be able to only purchase $21 dollars of food for a week. In order to raise awareness for families that do have to live on this meager budget, the Governor is taking a hit in the stomach and of course his coffee budget.
From Yahoo News:
Accompanied by reporters and food stamp recipient Christina Sigman-Davenport, Kulongoski headed straight for a display of organic bananas, only to have Sigman-Davenport steer him toward the cheaper non-organic variety.
The governor pined wistfully for canned Progresso soups, but at $1.53 apiece, they would have blown the budget. He settled instead for three packages of Cup O'Noodles for 33 cents apiece. Kulongoski also gave up his usual Adams natural, no-stir peanut butter for a generic store brand, but drew the line at saving money by buying peanut butter and jelly in the same jar.
"I don't much like the looks of that," said Kulongoski, 66, staring at the concoction.
This is clearly brand new territory for Ted. It is good to see someone who can easily have the high-priced healthy food to see that not everyone can afford a good, balanced diet. Perhaps this can lead to some change in how consumers are given the crap at low prices. Ultimately those bulk deals are making it more expensive and dangerous in the long run when it comes to health care. With the Governor seeing how it is to be poor, there is hope that we can make a difference for those that have to eat on $21 dollars every week.
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