Queens Councilman Eric Gioia was in Congress yesterday meeting with N.Y. and Massachusetts representatives about changing food stamp allowances. Eric can speak from experience now that he has completed one week of living on the $28 stipend. The money did not even cover the week, despite buying inexpensive (and unhealthy) food. Gioia ended up at the food pantry at the end of his week to pick up additional items. Once the week was up however, he was off to Congress to chow down.
From The New York Daily News:
WASHINGTON - A comfort-food splurge ended Eric Gioia's poverty diet yesterday - and the City Council member who spent a week eating on less than $28 let somebody else worry about the check.
The Queens Democrat wolfed down turkey, mashed potatoes and broccoli between meetings with Capitol Hill lawmakers as he pressed for change in food stamp allowances.
He let Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) pick up the tab, and even sent out for the Diet Coke he'd fantasized about while spending seven days drinking nothing but tap water.
If it is that bad for a week, imagine doing that day in and day out while suffering the toll of poverty. Eric understands that now to some degree and spent the day lobbying for reform of the food stamp bill. The program should allow for healthy and nutritious food instead of parched wheat products and chemically ladened processed foods. Gioia realized that "It's not a Democratic issue, and it's not a Republican issue. It's a moral issue. There are hungry kids in New York City." And there are millions of those kids across the country. It is time for Congress to act.
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