When a Twitter user challenged Mayor Cory Booker on why the government should be responsible for helping Americans feed themselves and their children, Booker saw it as a chance to open people’s eyes about the plight of those living hand-to-mouth. Starting on Tuesday, Booker will be using only his allotted amount of government funds for meals every day for a week.
The woman who challenged Booker goes by the Twitter handle @MWadeNC, although her tweets are protected from public view at the moment; she’s gotten a lot of attention since her exchange with the mayor, which began when she started a conversation with him regarding free food at schools.
“Nutrition is not the responsibility of the government,” she reportedly tweeted. Then, “why is there a family today that is “too poor to afford breakfast”? are they not already receiving food stamps?”
Booker then challenged her to live on food stamps with him for a specific amount of time and feed their families on it, something which is notoriously hard to do in his homestate of New Jersey, which has a high cost of living. Though she accepted, she has yet to set a date to begin.
I am confirming my participation in the #SNAPChallenge (http://t.co/TYYT7dzU) – 12/4 – 12/11