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Booker to Live on Food Stamps in December

Newark mayor accepts 'SNAP challenge,' tweets he will live on food stamps from Dec. 4-11

 

Newark Mayor Cory Booker's plan to live on food stamps for a week is still on, with the mayor confirming Wednesday the challenge will be documented on various social media platforms in the coming weeks.

The "SNAP challenge" arose from a back-and-forth early Monday morning between Booker and Twitter user MWadeNC, a self-described "army veteran, army daughter, army wife" fighting against socialism and communism. SNAP is the federal supplemental nutrition assistance program that serves 46 million people a month, according to its website.

MWadeNC, who goes by the name TwitWit, had tweeted, "nutrition is not responsibility of gov't," and questioned why children need food in school when food stamps are available, the Huffington Post reported.

The tweets prompted Booker to respond, "We have a shared responsibility that kids go to school nutritionally ready 2 learn."

Twenty-five minutes later, he challenged himself and MWadeNC to "live on food stamps in New Jersey (high cost of living) and feed a family for a week or month. U game?"

She responded, "sure, Mayor, I'm game," according to Huffington Post. MWadeNC's tweets are protected.

On Wednesday morning, Booker took to Twitter again to announce to his 1.2 million followers that the "SNAP challenge" will be chronicled from Dec. 4-11 through his LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook accounts, as well as #waywire, a social network Booker co-founded.

Booker also tweeted about getting others to join in the challenge and said more details are forthcoming.

In Newark, as many as 29,000 breakfasts are served in the classroom every day to students across the city's 80 schools, officials said last month. The Newark Public Schools district is one of the few in New Jersey to feed its students breakfast in the classroom.

Related Topics: Cory Booker, Food Stamps, SNAP Challenge, and Twitter

maria lopez

8:06 pm on Wednesday, November 21, 2012

one week on food stamps wow thats not a challenge how about a month and a 1000 to pay bills thats a challenge live on what the real world lives on see what its like to struggle

Reply

debra

11:18 am on Friday, November 23, 2012

WHAT THE!!! yes i agree maria try living on 39 a month and social security less than 1000 a month and I worked all my life and this is what i get i went disable in 2006 due to no fault of my own they need to do a month and give them 40 a month that's what i get they would lose weight so fast people would think they had gastric bypass surgery.

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TwitWit

11:02 am on Tuesday, December 4, 2012

That's not how the Twitter exchange went.. but truth isn't important anymore.

Reply

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