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What the Media Got Wrong About #FoodBankNYCChallenge

June 15, 2015 – Leading up to our annual Can Do Gala in April, the #FoodBankNYCChallenge created a media uproar.

June 15, 2015 – Leading up to our annual Can Do Gala in April, the #FoodBankNYCChallenge created a media uproar (resulting in over 3 billion media impressions and increasing Food Bank’s normal web traffic five-fold) when leading notables took part in a challenge to live on a SNAP budget of $29 a week.

Kicked off on social media by Food Bank Board Member Mario Batali, who challenged other notables, including Sting, Debbie Harry/Blondie, and Gwyneth Paltrow, an active participant in the campaign, the challenge sparked a much-needed national conversation about hunger and the issues faced by those living on SNAP, formerly known as food stamps.

Despite that, many reporters missed the entire point of the challenge: to shed light on the fact that surviving on SNAP is a daily struggle for 46 million Americans. If we do not address the media’s misunderstanding of the challenge and Gwyneth’s experience, we do a disservice to those individuals and families who rely on SNAP.

During a time when New York City is negotiating its Emergency Food funding budget (EFAP), which needs new resources to effectively fight hunger, we thought we would highlight three of the top media misconceptions of the recent challenge with regards to SNAP and families living on emergency food programs:

1. By lasting just four days on a SNAP budget, Gwyneth failed to show how low-income Americans are forced to make ends meet.

Gwyneth didn’t fail at the challenge; she succeeded in showcasing why the challenge is needed. Millions of Americans are forced to survive on benefits that aren’t enough to cover their grocery needs. When the benefits run out, these low-income households often confront choices no one should have to make: between food and housing, medicine, transportation or other essentials.

What makes it even harder? Congress authorized five billion dollars’ worth of cuts to SNAP in November 2013. Since then, every single SNAP recipient has seen their benefits shrink. Coupled with rising food costs, those relying on SNAP are forced to stretch every dollar, often struggling to cobble together enough meals to last the month – a lesson Gwyneth learned in four short days. As a result, families turn to their last line of defense against hunger:  food pantries and soup kitchens.

The same rising food costs that burden low-income families also challenge emergency food providers. Coupled with longer lines, food pantries and soup kitchens are being forced to do more with less. That’s why today, Food Bank and anti-hunger allies across New York City are calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council to increase food funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) to $14.4 million in the city’s budget. This increase would provide 6.7 million more meals to low-income New Yorkers You can help – support EFAP today!

2. SNAP is supposed to supplement household food budgets – not represent all of it.

When the federal poverty measure was developed in the early 1960s, low-income households were spending about a third of their income on food. SNAP benefits were designed to make up the difference between what low-income families could spend, and what they actually needed to have a nutritionally adequate diet. Today’s reality is much different. Other costs of living – like housing and healthcare – take up a much bigger share of household budgets. Low-income families are spending much less on food (about 20% of their income), but SNAP benefits are still calculated based on the same outdated formula. Because SNAP systematically overestimates the amount of money recipients have available for food, their benefits fall short of their needs. As a result, SNAP is the primary – if not only – source of income many recipients have for food.

3. Gwyneth’s food choices – including her purchase of seven limes – were impractical.

Living on a SNAP budget does NOT have to mean forgoing fresh produce or healthy meals. While chronically low budgets and limited access to well-stocked grocery stores are significant challenges to maintaining a healthy diet, nutrition education – especially through the federal SNAP-Ed program – can empower SNAP-eligible adults and children with the knowledge, resources and tools to get the best nutrition for their limited dollars.

In fact, Food Bank’s nutrition education programs teach 275,000 parents, children, and teens how to use fruit, vegetables and yes, even limes, to create meals that are good and good for you. We hold regular cooking demos at food pantries and soup kitchens citywide that show New Yorkers in need how to prepare meals with fresh and varied ingredients.

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