U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings Takes Food Stamp Challenge

U.S. Rep. Alcee Hasting, D-Miramar, is one of 10 Democrats taking up the Food Stamp Challenge, which requires spending a week eating only what can be purchased with an average week's Food Stamp allotment.

The challenge was organized by the religious group Fighting Poverty With Faith because Congress is considering cutting the budget for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, formerly known as Food Stamps, according to a release from the group.

The program kicked off Thursday.

We stand together in grocery checkout lines, yet so many of us have no idea what it is like to struggle to feed families on $4.50 a day, Rev. Peg Chemberlin, president of the National Council of Churches, stated in a release.

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has proposed a budget plan that would transfer the program to the states through block grants.

Other representatives who have taken the challenge are: Reps. Joe Courtney, D-Conn.; Barbara Lee, D-Calif.; Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.; Keith Ellison, D-Minn.; Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio; Jim Moran, D-Va.; Tim Ryan, D-Ohio; and Jackie Speier, D-Calif.