Mayor Cory Booker is feeling the heat from not eating. Newark N.J.’s lovable mayor will live off less than $2.00 a day for seven days so he can see what it’s like to be on food stamps, and judging by his tweets, he’s going through life changes.
Booker brings in nearly $14,000 a month, and will probably learn a lot from the seven days in which he will live like many Americans unable to feed themselves without government assistance.
On his first day of the challenge Booker was forced to give up his one true love: coffee. Dressed in a dark sweater, holding a huge bowl of lettuce, and looking a little somber from not being able to feast like he’s used to, the 43-year-old recorded his very first video diary. “I didn’t plan, and my travel schedule got messed up, so I find myself not having access to food,” he said of how his life has changed, now that he’s pretending to be broke. “So I went through a long period of the day not eating anything. So I think that it’s very clear that if you’re on a limited budget, you have to put a lot of thought into what you’re going to eat, where you’re going to find food. Especially when you’re own a program like SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]. What places are going to accept my SNAP dollars? The other thing is you make tough choices, and the tough choice I’m gonna’ have to live with this week is that I used my money to buy a lot of different things, but not caffeine.”
Booker’s challenge is definitely admirable, but what would life be without a little comedic struggle? Check out some of his tweets and Instagram posts below.
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Photos: Twitter/Insagram
