Gwyneth Paltrow was tapped by Mario Batali to do the#FoodBankNYCChallenge and eat on $29 a week. She tweeted a picture of her groceries: ...
I know other people are critiquing this already, but this bothers me on a basic level because eight of those 16 items are not calorically significant. Nutritionally speaking, this is a vitamin bonanza. But people who live on SNAP benefits don’t just have to get nutrients, they have to get actual calories, because they tend to have very physical lives, doing service labor and taking care of children and not necessarily being able to afford acar and so forth.
I mean, let’s break this down to calories, right? ...
Altogether, that’s 7059 calories. That means that Gwyneth will be surviving on about 1000 calories per day this week. That is, by all means, possible for a week for someone who has the option to be physically active or not. It’s possible for a week for someone who doesn’thave that option, too, actually, but it’s not sustainable over the long term for someone who has limited transportation options, negligible assistance with childcare, and probably a minimum-wage-or-less service job. The average sedentary adult burns at least 1600 calories in a day. Supposing that the average woman in America is 5’4” and weighs 165 pounds, she’d burn about 2400 calories a day even if she was moderately active, meaning that she worked a service job and took care of kids. She would be working at a 1400-calorie deficit on Gwyneth’s diet.
