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Original poster

to think well done to Gwyneth for doing the food bank challenge

84 replies

nettlewine · 28/04/2015 18:06

mobile.twitter.com/GwynethPaltrow/status/586168041576116224

Not sure why she's getting so much hate for trying to live on a budget. If anything it raises awareness how difficult it is to live from food banks.

OP posts:
FirstWeTakeManhattan · 28/04/2015 18:11

Gwyneth Paltrow attracts hate fairly easily. I have no idea why. Yes, she has her Goop website, which seems to wind people up; she has opinions about stuff, which seems to wind people up; and she looks pretty fab, which seems to wind (some) people up.

But yep, good on her for this. She seems alright to me, to be honest.

Ubik1 · 28/04/2015 18:12

Did she actually eat stuff from a foodbank? Do they do macrobiotic?

Justmuddlingalong · 28/04/2015 18:16

She highlighted the problem, but in failing to complete the challenge, she made a mockery of those who have $29 week in week out to survive on.

ShowMeYourTARDIS · 28/04/2015 18:19

Food Stamps/SNAP are money that is given by the government to be used only for food. It's on a card, and it looks very much like a regular credit card. It can only be used for cold or packaged food.

It's a little ridiculous because most people who use SNAP are just tring to feed their family and won't spend $5 on a head of lettuce and some corn when they can get a big thing of frozen chicken that will keep their kids fuller and happier.

Fayrazzled · 28/04/2015 18:21

There's a similar initiative going on in this country at the moment, organised by TearFund I think. This blog post, by the food blogger Miss South, explains well why this sort of 'experiment' gets up the noses of people experiencing genuine food poverty:

www.northsouthfood.com

ApocalypseThen · 28/04/2015 18:22

She didn't do it, though. She bought silly things and then gave up.

Original poster
nettlewine · 28/04/2015 18:24

I think your spot on first. People just seem to love to pour hate on her.

Its not like she said she was going to solve food banks, she just did something to help highlight them and how difficult it is. Can't hate her for that.

OP posts:
scarletforya · 28/04/2015 18:25

She only lasted a couple of days didn't she?

Original poster
nettlewine · 28/04/2015 18:32

Yes she failed, further highliting how difficult it is!

She blogged about it, I really respect her. Would of been easier to lie.

goop.com/my-29-food-stamp-challenge-and-the-recipes-brouhaha-that-ensued/

OP posts:
sourdrawers · 28/04/2015 18:35

Take my hat off to her. It's odd how when people do stuff like this they get so much flack.

sourdrawers · 28/04/2015 18:35

Celeb's i mean

RoganJosh · 28/04/2015 18:36

I think more of her for writing about not managing it. I'm sure she could have fudged it and pretended she did.

Justmuddlingalong · 28/04/2015 18:36

She highlighted how difficult it is, but those who rely on food stamps to survive, don't have the option of opting out.

msrisotto · 28/04/2015 18:38

She didn't do it though, she bought 6 limes! FGS!! But I suppose she was drawing attention to the fact that the food stamps thing is not really sustainable.

PureMorning · 28/04/2015 18:45

She bought silly things and then copped out. People on stamps don't get to cop out

seventeen · 28/04/2015 18:49

The only thing she brought attention to is what a spoiled princess she is.

LadyDeadpool · 28/04/2015 18:59

She didn't even try! She failed on the first day by not changing her mindset.

TheFlis12345 · 28/04/2015 19:01

7 limes and a big bunch of coriander? If she really thinks those are the 'essential' food items people need to live on then she is even more out of touch than I thought!

IsabellaofFrance · 28/04/2015 19:07

What on earth was she going to eat out of that for a week?

Dimwit.

siblingrevelryagain · 28/04/2015 19:08

I dislike the way people like her get flak-jamie Oliver stuck his head above the parapet on school dinners and eating cheaply and almost got it knocked off. Other chefs don't even try to do anything to help and therefore don't attract criticism. I think more of people like him or Gwyneth Paltrow for trying (and failing) with good intentions, than those who don't even bother.

Original poster
nettlewine · 28/04/2015 19:08

She bought a big bag of beans, brown rice, wraps and vegetabkes. Hardly silly food.

What would it of achieved if she just ate cheap noodles for a week?

She was trying to have healthy food on a budget.

Gweneth has vegetables hate?

OP posts:
stayathomegardener · 28/04/2015 19:09

I don't have much affection for Gwyneth... Not sure why really.

But she does point out in her blog that limes are very cheap where she lives.
Looks sternly at TheFlis. (ignores the corriander)

TheFlis12345 · 28/04/2015 19:18

Limes may be cheap where she lives but they are far from essential and they are not proper food! I bet for the cost of 7 of them (plus the coriander, and the chilli come to think of it!!) she could have bought many other cheap, far more filling things with greater nutritional value, which would have been a far more useful and realistic venture.

seventeen · 28/04/2015 19:22

Limes are a fucking garnish!

blushingbooty · 28/04/2015 19:23

I'm glad she did it and highlighted but i think she should had done what a lot on very low income or food banks have to which is plan ahead every meal and budget well before buying rather then buy and hope to last. Then she'd have shown the true types of food you can afford on that, be it lots of noodles or pasta- it would have more emphasised how hard getting a balanced diet on that amount of money can be.