Queens, NY – Queens Councilman Tries To Live On Food Stamps For A Week

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    Queens, NY – Queens Councilman Eric Gioia will try to live for a week spending only $28 for food, in an attempt to raise awareness about hunger.

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    Gioia is taking part in the National Food Stamp Challenge, where he’ll spend a week eating only meals that can be bought with a standard weekly allotment of food stamps.
    Currently, food stamp recipients only receive an average of $1.30 per meal, and Gioia says that’s unacceptable.

    More than a million New Yorkers currently receive food stamps, which average less than $200 a month for a family.
    Gioia and other leaders are lobbying the federal government for more money. [NY1]

    Concilmember Simcha Felder, many in your district live on Food Stamps as well. Would you commit the same effort to bring attention to this issue?


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    26 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    as long nobody is bying drugs with their foodstamps or any other criminal activity, so to me even if someone has a lexus doesnt make him a criminal besides it’s probbally that one person among many who drives nebach a used lexus and the loshon hora spreads like wild fire that moshe or yankel drived a lexus what a ganuv, well we should all think before we talk better not talk at all, a message from the foundation of anti loshon hora.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    If you can’t originate, don’t imitate. And don’t ask someone else to, either. Everyone’s just tring to look good because some politician in Oregon tried this welfare/foodstamps experiment to make a political statement.
    I’ll give that first one some credit. While I’m sure it was good for his PR, perhaps he really meant to see what it’s like and highlight the issues. But all the copycats are just trying to make themselves look good.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Leave Simcha out of this. He actually goes to work so he can buy his food, like some of us do. He can choose to eat what he wants. Why should I have someone look down at me because I buy gefilte fish. She’s a “bessere mentch” and buys salmon. With her food stamps. I can’t afford to buy as well as some of those on food stamps, because I have to share my salary with them. (And I know most are legitimate. It just hurts to see the games people play for my hard earned money.)

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    To anon at 12:35 PM – you said
    “The government under the constitution is doing something illegal with all these handouts.”
    What about the cheaters and liars that are the recipients of these handouts? They’re just innocent bystanders?
    I agree with the gist of your comment, with the exception of your references to the constitution and blame of the government. The part I agree with is that these programs are for people who are in “need” and are eligible. Too many take advantage, lie, and steal from the government because they believe they are entitled to whatever they can get. This is wrong and needs to stop.
    I don’t understand the need for you to only fault and accuse the government of illegal activity. The government has put restrictions and eligibility requirements on these programs. The people who are lying to get these services are the criminals. Do you want the government to have to police/investigate every single applicant? That would cost more than the handouts. So the government relies on random investigatinons and responses to reports (snitches). If we want to resolve this, it seems that we have three choices –
    1. Do nothing and let all of these social programs dissolve.
    2. Pay more taxes so the gov’t can investigate all applicants and weed out the thieves.
    or
    3. Expect people to be honest. – Just kidding, that will never happen! So that leaves: snitching on our neighbors.

    People are committing this fraud. They need to be stopped.
    I’m seriously considering option #3. Especially on my Audi driving neighbors in the new McMansion a few doors down with all the new furniture and appliances from only the best stores (the delivery trucks just keep pulling up their driveway), who I recently saw at the Lakewood shoprite using foodstamps.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Whatever comes from the government comes from someone who is paying taxes. It’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul as the expression goes. The government is not a charitable institution and they have no right to give anyone charity without representation under the constitution. But, no one remembers this. They think it is an “entitlement”, but, it really isn’t. Years ago, there were no such social programs and yes, the poor really suffered alot, but, it was up to their communities to provide for the poor, like we Yidden do-Tomchei Shabbos etc. The government under the constitution is doing something illegal with all these handouts.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Its very commendable that eric gioya and whatever other councilmembers want to see if they can live off food stamps…but, let them go a step further and spend this money at the local mom and pop shops…not take their cars from one supermarket to another seeing where they can get the greatest bargains. Many people on food stamps don’t have the luxury of shopping around..they can barely afford busfare!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    what about driving a lexus to the food stamp office ? or buying dipers mit foodstamps !

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    I think the councilman should look at other democratic governments like england or Israel where food prices are regulated and subsidized by government, a luff of bread shouldn’t be $2.50, or milk 3.00 and so on.
    in most countries the necessities are cheap and affordable, here in America there is a free market and everyone can charge what they wont for anything and that is forcing the government (tax payers) to subsidize the poor people.
    and lats face it, NOBODY WANTS TO BE ON GOVERNMENT ASSISTED, but if they have a large family that hashem gave them with enormous expenses for food, clothing, shelter, health, school, camp, accessories, etc. and with only one income, they are forced to take GOVERNMENT assistens, the best help the GOVERNMENT can assist is with regulating housing and food costs, school vouchers and national health care. Every country in the world does it.
    thats the REAL Solution, but a gentile will tell you don’t have kids etc. witch we know is nonsense because hasem didcates our lives and even for them the kids are the country’s future.

    Chaim Yankel
    Chaim Yankel
    16 years ago

    8:28 –

    I don’t think anyone here thinks that peopel on food stamps should not be abusing the system and buying luxuries, while we pay for their food.

    But, most of us do think that we should hold ourselves, and our entire community, to a higher standard. (Actaully, just the normal threshold of not cheating the gov’t.) Not simply looking at other communities and saying “Look, they do it too!”

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Before attacking Yiden why don’t we discuss the persons of the darker persuasion that are on food stamps but somehow manage to have life’s necessities like a 42″ color TV and full sound system in the living room plus the smaller 30″ unit in the bedroom. if people can’t afford food where to they have the money for the TV’s, video machine, DVD player, X-box PLUS all the DVD’s and games that go with aforementioned equipment. There should be a law, if you can afford a TV, you don’t need food stamps. I know call, me a racist. Sorry for confusing you with the facts.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    ir zent ale a bande ganuvim. who do you think is paying for your food stamps?

    kartchiner
    kartchiner
    16 years ago

    stop the baloney those people are the ones spending the most in the grocery/fruit /bakery

    O.Gevald
    O.Gevald
    16 years ago

    Hey Shlomah, what makes you think Felder doesn’t get Food Stamps now?
    Doesn’t everybody in his district?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    If this Queens Councilman would bother to look into the Food Stamp Program he would learn that the Food Stamp benefit is meant as a supplement, not as the only source of income to purchase food. It was originaly created to help the US farmers more than the poor and in it’s early days only American produced food could be purchased.

    By the way, Simcha looks like he’s been eating well. I hardly recognized his last time we met.

    Chaim Yankel
    Chaim Yankel
    16 years ago

    Mr 5:14 + Cheeky –

    So thats your plan. Lets speak in Yiddush, hoping that the reporters from the general newspapers that read this blog won’t know that you’re saying.

    Its simple, if you didn’t cheat the Food Stamp system, you wouldn’t need to be embassared.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    u could be driving a brand new lexus and get food stamps and wic
    tell the councilman not to waste their time on this

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Cheeky it’s jerks like you who ruin it for everyone else. You have something to hide that you are writing in a language other than English? You and everyone else who want to hide behind the law are a menace to society.

    cheeky
    cheeky
    16 years ago

    Vatch vus men shreibed. Asach fin deiner breeder leben oif dem… De shaigatz…

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Food Stamps is assisstance. Its there to help out people who earn to little.

    So $28 is just the govenrments contribution to a persons food expenses the rest they pay with the money they earned.

    For those who dont have jobs at all, they already get plenty other help from the govenment like Welfare, unemployment, Section 8 etc. so $28 is a fair amount to a poor person.

    Also keep in mind that the government basis is not calculated on the rates of glatt kosher meat.

    At McDonalds or other fast food resturants you can get 99 cent meals.

    I dont see a reason for the government to overpay for food to make people so comfortible on the aid that they wouldnt be motivated to try to earn their living.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Wow… so sad, but so true!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    chaim yankel change your name to chaim yukel far voss shreibst de azoy du far alemen??

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    after Felders house is in his father in laws congregations name and his paycheck is all off the books you can ask the same of him

    Chaim Yankel
    Chaim Yankel
    16 years ago

    First of all, it is $28/week, per person, so a family of 12 would be $336.

    Secondly, if you want Felder to live as many of those on food stamps do in his district, he’d first need to get monthly checks (I mean cash) from his father-in-law, off the books, so he could qualify.

    Isn’t that the way it’s done?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    with a large family you can still get food stamps, wic and acd and make $60,000.00 legally.

    for the uninformed none of those programs are not welfare.
    the are federal entitlements.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    if u want simcha felder to do the same thing you wont have him as your councilman anymore as at $1.30 per meal one can starve to death
    and shabbos meals chulent kishka coldcuts 4 diff types of kugel forget about it the fs check barley covers 1 shabbos meal

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    16 years ago

    Is it only $28? I always see people buying more groceries than me and just pay with their food card.

    Or, how about those who spend fortunes in the bakery? I remember once shopping at a well known bakery in BP for a simcha and wanted to pay buy credit card, as I had seen a credit card machine on the wall. They told me, we don’t take credit cards, that machine is only for FS. Go figure.