The Problem with Food-Stamp Challenges  Politicians and
celebrities are trying to live for one week on food stamps, but
will this increase advocacy for the poor?    • Share   • Read
Later Joe Raedle / Getty Images  A person displays a federal
food stamps card on February 10, 2011, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
As the outcome of a debate he had with a Twitter follower,
Newark Mayor Cory Booker says he will spend December 4 through
11 trying to live on food stamps. Should he follow through,
Mayor Booker will be part of a rapidly growing group. In the
last six months, mayors in Las Vegas, Philadelphia and Phoenix
have also spent a week living on food stamps, as have the
governors of Oregon and Colorado. And politicians are not the
only ones participating in such experiments. A few months ago,
celebrity chef Mario Batali successfully completed a food stamp
challenge with his family, and there is a program at the
University of Bridgeport that in a few weeks will invite
students on the campus to do the same.  There are