Perhaps the First Lady Michelle Obama might make a trip to Chef Batali's kitchen to discuss nutrition, deserts and the challenge of our nation to reform our diets.
Never before have I witnessed an act of compassion quite like this. A well accomplished chef comes forward to put his reputation on the line to make a political statement. That takes guts. I'd like to see our USA Congress live on Food Stamps for a week.
Posted on Friday, 05.18.12
BY LEANNE ITALIE
To much of the world, (click here) it was Monday. To Mario Batali, it was Day Four.
The chef, his wife and their two teenage sons were eating for a week on the equivalent of a food stamp budget in protest of cuts pending in Congress to the benefit program used by more than 46 million Americans.
That’s $31 per person for the week, or about $1.48 per meal each.
“I’m [expletive] starving,” said Batali, who’s on the board of the food relief agency Food Bank for New York City, which issued the challenge.
Batali said his first reaction when asked to join was a big “gulp,” then he realized while shopping that with a little forethought it wouldn’t be all that brutal.
One lesson: forget organic and anything pesticide- or hormone-free. “The organic word slides out and saves you about 50 percent.”...
