A moment of your time..

Interesting things from the net.

the foodstamp challenge: http://foodstampchallenge.typepad.com/

This is a challenge to live for one week, on $21, the amount of money that the foodstamp program provides.

There are, undoubtedly, those who will claim that "They lived quite well on twenty-one dollars a week when they were growing up!"]

Unfortunately, inflation and devaluation have taken their toll.

This is a problem I've found myself facing recently. You see, I'm spending a semester studying at Edinburgh University, where my dollar is only a half pound. And there is no such thing as a meal plan, you buy and cook your own food.

This has lead the other 7 americans and myself to band together, each kick in 20 quid a week and buy food for all eight of us. Now, this is the UK, and organic, fresh produce is readily availible, and even cheaper, in some cases, than the other stuff. And its still horribly expensive to eat. Whats more, we have two or three hours to wander around the store and pick the best deals, a luxury that a poor single parent running from one job to the other notably does NOT have.

So for those who have their doubts about the effectiveness of welfare, and the easy life of a so called "welfare queen" who "spend their money on booze," then take the challenge.