Yale Daily News

Wow, the famous liberal canard comes to Yale, what a surprise! I remember when a few members of congress decided to live on $3 worth of food a day and was surprised the media, didn't pick up on it then: Food Stamps are not the only revenue source for the program's participants. I wonder if even 1 percent of food stamps recipients spend only their stamps on food and not a dime more. The flawed logic liberals use is that the goverment should completely eliminate the needs of the poor.The programs are supposed to help those in need, not take care of that need for them.

I happen to be pretty liberal as well, but the conservative has got a good point. Although, regardless of the food stamp program, there is hunger in the US and around the world. It's good for Yale students to get a glimpse of that.

If they're going to make a statement by living off the average food stamp allotment, they need to apply it against the average need. Government assistance isn't a binary all or nothing - requiring some assistance doesn't mean you're wholly dependent upon the government for every meal and most people/families on the rolls only need help meeting a small portion of their food needs. The unrealistic demonstration does little to help illustrate legitimate concerns and undermines efforts to paint an accurate picture of the situation and the need for improvement.

so what did they use the $1200 for? sending emails?

First, I need to laugh (sadly) at the quote from the person who thinks that buying "cage free" eggs is supportive of "animal rights." I'm suspicious of the term "rights" even in human context, but, more importantly, anyone can stamp their eggs "free range." You are paying more to make yourself feel better. Doing what is right takes a lot more effort: stop your financial support of the animal industry.

Second, I looked over my last grocery bill, and I usually eat for less than 3 dollars a day. Sure, every so often I might go to Ahimsa and drop 30 bucks on dinner, but when I eat at home I eat cheap. Lentils/rice/etc. from the bulk buy section of Edge of the Woods is less than $2 per pound. Savings are even higher if you go to the Asian grocery near ninth square and buy 20 lbs of rice at a time. Peanut butter, flour, dried TVP (in bulk), fresh fruits/vegetables in general, all these thing are cheap. So, as an extreme atheist, evolution believing, gay marriage approving, vegan liberal - I am very unimpressed with this self-righteous "look at us ivy-league people sharing the experiences of the destitute around us" article. The only excuse for the $3/day activity is if you take your food savings and donate it to charity. Oxfam is a good one.

During the 1970s, some of us held a multi-day fast to show opposition to war in 'Nam. As I recall, my linguistics instructor, Sidney Lamb, got the ball rolling. I only drank water for the two or three days involved. This is a much more insidious social problem, the nutrition crisis faced by those on food stamps, than the problem we demonstrated against, if that is the right phrase, back then. M L Berg (SY '72)