Acclaimed New York chef, Mario Batali, has descended from the Mount Olympus of Cuisine in order to feed his family the same way 46 million Americans feed themselves — with food stamps. Since Congress is threatening potential cuts to the program, Batali and his family have accepted the challenge (presented by the Food Bank for New York City) of eating for one week on a strict budget, in protest.

If the calculations are correct, that means about $31 per person can be spent on food for the entire week, or to break it down even further, $1.48 per person, per meal.  Now, that would seem like a tall order to fill for a lot of people, but it must be exceptionally difficult for someone like Chef Batali, who is used to eating and working with some mighty fine foods.  Although this ingenious plan was cooked up by their father (heh, see what I did there?), Batali’s kids seem to be handling it well:

“They’re having more peanut butter and jelly than they’ve had in the last 10 years because bread is inexpensive and peanut butter and jelly, if you buy it at the right place at the right time, is cheap,” Batali said.

Sound the trumpets! They have to eat sandwiches and buy crappy school lunches? Such martyrdom! I am pretty sure that experience describes my entire childhood and most of the time I spent in college, but hey, we appreciate your sacrifice.

The chef’s reaction to the experience thus far?
“I’m f–ing starving.”

Welcome to America, Mario.

[Via The Huffington Post and ABC News]

Danielle MooradianTwitterFacebook

Danielle Mooradian is a recent East Coast transplant who has eaten her way across the country. The best gift she has ever received was a panini maker, and loves anything that resembles a cheeseburger. Her goal in life is to become a judge on Iron Chef.