Food Stamp Challenge
In 2007, Gioia voluntarily chose to live on $28 for one week, in order to bring attention to the daily struggle of millions of New Yorkers. He stated, "But as tough as this week has been for me, the sad fact is that it was nothing compared with what over 1.1 million New Yorkers face every day. Far too many New Yorkers make impossible choices among health care for their children, paying their rent or putting food on the table on a daily basis."
Gioia introduced legislation to make access to food stamps easier, including putting applications online, and successfully pushed retailer Costco to accept food stamps at two of its New York locations. In a major victory for hunger advocates, Costco recently announced that after successfully accepting food stamps in New York City, it will begin accepting food stamps at all locations nationwide.
Read more about this topic: Eric Gioia, City Council
Famous quotes containing the words food, stamp and/or challenge:
“There is no instant of time when one creature is not being devoured by another. Over all these numerous races of animals man is placed, and his destructive hand spares nothing that lives. He kills to obtain food and he kills to clothe himself; he kills to adorn himself; he kills in order to attack and he kills to defend himself; he kills to instruct himself and he kills to amuse himself; he kills to kill. Proud and terrible king, he wants everything and nothing resists him.”
—Joseph De Maistre (1753–1821)
“The use of criticism, in periodical writing, is to sift, not to stamp a work.”
—Margaret Fuller (1810–1850)
“People seek a challenge just as fire seeks to flame.”
—Chinese proverb.