Why Celebrity Chef Slashed His Food Budget

Why Celebrity Chef Slashed His Food Budget, Celebrity Chef Mario Batali Goes on Food Stamps Budget, Mario Batali is feeding his family meals of rice, beans, and peanut butter sandwiches. Can you get by on $1.48 per meal for a week? That's the campaign challenge that the Food Bank for New York City has posed to those interested in seeing what it's like to live on food stamps.  Mario Batali and his family eat for the cost of food…

Celebrity chef Mario Batali and his family have accepted the challenge and are living on $31 a week per person. Batali, his wife, and their two teenage sons are doing something that 1.8 million New Yorkers and 46 million Americans depend on.

Batali admits the challenge was difficult at first, but he has adapted. Instead of eating expensive items such as filet mignon or truffle oil, he chooses beans, rice, chicken, and pasta. He said he quickly learned that not buying organic could cut the price of produce by 50 percent. As for his kids, they're eating plenty of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches right now.

He is even spreading the message of the challenge on his daily show "The Chew" and telling viewers how to eat more cheaply. Plus, he insists he is not cheating. He does not taste the food that he prepares in his live cooking segments, but there's always free smells, right?

On Twitter, many people are applauding the chef and marveling at his ability to exercise self-control despite his access to high-quality foods. However, there are some who are bashing Batali and the cost of the food that is served at his restaurants. Batali's response: "What do you do to help someone else?"

Batali tweets pictures of the cost-reduced meals he prepares and uses the hashtag #FoodStampChallengeNYC. Batali and other celebrities are participating to raise awareness about hunger. He is a board member of the food relief agency Food Bank for New York City.

read more: yahoo