Food-Stamp Governor Splurges

Without a strict budget for groceries, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski splurged on fresh berries with his usual yogurt for breakfast this morning.

Up through last night, he had forgone these delicacies as part of his participation in Oregon's Hunger Awareness Week, during which he lived on food stamps, the value of which averages about $3 per person per day, according to the press release he issued for the event.

This afternoon, he had a chocolate-chip cookie, another splurge, one of his spokespeople, Kristina Edmunson, tells News Desk.

At a roundtable discussion, the governor described the experience as an "emotional challenge" in addition to a "nutritional and monetary challenge," Edmunson said.

Kulongoski isn't the first politician to play the "walk the walk" card, either to bring attention to poverty issues or lend themselves some street cred in discussing the topic. Sen. John Edwards shadowed Elaine Ellis, a nursing assistant at the Sarah Neuman Nursing Home in New York, earlier this month as part of the Service Employees International Union's "Walk a Day in My Shoes" program. So far, Sens. Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, and Christoper Dodd and Gov. Bill Richardson have also committed.

--Amy Golod