Newark Mayor Cory Booker begins food stamp challenge

• Cory Booker will live on $4.32 a day, equivalent to what New Jersey residents receive in food aid
• The food stamp challenge came out of a conversation Booker had on Twitter
• His grocery receipts show he's bought beans, corn and an apple

Newark Mayor Cory Booker on Tuesday began his food stamp challenge, living on the groceries he can buy for about $30 a week.

That's the amount that New Jersey residents receive if they qualify for the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, as the food stamp program is officially known. It comes out to $4.32 a day, Booker said.

Booker's food stamp challenge was born out of a conversation he had on Twitter with a woman who uses the handle, @MWadeNC. In a blog post on Waywire.com, Booker said he wants "raise awareness and understanding of food security."

The Democrat has already posted his grocery receipts on Facebook and Twitter. Among other items, the vegetarian bought beans, corn and an apple. But he said on Twitter that he has to give up coffee because "it isn't in the budget."

"We have much work to do at the local level to address a legacy of structural inequities in the American food system," Booker wrote in the blog post. "As more and more working people and families -- many holding down more than one job -- face greater and greater challenges to juggle housing, medical, and transportation costs, meeting nutritional needs becomes a serious problem and a social justice issue."

Booker, who said this weekend that he is "definitely considering" running for governor next year, plans to document his experiences this week on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook. He is the co-creator of Waywire, a video news sharing service.

Booker is not the first politician to do something like this. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Rep. Bob Brady, D-Pa., both lived on food stamps for a week this year. In the past, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and the mayors of Las Vegas and Phoenix have also done the same to highlight the challenges of relying on government assistance for food.