We all know Gwyneth Paltrow as an actress. But as a lifestyle blogger and humanitarian, Paltrow also uses her fame to try to raise awareness about important issues.
For instance, Paltrow recently sought to shed light on the struggle millions of Americans living in poverty face just trying to put food on the table by challenging herself to survive for one whole week on food stamps, and by day five, she was dead.
Yep, the Shakespeare In Love and Iron Man star tried to feed herself on just $29 for an entire week in order to demonstrate just how desperate things are for the nation’s working poor, and after spending her entire budget on barely enough food to create two healthy, well-balanced meals and a couple of snacks, Paltrow slowly starved to death over the next four days.
Hard to turn a blind eye to hunger now, huh?
Sure, there are plenty of people out there rolling their eyes at the way Paltrow withered to a horrifying 63-pound version of her former self before passing away, dismissing her actions as just another example of preachy celebrity activism. But they would be missing the powerful point her death made about the fact that millions of children in this supposed first-world country go to bed hungry every night.
And if you’re still not convinced that the current social safety net isn’t enough to keep folks from having their hair fall out from malnutrition like Gwyneth’s did on the third day, just check out some of her tweets during her experiment:
That was the last tweet she ever sent.
Incredible. Say what you will about Gwyneth Paltrow, but her untimely death certainly gives us cause to think about the way this country treats its citizens who live in poverty.
