Democratic Mayoral candidates Anthony Weiner and John Liu are embarking on a new campaign: Cut spending to just $4.50 a day – $31.08 a week or $1.48 per meal– on food for the next week, to raise awareness of the hardships of those living in poverty depending on government programs to still their hunger, the NY Daily News reports.

Mr. Weiner led reporters and photographers on a trip to the Morton Williams supermarket around the corner from his ritzy Park Avenue apartment, where he bought a bag of potatoes, a loaf of white bread, and three cans of tuna, for a grand total of $12.28, according to Politicker’s Jill Colvin.

That leaves him just $18.80 for the rest of the weeklong challenge, which starts Thursday.

Fellow Democrat Liu, the city comptroller, announced his participation in the campaign – sponsored by the Food Bank For New York City – via Twitter.

“I ACCEPT the #SNAPchallenge – powerful awareness-raising activity from @FoodBank4NYC – to live on $31.50 total food budget from June 13-19,” Liu tweeted.

During a press conference at union Square, Wednesday afternoon, Mr. Weiner told reporters the city should be doing everything it can to encourage the 500,000 city residents who qualify for food stamps but don’t use them to enroll. The mayor should also be working with the federal government to up the limit–including giving food stamps a 50 percent boost in value when used on fresh produce.

Photo: Olivia Nuzzi

(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)