The effort has received considerable press coverage. The representatives even have their own blog about the effort. Reading comments posted to the blog reveals the extent of public mistrust and misunderstanding both about hunger and our nation's nutrition assistance programs. From inaccurate assumptions about how the Food Stamp Program functions (for example, that the program factors in geographic variations in the cost of food when determining benefit size - it does not) to puritanical diatribes about the merits of frugality (that living off of $3 per day for food is something we all can and, furthermore, should do).

Sadly, the Reagan era lambast on "welfare queens" has proved a lingering albatross to the Food Stamp Program. While public perception of welfare itself has vastly improved since reform in 1996, the Food Stamp Program still suffers from widespread misperceptions about both its efficiency and its merit. Despite the fact that the program has made tremendous strides in improving accuracy and now has a 94 percent accuracy rate according to the Government Accountability Office, it is tainted by a lasting image of fraud and abuse. The notion of a food stamp recipient paying for his bag of groceries and driving off in a Mercedes persists.

During reauthorization of the farm bill this year, Congress will consider the Food Stamp Program. Time spent correcting false allegations about food stamps detracts our attention from where it ought to be: strengthening the program. Instead of focusing on the chimera of fraud and abuse, Congress should take this opportunity to make needed improvements to the program, such as increasing the benefit size. As the Food Stamp Challenge highlights, the average monthly benefit per participant amounts to roughly $1 per meal. This paltry sum is hardly adequate to provide enough food for participants, let alone nutritious food. It will require a significant investment to increase the benefit size such that it provides a diet that is both sufficient and nutritious. Sadly, until misperceptions about food stamps are changed, there appears to be little hope of securing the bipartisan support necessary to strengthen this important program.

Fortunately the issue of hunger has true champions in Congress, notably Representatives McGovern and Emerson.

Hopefully the attention Representative McGovern and his colleagues are bringing to this issue by participating in the Food Stamp Challenge will help clear up common misconceptions about the program and allow us to focus instead on the real scandal: that hunger still exists in America and that more than 35 million people live in households that struggle to put food on the table.

For basic (and accurate) information about the Food Stamp Program, check out USDA's FAQs about the program.