PHILADELPHIA — A congressman, the Philadelphia mayor and a trio of state legislators pledged Monday to live on $35 worth of food for the next week in what they said was an effort to show how hard it is to subsist on government food benefits.

The promises made at a supermarket news conference come as a planned asset test for food stamps is set to take effect May 1 in Pennsylvania. The lawmakers each shopped for a week of groceries using strict budgets of $5 per day — the average individual benefit in Philadelphia.

Organizers of the food stamp challenge said that while it doesn’t come close to replicating the actual hardships faced by many low-income families, it does offer a glimpse into their lives.

“Every day in Philadelphia, and in the state of Pennsylvania, and around the country, people rely on food stamps to make ends meet,” said Carey Morgan, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Coalition Against Hunger.

Starting next week, the state will begin a rolling review of food stamp recipients. Families with $5,500 in assets — or $9,000 for households with seniors or disabled individuals — will be disqualified from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the formal name for food stamps.

Officials contend the asset test imposed by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett’s administration will save public money, and that less than 1 percent of the current 1.8 million recipients would be dropped from the program. Critics say any savings will pale in comparison to the manpower required to administer the test.

Pennsylvania had an asset test until 2008, when it was thrown out by then-Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat. At that time, the limits were $2,000 for a household or $3,250 for families with seniors or disabled members. About a dozen other states also use such tests.

Department of Public Welfare spokeswoman Carey Miller said Monday that the challenge doesn’t give “a true snapshot” of the food stamp benefit. The program is “supplemental,” as its official title notes, and recipients can qualify for other benefits in addition to SNAP, she said.

Mayor Michael Nutter, state Sen. Vincent Hughes and state Reps. Tony Payton and Vanessa Lowery Brown also joined the challenge, co-sponsored by the hunger coalition and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.

About one in seven people in the Philadelphia region — and one in three in the city itself — rely on food stamps, organizers said.