Glace Bay United Way to show how $125/week can feed family of 8

The United Way's poverty task force is getting creative in the kitchen to help Cape Bretoners in need, offering a workshop to show how a family of eight can eat healthily on $125 a week. 

The food security workshop in Glace Bay, organized by Nadine Bernard, aims to show people living in poverty how to eat well on a tight budget. 

"I want to get to the senior citizens who are on a fixed income," Bernard said.

"I want to get to the single people who are on social assistance. I want to get to those pockets of population in Cape Breton that I can't find, that need to be able to find me so I can help them." 

She got the idea for the workshop after her fiancé was laid off for three months. 

In her plan, Bernard says it's possible to feed a family of eight for $125 a week. Skills that help people eat healthily and cheaply shouldn't be overlooked, she says. 

"When I was a kid, I used to peel the potatoes with my grandmother at the table and the carrots. I would make the stew with her. She was teaching me a life skill that was going to last for the long term," she said.

"We're seeing a generation of kids who don't know how to cook. They can put things in a pan and put them in the oven and press 'on.' What are we teaching our children — that convenience is better than health? 

The Glace Bay workshop begins on Oct. 13. Bernard says she also plans to bring it to New Waterford, Sydney and Northside.