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 healthilyon $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," Bernardsaid.

"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 workshopafter her fiancwas 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 peopleeat 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 shealso plansto bring it to New Waterford, Sydney andNorthside.