November 7, 2016
BCIT News
Ashley Burr
$19 worth of food per week: the results of the Welfare Food Challenge
65 people restricted themselves to spending $19 on food for this past week’s Welfare Food Challenge.
Organizers say $19 per week is the amount a person on welfare would have leftover after paying for other necessary living expenses.
Erica Grant attended the Welfare Food Challenge closing event, and says she lives the reality. Grant is an ex-nurse, who has raised six children in the Lower Mainland. She is now on disability and her daughter is currently homeless. She discusses what it’s like to rely on welfare and live in a Single Room Occupancy (SRO):