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Welcome to Stop Food Waste Challenge!

Watch the short video below to learn the basics.
You'll be an Stop Food Waste Challenge expert in no time!

Hennepin County | Ramsey County | Washington County
Stop Food Waste Challenge
August 1 - August 31, 2025
Krina Damien's avatar

Krina Damien

Niron Magnetics

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 870 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    55
    zero-waste meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    1.0
    documentary
    watched
  • UP TO
    65
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    35
    pounds
    food waste prevented
  • UP TO
    45
    minutes
    spent learning

Krina's actions

Planning

Find your meal planning personality

I will explore different meal plan techniques and choose one that works for my household.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Planning

Create a Weekly Meal Plan

I will reduce food waste and save money by planning a weekly menu of meals and ingredients for my household of 3.

COMPLETED 15
DAILY ACTIONS

Planning

Make Time for Meal Prep

I will set aside time to prepare meals in advance.

COMPLETED 13
DAILY ACTIONS

Cooking

Use the Edible Portion

I will learn about what food is still safe to eat if portions have gone bad and make sure to utilize the edible portions if I can.

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Planning

Create a Household Cookbook

I will create a cookbook or recipe collection of go-to meals for my household to make meal planning easier.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Storage

Rotate My Foods

When I restock my fridge or pantry, I will put new items in the back and bring older items to the front to be used first.

COMPLETED 19
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Watch a Documentary About Food

I will watch 1 videos or documentaries to learn about the scope and scale of food waste in this country.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Storage

Learn About Food Storage

I will learn about food storage and store food based on best practices to keep it from spoiling before it is used.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Storage

Preserve food

I will try a new method of food preservation, such as canning, pickling, drying or making jam. I will try 2 preservation techniques.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Kids

Get Involved in the Kitchen

I will involve my 1 children in meal planning, prepping and cooking activities.

COMPLETED 16
DAILY ACTIONS

Participant Feed

  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Storage
    Did you find that you were storing food incorrectly? Which items have you changed?
    Krina Damien's avatar
    Krina Damien 8/30/2025 9:37 PM
    I have found that I look things up now without just assuming. For instance, I found fresh figs at the co-op the other day and I had no idea how to store them. Instead of just leaving them on the counter, as I might’ve in the past, I googled… and then put them in the fridge 🤪
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Community
    Have you ever thought about food going to waste on this scale before?
    Krina Damien's avatar
    Krina Damien 8/30/2025 9:28 PM
    I started watching “Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story”. I only watched about 30 min so far but I am absolutely horrified at how much food gets thrown out without even reaching the consumer. It showed trucks full of unused produce and fields of usable crops, dumpsters of food “about the expire” and carts full of overripe fruit. It talked about the surplus of food for catered events or even dinner parties in our culture. It’s mind blowing how much food is wasted all the time. And sad. Very sad 😢
    Read More
    • Vivien Fowler's avatar
      Vivien Fowler 8/31/2025 9:59 AM
      I know exactly what you mean -- Just Eat It is such an eye-opening documentary 🎥🍎. Seeing perfectly good food left behind in fields, stores, and events is heartbreaking 💔🌍, but bringing awareness to it is such an important first step. Your reaction shows how deeply this issue resonates💡💚. Together, by making mindful choices in our own homes and communities, we can be part of the change 🌱♻️✨.
      Read More
    • Margo Ashmore's avatar
      Margo Ashmore 8/31/2025 5:24 AM
      And think of all the other inputs wasted - labor, water, energy for processing and transportation, at various points in the chain. And yet poor kids go hungry. Need logistics solutions.
      Read More
  • Krina Damien's avatar
    Krina Damien 8/30/2025 9:21 PM
    We are leaving on vacation soon and have been very conscious of clearing out the fridge before we go so things don’t spoil.
    Read More
    • Vivien Fowler's avatar
      Vivien Fowler 8/31/2025 9:47 AM
      We’re also heading out on a trip to Yellowstone first week of October, and we’re lucky that food waste is never an issue for us since we bring along our EcoFlow Glacier Portable Fridge / Freezer ❄️🚐🥗. It makes road trips easier while helping us keep food fresh and avoid spoilage. 🌿💚
      Read More
    • H McCrillis 's avatar
      H McCrillis 8/31/2025 4:51 AM
      Bon voyage and safe scrubbing! 🧳🎒
      Read More
  • Krina Damien's avatar
    Krina Damien 8/28/2025 9:01 PM
    Made up a recipe tonight to use up some stale baguette. It’s soaking in an egg/milk mixture and will hopefully become something like bread pudding once I bake it in the morning! Also added some rhubarb and cinnamon and maple syrup 🤞
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Storage
    Canning and pickling food is a great way to have delicious summer fruits and vegetables all year round. What are some foods you would like to preserve and enjoy later?
    Krina Damien's avatar
    Krina Damien 8/28/2025 8:34 PM
    I have been periodically picking my rhubarb and freezing it for the winter. I’m also planning to test out my husbands food dehydrator this fall during apple season to make some yummy snacks 😊
    Read More
  • Krina Damien's avatar
    Krina Damien 8/26/2025 7:23 AM
    I still have a lot of rhubarb in our garden and while I periodically pull it and freeze it, I found this recipe I'm looking forward to trying for adding it to my oatmeal! (Also, in my quest to add veggies to my morning routine, rhubarb is apparently a vegetable!)

    Oatmeal-Rhubarb Porridge
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Planning
    Do you have days when you don't have time to spend making food? How has meal prep helped one those days?
    Krina Damien's avatar
    Krina Damien 8/26/2025 7:19 AM
    When I meal plan my lunches over the weekend, it makes work days so much easier during the week. And it's a better meal than grabbing a pb&j as a backup lunch. I also love when past-Krina makes a big pot of soup and freezes half of it. Then when I don't have time to meal plan for lunch, I can grab a container of soup to bring for lunch!
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Storage
    How has rotating your foods changed your awareness of what you have on hand? Have you changed any of your shopping habits because of this practice?
    Krina Damien's avatar
    Krina Damien 8/25/2025 8:40 PM
    I've tried to move all of my leftovers and "things to eat first" onto a single shelf which really helps me to look there first when it comes to meal planning and finishing leftovers.
    Read More
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Planning
    An average American throws out about 240 lbs of food per year. The average family of four spends $1,500 a year on food that they throw out. Does this surprise you? Where would you rather use this money? How has meal planning helped you avoid waste?
    Krina Damien's avatar
    Krina Damien 8/25/2025 8:37 PM
    Sadly, this does not surprise me. I'm constantly shocked at how so many people don't seem to see the meal opportunities in their fridges before the food goes bad. I try to be cognizant of it and I'm still sitting here throwing out cilantro that I've let dry out and the last bit of cheese that's gone moldy! I'd rather use the money to buy higher quality foods from local farmers than buy lower quality food that I will forget about and throw away. Meal planning has helped me really look at what I have in the fridge and what I can put into the next recipe to use before it goes bad.
    Read More
  • Krina Damien's avatar
    Krina Damien 8/23/2025 11:54 AM
    Last night we went out to dinner and split everything and had no leftovers! It was delightful 😊
    Read More