Neil Granlund

ACW Climate Action Team

"I'm looking for ward to learning more about how to reduce food waste."

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
578 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

29

pounds of CO2

have been saved
UP TO

4.0

hours

volunteered
UP TO

3.0

zero-waste meals

consumed
UP TO

1.0

documentary

watched
UP TO

18

pounds

food waste prevented

Neil's actions

Planning

Plant a Garden

I will plant an herb or vegetable garden at my home or community garden.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

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.

UNCOMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Shopping

Stick to Your Grocery List

I will only purchase the items on my grocery list and avoid impulse purchases.

COMPLETED 6
DAILY ACTIONS

Cooking

Cook Just Enough

I will scale down the recipe of a meal to make just the right amount for my household of 4 so we eat everything up.

COMPLETED 7
DAILY ACTIONS

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 4.

COMPLETED 3
DAILY ACTIONS

Planning

Plan to Use My Garden or CSA Produce

I will check to see what will be ready to eat in my garden or CSA box this week and plan recipes that use these ingredients.

COMPLETED 3
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

Planning

Plan a Leftovers Day

I will plan a meal to use up leftovers by creating a tasty smorgasbord or using a recipe that repurposes them.

COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Volunteer to Rescue Food

I will volunteer 4 hours to support existing community food waste reduction and recovery efforts like gleaning or for a food bank.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Participant Feed

Reflection, encouragement, and relationship building are all important aspects of getting a new habit to stick.
Share thoughts, encourage others, and reinforce positive new habits on the Feed.

To get started, share “your why.” Why did you join the challenge and choose the actions you did?

REFLECTION QUESTION
Planning Plan a Leftovers Day

What kinds of foods do you like to eat as leftovers? If you or your household members don't like eating leftovers, are there any foods you would be more willing to try than others?

Neil Granlund 8/28/2024 9:19 PM

I would say I don't have a problem with eating things I make, or restaurant foods as leftovers. However, my favorite left over is burrito bowls. We never have any meat left, but the cilantro/lime rice and roasted vegies make a great actual burrito for lunch the next day.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Volunteer to Rescue Food

How will you volunteer your time? What was your experience like volunteering and what did you learn?

Neil Granlund 8/27/2024 10:03 AM

I Volunteered at a food shelf called VEAP in Bloomington, MN where I helped bag potatoes and onions in smaller packaging to make it easier for recipients to manage. It was a great experience where I learned that VEAP typically serves 170 food insecure families everyday!

Me sweeping up after closing

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- Layl McDill 8/28/2024 8:21 AM
  
  That's awesome! Way to go!
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Community Watch a Documentary About Food

Have you ever thought about food going to waste on this scale before?

Neil Granlund 8/16/2024 9:50 AM

I knew that we waste 40% but I didn't know the multitude of ways that food is wasted, and it's really sad that so much perfectly edible food is thrown away at the farm because the farmer may not get a tax credit for donating! Yikes!

Read More
Neil Granlund 8/08/2024 9:46 PM

So far it's going well. I've made 3 dinners that were just enough for the 4 of us, and planned to have leftovers for one meal this week.

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- Becca David 8/14/2024 9:19 AM
  
  Great work Neil! How is this week going?
  
  Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Planning Plan to Use My Garden or CSA Produce

How easy has it been for you to plan your garden or CSA produce into your meals? Do you ever let your seasonal food go to waste?

Neil Granlund 8/04/2024 4:55 PM

It's not too hard to plan to use the produce I grow since I only grow tomatoes to make fresh salsa or cherry tomatoes for snacking. I do let some of my seasonal food go to waste when I've grown too much of something

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Cooking Cook Just Enough

We often worry about running out of food so we make too much. What thoughts and feelings have come up when you make just the right amount to eat up all the food?

Neil Granlund 8/04/2024 4:43 PM

I typically eat the leftovers as lunch. Making just the right amount automatically makes me think: so what am I doing for lunch tomorrow??

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Planning Plant a Garden

Besides having access to fresh herbs and vegetables, what benefits will you see from growing your own garden?

Neil Granlund 8/01/2024 8:12 PM

Well you do get a certain amount of exercise weeding and spreading mulch. In my case there's also a social aspect to gardening given I part of larger group
that maintains a community garden.

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Shopping Stick to Your Grocery List

What are some of the things you typically buy that you weren't on your list? How do you think you might limit some of those purchases?

Neil Granlund 8/01/2024 8:03 PM

I typically buy extra Oreos or some other cookie/baked good as impulse buys. How to limit... Not really sure

Read More
REFLECTION QUESTION
Planning Create a Weekly Meal Plan

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?

Neil Granlund 8/01/2024 7:59 PM

I'm not too surprised about the dollar amount. I'm curious as to how much we throw, because it's not zero. I feel like meal planning is essential to reducing waste. If you only buy what you know you're going to cook, then there's less of a chance that perishable foods will need to tossed because they didn't get used.

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