Environmental & Energy Department

I needed an eggplant, onions, and garlic. My husband was headed to the store but I asked him to hold out getting those items. I wanted to make sure we supported local farmers and have an excuse to stop by a farmers market.

I volunteer weekly at Minnehaha Food Shelf, it's pretty amazing to help move 10-17K pounds of produce from a truck and see the process.

Involved my daughter in the kitchen and she has to prepare her school lunch for the days she doesn't eat lunch at school.

Watched a 10-minute documentary on food waste on YouTube: Food Waste causes Climate Change. Here's how we stop it. Short and direct to the point.

Watched a YouTube food waste documentary from New Zealand: The Community Rescuing Food Waste From Landfill to Make Beautiful Compost | Ben & bEartha Interesting perspective and program implementation especially as it was more community focused as the towns are scattered far and wide. Loved the full circle from Homes/Businesses to community...

It was for dinner. She chopped the tomatoes, bell-peppers, onions and avocado. She washed the lettuce and chopped boiled eggs, and we had some tacos for dinner.

The foods include sweet potatoes, roasted beef and roasted chicken. I make some rice or use it in a salad as this minimizes time used to cook and saves money.

I "foraged" from my neighbors who have a surplus of gooseberries, pears, and cucumbers. I also mixed in some "weeds" from my yard in a salad: purslane, lamb's quarter.

I've been trying to be more creative with my leftovers and am reminded the many ways I can do just that. Eating eggs with random leftover veggies is one, or a salad is another. This challenge has reminded me that I still have plenty of things to eat in my fridge and I truly don't have to run to the store to buy more.

I am really working at becoming aware of food waste. So much so, I've been feeding the critters. lol. They gotta eat too.