Lauren Elliott

Throughout the past few weeks, I have really enjoyed taking daily walks outside.  Normally, I walk on the treadmill everyday for 30-45 minutes, so I didn't think walking outside would make a big difference, but I have found that walking outside is much more enjoyable.  On my daily walks I have noticed all of the construction going on around my house, and I have been able to meet many of my neighbors (socially distanced of course).  It has been so fun to meet new people and create new friendships because I have been lacking new relationships since the pandemic began!  The only thing that I do not like about going on walks in my neighborhood is that the construction is loud and messy, but this is an easy fix.  I have started going to nearby parks like lakeshore to walk with my roommates and friends. It is a good way to get out into the community.  Overall, going on daily walks has increased my mood and benefitted the environment because I am now driving less.  I am excited for the rest of the challenge, and I will definitely continue my daily walks after the 21 day challenge is up!

We know that eating unpackaged foods are better for you than eating packaged foods, but it is so much easier to eat packaged foods because of their shelf life and longer expiration dates.  While completing this research project, I have learned a lot of helpful information about the use by, sell by, and best by dates on produce and prepackaged items.  For prepackaged items, I learned that the expiration date is fairly flexible. As long as the food tastes and smells good to you, then you should be fine health wise.  For produce, I learned that these expiration dates were much less flexible but you should smell and look at the produce/ perishable item before eating it.  I learned that the use by date is basically the expiration date, and this is the last day that the food is promised to be good.  The sell by date is the day that items should be removed from stores if they are not sold yet.  The best by date is when the item will taste its best.  The item is still edible after the best by date, but it is not at the premium tasting quality.  When I grocery shop in the future, I will make sure to buy the products that have the best buy dates that are furthest away.  Since I am a college student, I only buy groceries for myself, so they oftentimes go bad before I have the chance to eat them, so knowing that I can still eat my products after the best by dates will decrease how much food I have to throw away.

https://foodprint.org/blog/should-you-follow-expiration-dates-and-sell-by-dates/?gclid=CjwKCAiA1eKBBhBZEiwAX3gql_gT6fIt_-uNdmxZiuSBfo4_KLgRyxtMyWD-M_TizE2bgYBW6PVy9RoCbKwQAvD_BwE