Catherine Steele

UTKSUST21

POINTS TOTAL

0 TODAY
0 THIS WEEK
605 TOTAL

participant impact

UP TO

5.0

meatless or vegan meals

consumed
UP TO

37

locally sourced meals

consumed
UP TO

30

minutes

spent learning

Catherine's actions

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Support Local Food Systems

Plant-Rich Diets

I will source 25 percent of my food from local producers each day. This could include signing up for a local CSA, buying from a farmer's market, visiting a food co-op, foraging with a local group, or growing my own ingredients.

COMPLETED 21
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Reduce Animal Products

Plant-Rich Diets

I will enjoy 1 meatless or vegan meal(s) each day of the challenge.

COMPLETED 4
DAILY ACTIONS

Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Learn the Truth About Expiration Dates

Reduced Food Waste

I will spend at least 30 minutes learning how to differentiate between sell by, use by, and best by dates.

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?

Catherine Steele 4/21/2021 2:08 PM
For my one time challenge, I spent 30 minutes researching date labeling on foods. According to the Institute of Food Technologists, confusion over date labeling leads to billions of pounds of food waste every year. Most people confuse the three, or just lump them all together. "Use-By" refers to the date a product should be eaten, for quality purposes, not necessarily because it has spoiled. "Sell-By" refers to the date that the product should be taken off of a stores shelf, the product itself still has awhile before it spoils. "Best-By" is the date closest to when the product will spoil, although smell/taste are still the best ways to ensure if a product has gone bad. The first time I learned about date labeling confusion is when I volunteered for Second Harvest. While sorting through donated cans, my volunteer supervisor told us all to disregard the "Best-By" date, and as long as the expiration date was no more than two years ago it was still okay to consume. Did you know that eggs and milk are safe to consume up to 2 weeks after their best-by date?! Here are a couple of ways to determine if food is okay to eat:
1) Smell/taste test, if it smells or tastes off, throw it out!
2) "The safe-handling test": if the food was not properly handled after buying, aka leaving meat in a hot car, then it's probably gone bad.
3) "The storage test", how long has your food been sitting in your fridge? The recommended fridge time for poultry is 1 or 2 days, and 3 to 5 days for beef, pork, and lamb. Eggs, on the other hand, have the longest shelf live in the fridge: 3 to 5 weeks, which is well past the posted "Use By" date.

Galmour Magazine https://www.glamour.com/story/food-expiration-use-by-date-label
Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). "The difference between 'Use-By' 'Sell-By' and 'Best-By' dates." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 April 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150415203336.htm>.

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

How does knowing the difference between use by, sell by, and best by dates empower you to make better decisions?
Catherine Steele 4/21/2021 1:48 PM
According to the Institute of Food Technologists, "Use By" is the date by which the product should be eaten; mostly because of quality, not because the item will necessarily make you sick if eaten after the use-by date. "Sell By" is meant to inform stores of the date by which the product should be sold or removed from shelf life. This does not mean that the product is unsafe to consume after the date. Typically one-third of a product's shelf-life remains after the sell-by date for the consumer to use at home. "Best-By" is a suggestion to the consumer on which date the product should be consumed to assure for ideal quality. But overall, smell/taste is the best way to determine if a product is still okay to consume. it is important to understand the difference between the three so that you do not waste food. By knowing the difference between the three we can make more responsible decisions about our food use.

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Catherine Steele 4/20/2021 10:12 AM
I have really enjoyed making the effort to buy local these past couple of weeks! It's been so fun finding new places to purchase my groceries, etc. I think I will continue to do so :)

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Catherine Steele 4/06/2021 8:30 AM
I've been doing my grocery shopping at the Farm Fresh Market off of Sutherland, they only sell locally sourced produce and is a family owned business! It's a great alternative to farmer's markets until they open back up for the summer.

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Catherine Steele 3/15/2021 7:24 AM
I'm starting to do meatless Mondays! I consume meat almost every day of the week so it is easiest for me to begin my journey by just designating one day to do so. Wish me luck! I'm already craving Chickfiila...

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REFLECTION QUESTION
Food, Agriculture, and Land Use

Dependable fresh food, supporting local farmers and building resilient communities are just a few benefits of local food systems. Which of these (or other) advantages inspire you the most?
Catherine Steele 3/15/2021 7:19 AM
I have a huge issue with factory farms, not only are they a major contributor to climate change but they practice extremely inhumane ways of "farming" animals. That's why I feel it is important to revert back, and support local farmers! It may be a daunting task, but if we can all begin to stop supporting the factory farm industry it could make a huge impact. Today, instead of going to Kroger, I got some eggs from my moms chicken coup! Not only are they are more sustainable but they taste 10 times better than store bought eggs.

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