I will spend 60 minutes learning about food deserts and find out how I can advocate for healthy and fresh food in my region.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Health
Support Pollution Reduction
I will spend at least 180 minutes learning about water and air quality issues in my area, how they are impacting human and environmental health, and how I can help.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Food
Buy From a Farmers Market
I will purchase produce and meat from a local farmers market or food co-op.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Simplicity
De-Clutter My Home
I will de-clutter, clean, and donate or recycle unneeded items in my home.
COMPLETED 20
DAILY ACTIONS
Food
Weekly Meal Planning
I will reduce food waste and save money by planning a weekly menu, only buying the ingredients I need.
COMPLETED 17
DAILY ACTIONS
Food
Whole Foods Diet
I will enjoy 1 meal(s) each day free of processed foods.
COMPLETED 20
DAILY ACTIONS
Health
Take Control
Both system and personal sustainability are important! I will develop a plan with my medical professionals to achieve my best health and live my life to the fullest.
COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION
Health
Exercise Daily
Exercise is a great stress blaster! I will exercise for 40 minute(s) each day.
COMPLETED 2
DAILY ACTIONS
Food
Reduce Animal Products
I will enjoy 1 meatless meal(s) and/or 1 vegan meal(s) each day this week.
COMPLETED 18
DAILY ACTIONS
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?
This challenge gave me optimism. Knowing caring people are out there in the thousands was a powerful boost to my own personal efforts. And I learned so much from the folks that read, researched, and reflected during these few weeks. Onward!
I considered myself an ECO pro before I started this challenge, but I learned so much and networked with several fantastic local and national organization I didn't know about. I already contacted a local food rescue group in my area that is mitigating a food desert less than 5 miles from where I live. Thanks for all the resources compiled for this challenge. I feel like I just took, in three intense weeks, the most important and relevant college course ever.
For this challenge I had at first chosen actions that I had already been focusing on, hoping to be more consistent and effective. The information, reflection questions and interactions with other ECO folks brought me deeper understanding into those actions and I did indeed ramp up my effort and commitment. As the days and weeks progressed, I was inspired to explore other actions. This October challenge was very much worth the time spent researching and processing the ideas and information. It is so good to know I am part of real change.
After this ECO challenge I will reduce screen time. Well, after the midterm elections, since I like to watch the media coverage. OK, that's the challenge: reduce screen time starting Nov 6. No... need time for late reporting precincts, so make it Nov 7. OK Nov 7 reduce screen time.
The hardest challenge was to exercise 40 minutes a day. I did not get that done. I think I will lower the time to 10 minutes three times a week and try to achieve that first.
REDUCING WASTE at WORK Since I am the only person using the rest room on one side of the factory, I brought in a cotton hand towel from home to dry my hands, instead of using paper towels. I also bring a ceremic coffee mug, a metal water container, and a cloth napkin and metal utensils in my lunch box. This has reduced my contributions to the waste bin at work to zero!
WHOLE FOODS I have gone through all my favorite recipes and made them more healthy using a nutrition calculator and tweaking the ingredients. Just list the ingredients on this online calculator and the nutrition label for it is generated, Then tweak the recipe to bring down problem areas and bring up nutrition. Here is an example of how I edited a fairly good muffin mix to be even more healthy:
I found a fascinating organization called, FOOD RESCUE. I really can't say it any better:
"Food insecurity causes poor health, emotional stress, and is a mental burden. It inhibits an adult’s ability to work and a child’s ability to learn. Hunger gnaws at the fabric of family life by forcing impossible choices among food, shelter, and safety. One in seven Americans is food insecure. Wherever you are, people in your community – friends, family, neighbors, or colleagues – do not have enough to eat. And yet, in the face of this crippling challenge, the volume of food supply thrown away every year is unfathomable."
"Hunger isn’t an abstract problem, nor is it a mere inconvenience. It affects individuals – children, women, and men – on a fundamentally personal level. Without enough food, human beings cannot survive. And that threat to survival exists in the United States on a scale that cannot be ignored."
I have just volunteered with the Northwest Connecticut chapter to ease the food desert problem in my area. Find your chapter here: https://foodrescue.us/the-solution/
FOOD DESERTS & FOOD RESCUE In this challenge, I learned that Food deserts are places where it is difficult to buy fresh food. Defined by the USDA as "parts of the country vapid of fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful whole foods, usually found in impoverished areas," food deserts are largely due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers markets, and healthy food providers.
The map shows where low-income census indicates where a significant number or share of residents is more than 1 mile (urban) or 10 miles (rural) from the nearest supermarket. I am ashamed to habe been be so so ignorant of the many many food deserts in my so-called affluent state. BUT IT IS NOT ALL BAD NEWS. I am learning about a concept called FOOD RESCUE. Every Friday morning Chris (a Community Plates food runner for almost a year now) rescues over a thousand pounds of fresh produce from an area wholesaler and delivers it to the East End Community Council in Bridgeport, CT. Willene and Ted are community organizers there who make sure the food gets placed on tables and distributed to the hundreds of food insecure people who show up there every week. A community leader in Bridgeport is quoted as saying “do you realize what a big difference this is making?”
BE PART OF A SOLUTION Hunger in the United States makes no sense because in our digitally connected world, bridging the gap between excess and access isn’t just possible. It’s simple. I am contacting my local group to volunteer. Read more here: https://foodrescue.us/the-solution/
ADVOCATE for the CLEAN AIR ACT Although I live away from congested cities, I was SHOCKED to learn that all but one county in Connecticut received a FAILING GRADE from the American Lung Association "State of the Air 2018" report. The study says the number of people exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution increased to nearly 134 million people, up from 125 million in their previous report.
Furthermore, the authors said climate change contributed to worsening smog levels, particularly with record-setting heat.
