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Vance Kekoa's avatar

Vance Kekoa

Craven 4700

"Live a minimalist lifestyle framed around a personal Eco-Decathlon challenge."

POINTS TOTAL

  • 0 TODAY
  • 0 THIS WEEK
  • 16,605 TOTAL

participant impact

  • UP TO
    2,448
    zero-waste meals
    consumed
  • UP TO
    66,422
    gallons of water
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    32
    pounds
    food waste recorded
  • UP TO
    1,353
    pounds
    food waste prevented
  • UP TO
    11
    advocacy actions
    completed
  • UP TO
    2,736
    minutes
    spent learning
  • UP TO
    2,451
    zero waste recipes
    cooked
  • UP TO
    2,825
    pounds of CO2
    have been saved
  • UP TO
    8.0
    documentaries
    watched

Vance's actions

Food Systems

Smart Seafood Choices

I will visit seafoodwatch.org or download the app and commit to making better seafood choices for a healthier ocean.

COMPLETED 491
DAILY ACTIONS

Shopping

Scrutinize Deals

Five bananas for $1 is a good deal only if you eat all five. Many stores offer the sale price even if you buy less than the stated quantity.

COMPLETED 392
DAILY ACTIONS

Planning

Date Labels Demystified

I will not toss food once it is past the best buy date. "Expiration" dates misleadingly refer to quality, not safety. Use your senses and best judgement.

COMPLETED 392
DAILY ACTIONS

Planning

Eat Me First

I will create an "Eat Me First" area in my fridge to prioritize food that needs to be used right away.

COMPLETED 497
DAILY ACTIONS

Food Waste Tracking

Food Waste Tracking

Ready. Set. Record!

For each day during the food waste tracking week, record your food waste. This action accepts one entry per day, so be sure to enter one total for food waste across all of your meals, or weigh all of your food waste once at the end of each day. Please use ounces for unit of measurement.

COMPLETED 484
DAILY ACTIONS

Planning

Portion Planning

Use a portion size guide to ensure appropriate portions when cooking. I will cook 5 portion-appropriate meals.

COMPLETED 488
DAILY ACTIONS

Planning

Fridge Inventory

I will keep a fridge inventory to stay up to date with what I have in my fridge before I go grocery shopping.

COMPLETED 496
DAILY ACTIONS

Community

Dumpster Diving Discovery

Watch this video and get a glimpse of what is actually getting thrown away in our trash cans and dumpsters.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Watch John Oliver Food Waste Episode

Watch a Last Week Tonight with John Oliver episode on the topic of food waste and learn about the scope and scale of the issue.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food Systems

Stay Connected

Sign up for the San Diego Food System Alliance Newsletter to stay up to date on what's happening in the region

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Cooking

Swap This for That

Missing an ingredient for a recipe? Check this list to find the best substitutes.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Cooking

Repurpose Leftovers

Give leftovers a new life! For example, use leftover rice to make fried rice. I will try a recipe that repurposes leftovers 3 times.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Half-Portions

I will ask for half-portions options at 10 restaurants and cafes to minimize food waste.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Food Systems

Watch a Documentary about Food Sovereignty

I will watch 2 documentary(ies) about food sovereignty: the right of local peoples to control their own food systems including markets, ecological resources, food cultures and production methods.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Planning

Meal Prep Mania

I will meal prep 8 meals.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Planning

Food Donation

I will donate extra food. If you or your work place are hosting a catered event and have trays of extra edible food, there is no need to toss it. With a little planning your celebratory feast can help feed others.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Watch Save The Food San Diego Videos

I will watch 2 Save the Food San Diego videos.

COMPLETED
ONE-TIME ACTION

Community

Train Like a Chef

I will watch 2 online classes on "Creating a Full Use Kitchen" through the James Beard Foundation.

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?


  • Vance Kekoa's avatar
    Vance Kekoa 12/27/2020 1:17 AM
    Save The Food San Diego Ecochallenge grand prize award goes to Team CRAVEN 4700:  SMALL BUT MIGHTY!

  • Vance Kekoa's avatar
    Vance Kekoa 12/05/2020 2:45 PM
    Congratulations to the County of San Diego for the monumental participation effort!

  • Vance Kekoa's avatar
    Vance Kekoa 12/05/2020 2:35 PM
    26 days left in a 458 day ecochallenge, a long journey requiring a commitment level that is clearly intended to change poor habits into great habits...for life.

  • Vance Kekoa's avatar
    Vance Kekoa 11/28/2020 11:45 AM
    Portioning down a traditional dinner like Thanksgiving means changing some habits that have been passed down through generations. That was met with more resistance than initially anticipated, after all food is culture. Lesson learned: food education is the easy part, overcoming long standing culturally preserved habits is the hard part.

  • Vance Kekoa's avatar
    Vance Kekoa 9/29/2020 9:01 AM
    CSUSM UPDATE: The Save The Food San Diego Ecochallenge has been going on for exactly 1 year today! Only 3 more months left to complete the challenge and TEAM CRAVEN 4700 (with all of 6 members) has just past the 20,000 point total! We are second place in the team standings, only behind SD County (they have 301 members on their team). CSUSM as an organization, with both teams combined, have over 30,000 points and solidly in second place! We are CSUSM Strong!!

  • Vance Kekoa's avatar
    Vance Kekoa 3/24/2020 8:58 AM
    I hope all of you are enduring this challenging time in the best way possible. Now more than ever, I find it impossible to ignore the invaluable benefits of participating in the Save the Food EcoChallenge. It only takes a few of these good habits to feed willpower. 

  • Vance Kekoa's avatar
    Vance Kekoa 1/24/2020 9:41 AM
    SMALL BUT MIGHTY defined...TEAM CRAVEN 4700 all of 6 employees represents less than 5% of all CSUSM ecochallenge participants, yet we are responsible for 60% of total ecochallenge points awarded to CSUSM!!
  • REFLECTION QUESTION
    Planning Date Labels Demystified
    What is your first reaction when you see an item that is past its "Best By" date? Where do you think this reaction comes from?

    Vance Kekoa's avatar
    Vance Kekoa 1/20/2020 10:21 PM
    My first reaction use to be...'don't eat this after the date' or even the day before the date indicated on the label. This reaction likely came from both an understanding that the distributor will not guarantee the quality after this date, translated to 'I may get sick' and past personal experience with milk spoiling before the actual date on the container.

  • Vance Kekoa's avatar
    Vance Kekoa 1/20/2020 9:03 PM
    Congratulations CSUSM! We are the first organization in the SD Save the Food Ecochallenge to breakthrough the 20,000 point total! That's 20,000 in 2020!

  • Vance Kekoa's avatar
    Vance Kekoa 1/20/2020 8:22 PM
    It's the best feeling when the servers come to take all your plates and there is no food on any of them! The strategy that seems to work the best, make the minimal volume when first ordering your food (which will feel like you are under ordering). If you're still hungry then order a chaser...don't be surprised when you don't need too.

    • Sarah Feteih's avatar
      Sarah Feteih 1/21/2020 8:23 AM
      This is a great example of using the EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy - source reduction is at the top of the pyramid as an effective strategy!