Packaged for One

I just threw away a perfectly good cantaloupe. Okay, it wasn’t perfectly good. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have thrown it away. But I hadn’t sliced into it yet, so it had no business molding over on me.
But alas, one of the dilemmas of eating for one is food preservation. Few fresh items in the grocery store are packaged for one (and by this, I mean a reasonable amount of food one person can eat, not simply stuck with the ‘individual serving’ label).
I certainly can’t get through a loaf of bread before it starts to mold. Milk inevitably sours. Vegetables become questionable.
I often finding myself planning my meals around ‘sell by’ dates.
And I hear this same complaint from many quarters. Whether you live alone, with a roommate who doesn’t believe in food-sharing (the ‘my shelf, your shelf’ school of thought), or as ‘ships that pass in the night’, getting through your groceries can be a challenge.
I abhor throwing food out. It seems the most ludicrous idea to throw food away when considering the millions of people who don’t get enough to eat.
As my mother’s old threat of “boxing up the leftovers and sending them to China” isn’t a reality (or so I’ve learned since then), I try to find other ways of finishing off my food.
Here are a few ideas I’ve come across:
•If you have a garden, use your leftover or rotten vegetables, grains and even used coffee grounds for compost.
•Feed local wildlife bread that’s gone stale.
•And my favorite, take those veggies that are on the cusp (still good but needing immediate attention) and throw them into a stew. Haul your slow cooker into work, and you’ll not only clean out your refrigerator in a constructive way, you’ll also win the office popularity contest.
I would love to hear (and share) other ideas. If you have tips on dealing with food disposal that don’t involve the garbage can, please e-mail me at askandrea@ymail.com .