A few weeks ago, Pope Francis offered a reflection on the tragedy of waste. In a world where so many lack even the basic necessities of life, another group fills their trash barrels with food gone bad.

I struggle with this all the time. As a single person, it's challenging to eat all of the perishable goods you buy before they go bad. You want to purchase in quantity to get the better unit cost, but you can't consume all you buy before its time runs out.

In some cases, waste is a consequence of poor planning. You purchase fruits or veggies without thinking about how and when you'll eat them. Or you get caught up in something and you forget you meant to prepare those veggies so that they are ready for the lunch boxes. Or you decide that you are too tired to cook so the roast languishes in the fridge.

There are some things you can do to address these problems:

• Always grocery shop with a menu plan. Know how you intend to use every food item in your cart. No plan, no buy.
• Schedule prep time as soon as you get home from the grocery. Do your prep work before the fruits and veggies go into the fridge.
• Put new pastas and canned goods in the back of cabinets so you use the older stuff first.
• If something comes up that forces a change in your menu, freeze what you can and reschedule it on your menu as soon as possible.
• If you want to buy in bulk (at a warehouse store or at a buy one-get one sale), consider either shopping with a partner with similar tastes or donating the "free" one to a food pantry.

What are your strategioes for dealing with waste?