OK, folks, it’s time to get personal. I want to tell you about a sweet potato I know. No, he’s not shaped like a mouse. He’s a reddish little guy I bought a few weeks ago and he’s not doing so well.
Some would say he’s gone bad. A bit of mold and rot have set in, for which I feel pretty guilty. Why’d this happen? Because I didn’t buy said sweet potato for a specific recipe or with any use in mind. I just thought we should have one on hand and since we store them out of sight in the pantry, I lost track of this not-so-sweet potato.
A few days ago, I almost bought a replacement when I was at the supermarket. Then I thought, ‘Wait, the same thing’s gonna happen to this sweet potato.’ If I blogged on wasted food every weekday, maybe I’d be more in tune with this kind of thing…Wait, I do.
If this kind of thing happens to me–someone who’s borderline obsessive about not wasting food in my control–imagine how prevalent it is in “normal” people’s homes.
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Epilogue: I didn’t buy another sweet potato, because I realized it wasn’t needed in any of the four or five dinners my wife and I had planned. Of course, me being me, 
I did cut into the old sweet potato to see if it was salvageable. I bet you’ll be surprised (heck, I was) by just how good the interior looked. A little trimming (cue the uplifting music) and our guy is now back on the road to being eaten. A happy ending for all involved…well, most everyone.
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