New USDA published the latest statistics on food insecurity on November 16, reporting that 49 million people are struggling with hunger in the United States. At Feeding America where I work, we were expecting the numbers to be bad, but we found them shocking.

Since then, there have been numerous articles about how people are coping with the recession, including an article in today’s New York Times about food stamps.

Many have observed the paradox of hunger and obesity in this country, and a recent study shows that as much as 40% of the food produced in this country is thrown out.

When I was growing up, I remember making fun of my elders saying that we needed to clean our plates because there were children starving in Africa. Now I find myself overcome with guilt if I don’t finish everything on my plate, or if I throw anything away in my refrigerator.

This issue touches every facet of my life, personally, professionally, and spiritually. My spouse, Gillian, talks about being a good garde manger in the kitchen, the person who stocks the pantry and makes sure that the food is rotated and used efficiently and economically, making sure not to waste anything.

As I approach my work in philanthropy supporting hunger relief, and as I make my own personal choices about food and sustainability, I’m going to strive to be a better garde manger at home, and do my part to help get food to my hungry neighbors.

I have not been posting here as often as I would like, though I’ve been collecting and organizing ideas of what I want to write about. In recent weeks, between the responsibilities of home and work, juggling work stress, illness at home, and keeping on top of chores and errands, I have been re-prioritizing my tasks and refining my organization system and tools. When am I going to have time to plant my herbs and tomatoes? I need to make sure I have time for it all.

Here are some things that have inspired me lately in getting organized, calm, better able to take care of myself and my responsibilities and still make time for building a creative life:

• To the Best of Our Knowledge show about “Lust for Life” lists and making order out of chaos. This show inspired me to prioritize what I really want to get done.
• Getting Things Done – An system and philosophy of organization that is cult-like in its popularity, but I find to be a system that works with my natural habits.
• Shareaholic – A great browser tool that allows you access to your social networking update tools in one click.
• Remember the Milk – To help organize my personal task list
• Atomkeep – A tool to help manage all of your social networking accounts
• Food Management - from Home Ec 101
  
• Perseveration: The deep rut of change procrastination - From the Psychology Today Procrastination Blogs
• Schedule a meeting with yourself – from Unclutterer and Smaterware
• TerriLeigh’s Power Yoga podcasts are keeping me grounded and calming me down, with the added benefit of keeping me flexible and strong.