Biography
American social activist and
prolific writer, whose first book “Diet for a Small Planet” (1971) gave
rise to increased consciousness about food choices and their effects on
a global scale.
Although she was born in Oregon, Lappé was brought up primarily in Fort
Worth TX. Her parents, liberal thinkers in the conservative Bible belt
of the 1950s, established a liberal racially integrated church.
Discussion of social and political issues abounded in the home. Even as
a young child she wanted to make a difference but didn’t know how. She
describes her teen-age-self as a compulsive eater. A year after earning
her bachelor’s degree, on November 12, 1967, she married Marc Alan Lappé
and enrolled in graduate school at the University of California,
Berkeley. Following her interests, she found herself surrounded by
reading material, charts and graphs of grain production, agricultural
issues and famine around the world. Her research led to her first book,
which sold over three million copies. The premise of the book is that
human behavior, not forces of nature, cause world hunger and therefore
people could make better choices to end food shortages. “Diet for a
Small Planet” brought home to its readers and advocates the global
consequences of food and farming choices. She developed her ideas
further and in 1977 published her second book, “Food First; Beyond the
Myth of Scarcity” which she co-wrote with Joseph Collins. With the
publication of each book, she delved more deeply into the ramifications
of agricultural options, food choices, use of the land, and distribution
of food. Her investigation into causes of food shortages and famine led
her to explore the meaning and root values of democracy and citizen
participation. As she thought about her own journey, she began actively
encouraging others to follow their hearts and instincts, to participate
actively in democracy, to have courage and to effect positive change in
the world. Her latest three books bear titles like “You Have the Power:
Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear, co-written with Jeffrey Perkins
(2004), “Democracy's Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing
Democracy to Life,” (2005) and “Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity and
Courage in a World Gone Mad” (2007).
Lappé has been married three times. After ten years of marriage and two
children, she divorced her first husband in 1977. She and her daughter
Anna, also an activist and writer, co-wrote a book in 2002 entitled
“Hope’s Edge; The Next Diet for a Small Planet.” Lappé remarried in
1985, divorced her second husband in 1991 and married for the third time
the same year.
To further disseminate the results of her research and to inspire others
to action, Lappé co-founded two national organizations: the Institute
for Food and Development Policy based in California and the Center for
Living Democracy. The latter initiative encourages “regular citizens to
contribute to problem-solving in all dimensions of public life.” The
recipient of many awards and 17 honorary doctorates, Lappé was given the
prestigious Right Livelihood Award in 1987 for her “vision and work
healing our planet and uplifting humanity.”
Quote: So, as never before on our small planet, we humans can see a
clear choice. Choosing Living Democracy means choosing to act. And
therein lies hope, for one certainty I’ve gained in these three decades
is this: Hope is not what we find in evidence; it is what we become in
action.
For More Information on
the Web:
http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/Frances_Moore_Lappe.html
http://www.smallplanet.org/about_us/frances_lappe/f_lappe_bio.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Moore_Lapp%C3%A9
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=877 |
Top
What Do You Think?
Frances
Moore Lappé is perhaps one of the most influential women alive in the US
today. Her work inspired millions to make more conscious food choices, which
for many, means a vegetarian life style. As she has continued to write and
lecture, we’ve seen a spate of other books about conscious eating. Slow food
movements, organic foods, ideas for eating seasonally, and local farming
initiatives are gaining popularity. Lappé’s earliest works, written over
thirty years ago, have proven to be prescient. As fuel prices have
increased, today’s newspapers echo her message about the dire consequences
of raising crops for heavy industrial profit and especially for ethanol.
Obesity and concomitant health problems are on the rise in richer countries
and starving people elsewhere are suffering, dying, or rioting in the
streets. This week, let’s study her chart for astrological clues to her and
her movement.
-
What factors in her chart might indicate that conscious eating and farming
would capture her attention and propel her to write her seminal book which
proved to be so prescient and influential?
-
What in
the chart indicates her message that each person can make a difference?
Where is the emphasis on courage and on hope?
Since she was born in the wee hours of the
morning, we would expect to find the Sun, Mercury and Venus in the bottom
half of the chart. But note that everything else is in the top or Southern
hemisphere. What influence does this planetary distribution have on her and
her motivation?
View
Others' Answers
|
|
AstroDatabank offers this
privately-funded forum for astrologers who want to share
astrological insights in a respectful and educational way.
AstroDatabank does not condone or support comments that are
profane, obscene or discriminatory against anyone’s race, color,
religious creed, national origin, ancestry, gender, disability,
sexual orientation, veteran status or any other similar
category. While we make an effort to remove as soon as we can
any comments that we deem inappropriate for these or other
discretionary reasons, we cannot guarantee that we are always
able to do so in a timely way given the nature of the Internet.
However, we reserve the right to remove comments or to block
participation at our sole discretion and at any time. Please
understand that users’ comments are their own and do not reflect
the views, techniques or interpretations of anyone at
AstroDatabank. We hope that you will use this forum to share
your astrological insights with your colleagues in a respectful
manner and that you will enjoy reading others’ comments on the
chart under discussion. For more information, please read our
legal disclaimer and terms of service.
Where do you want to go now?
|
