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.
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