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55th out of 469 books
—
979 voters
Diet for a Small Planet
With the new emphasis on environmentalism in the 1990's, Lappe stresses how her philosophy remains valid, and how food remains the central issue through which to understand world politics.
Paperback, 528 pages
Published
August 27th 1991
by Ballantine Books
(first published September 1971)
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I enjoyed reading this classic book, especially the author's theory of change. I think her five grounding principles sum up the philosophy behind her food activism:
1. Because scarcity is not the cause of hunger, . . . the solution can be found only by addressing the issue of power. . . . Development must be the process of moving toward genuine democracy . . . .
2. Just as "development" must be redefined to encompass the concept of power, so must "freedom." For what is freedom without power? . ....more
1. Because scarcity is not the cause of hunger, . . . the solution can be found only by addressing the issue of power. . . . Development must be the process of moving toward genuine democracy . . . .
2. Just as "development" must be redefined to encompass the concept of power, so must "freedom." For what is freedom without power? . ....more
If I had been new to the subject this would have been at least a 4 star for me, but since I was familiar with it I felt it a little basic. This book should be noted for its influence on current public knowledge on how protein comes from the majority of foods and not just animal products. I am a vegan and I frequently recommend this book to people who critique me on how I am starving my body of protein by only eating plants. I wish this book had included more vegan recipes, as well as more tables...more
My edition is from 1980, and I often found myself wondering how much, if anything, has changed in the 30+ years since then. For the better? For the worse? Today's food poisoning crises in various avenues of food production would seem to indicate that not a lot has. The laws seem to be there to protect the big producers not the consumers. And certainly not the health of the Earth. The book is full of important information about the way our food is produced and new products are developed, and the...more
I got this a couple of months ago and was prompted to read it by seeing author Frances Moore Lappé's daughter Anna speak this weekend. What's astonishing is quite how thoroughly she stated, 25 years ago, everything that current food politics writers (Pollan, Nestle) are still reiterating. The message is evidently still sinking in!
Her recipes themselves are intriguing - I think she might be single-handedly responsible for an entire generation always shaking gomasio on top of their rice and beans...more
Her recipes themselves are intriguing - I think she might be single-handedly responsible for an entire generation always shaking gomasio on top of their rice and beans...more
While very familiar with Frances Moore Lappe's key messages of knowing the food system, eating less meat, and going for complementary proteins, I hadn't ever read her book. This semester, however, I'm taking a free course at Northeastern University for which this book is suggested reading and Lappe is one of the speakers in February.
I think because I got my MPH at UC Berkeley, I've been so routinely fed Lappe's main themes that they seem like second nature, rather than extraordinary claims. I'm...more
I think because I got my MPH at UC Berkeley, I've been so routinely fed Lappe's main themes that they seem like second nature, rather than extraordinary claims. I'm...more
Classic manifesto on the why, hows, and wherefores of vegetarian eating. A good 25 inscrutable pages on "protein theory" that probably fairly outdated, charts. table about nutritional requirements and comparisons - but finally gets to recipes around page 162...to 350. more charts, lists, equations, etc. afterwords. Actually haven't cooked much (any? I can't remember doing so... although I may have used it as a source to create my own recipes in the all-too frequent incident that I want to cook s...more
Though many such books exist today, this book was akin to Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" in that it brought to life an entirely new way of looking at or thinking about food. It encouraged people to look more deeply, to see that food contains a hell of a lot more than the obvious elements one normally is exposed to. I read this book after completing my first semester of college, read it late into the night, feeling a new sort of excitement well up as the pages went on. Almost seven years later,...more
I read the 20th anniversary edition of this book (which is nearly 20 years old itself) and recommend that anyone else who do so start with the actual book, then read the intros and comments in chronological order. I just read it in page order, so I got a lot of updates and somewhat self-congratulatory and very earnest statements about the impact of the book until I got to the actual book that had such a big impact.
If Lappe feels self-important, it is because to a real extent her book (or at lea...more
If Lappe feels self-important, it is because to a real extent her book (or at lea...more
Wow, this book was excellent. I found it to be probably the most comprehensive book about food politics that I've read. It encompasses a lot of important points and really takes a thorough look at all of the intricacies of our current food system. For example, the author makes all of the important connections and leaves no stones unturned. She explains how our current food system leads to overproduction, environmental devastation, hunger and questionable food products. She makes the connection b...more
Read it 26 years ago, and still stuck in my vegetarian phase, apparantly is less wasteful of resources. Apparantly this phase will only last another 50 years or so, but thats OK. Now, despite climate change I can take all the airplane rides I want due to years of vegetarian carbon offsets. Apparantly FML was 30+ years ahead of her time. It only too the complete industrialization of the entire food industry for Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan to update her thesis.
I read this the week it first came out, as my Mom is obsessed with nutrition. I guess that's weird. Nobody else in my junior high was the least bit interested in hippie food. I loved going to the hippie stores and being able to communicate with the help, even though they always seemed to be high. I re-read this book at Powell's recently and although I'm a lot older, it's still full of good info. Interesting and even historical!
Oct 19, 2007
Devon Trevarrow Flaherty
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
natural food buffs who want a little walk through.
It was fun to read this book, because I felt like I was returning to the roots of a lot of the modern whole foods/vegetarian movement (if that's what you would call it). Honestly, though, it's the kind of information that you can now get in an abundance in a myriad of other, more modern, more up-to-date, even more interesting books and other sources. Even my current reading of The Omnivore's Dilemma is proving to be more engaging, and has much of the same info as Small Planet. And another thing:...more
Jul 25, 2012
Kim
marked it as to-read
This book I read in the 70's and followed the diet when my kids were young. Maybe this is why they are all watching what they eat. I am not sure they remember eating so healthy when they were young. My daughter is
making sure my granddaughter eats healthy. I started weight watchers and am going to refresh my self to eating whole foods and little meat. I am waiting for a juicier at work an then will detox my system.
making sure my granddaughter eats healthy. I started weight watchers and am going to refresh my self to eating whole foods and little meat. I am waiting for a juicier at work an then will detox my system.
This is literally one of the first books I remember reading (along with "A Fly Went By"), because it and the Betty Crocker cookbook from 1951 were our two cookbooks. I definitely remember making a concoction of her most-recommended supplements in an attempt to get all my required nutrients at once (molasses, soy protein, lecithin, flax seed oil, nutritional yeast, kelp, etc). It was so vile. I so <3 Frances Moore Lappe.
Dec 07, 2008
Barbara
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
to people who want to eat healthy meals from scratch.
I have the 1975 edition. What I most like about the book is the recipes. I highly recommend the Greek Cheese and Spinach squares. I did learn about the different types of protein and how they need to complement each other to give you the complete protein you need. Later I read other books that also explained this, but I just happened to read this book first. I refer to this book again and again in my kitchen.
This is one of those life-changing books that opens one's eyes to the world around. Sometimes the world is too big to understand all at once, but one page at a time, in plain language, Frances Moore Lappe shows us how our food system, what we may consider everyday food, is altering the planet and human civilization. She also provides simple solutions -- like the recipes in the book -- that we can all use.
I would have been really excited about this book in college. Written in the 60s, it was one of the first books to link US food policy and production with global poverty and poor diets. Reading it now feels a little outdated, not because the information is old (indeed, much of it rings familiar to contemporary complaints about the global food industry), but her enthusiastic 'look what I've discovered!' style of writing reminds the reader of how new many of these findings were in the 60s and how m...more
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B- This book was good, though it was dated. It included a lot of great evidence why eating meat is not necessary for human function, including how to react to those who insist it is not necessary. She takes a real strong stance on eating meat=waste of resources b/c of the amount of grain used to feed cows. Some truly valuable info, though I wish I read a more recent version of this book.
"Diet for a Small Planet" by Frances Moore Lappe is one of the few books that reinforced what's the "Right Thing" to do after having read it 18 years ago. Incidentally, Steve Jobs's attitude toward food began to take shape in college after reading this book in his first year at Reed. "That's when I swore off meat pretty much for good," Steve Jobs told Walter Isaacson.
The recipes I have tried from this cookbook actually are made to taste good. Years ago, when this book was new, it was difficult to find some of the ingredients the recipes called for, but it is not much of a problem now; even the local supermarket carries many of the specialty items used in here.
There is also a great deal of practical nutrition information.
There is also a great deal of practical nutrition information.
I have a soft spot in my heart for this book. I grew up with this book settled along with all the other natural cookbooks, and recipes on my table. Only during my thirties did I actually start reading it, and found that I was surprised at the logic of Lappe's research findings.
Bah to those who insist that "real" protein needs to come from meat.
Bah to those who insist that "real" protein needs to come from meat.
Jul 29, 2011
Chrischris
added it
The information is powerful and might leave you bummed. Its what happens when you choose the red pill. If this was illustrated it would make it an easier read. But for a similarly profound smack in the face of truth about food watch the documentary "The Future of Food". There some shock factor to be expected. Remember the 3 stages of truth.
I used to have my own copy of this book, but it was lost in one of my many moves.
It's still one of my favorite cookbooks. The front half is an excellent textbook on developing a good vegetarian diet. I have relied on the complimentary protein chart most of my adult life when throwing together snacks or experimenting with meals.
The recipe half of the book features relatively simple meals from various cultures as well as healthier versions of favorite junk food.
It's still one of my favorite cookbooks. The front half is an excellent textbook on developing a good vegetarian diet. I have relied on the complimentary protein chart most of my adult life when throwing together snacks or experimenting with meals.
The recipe half of the book features relatively simple meals from various cultures as well as healthier versions of favorite junk food.
I read this book when I was a teenager and promptly refused to eat meat for at least a year. I have to say The Omnivore's Dilemma owes a dept to Diet for a Small Planet. This book is a political manifesto and unlike Pollen Frances Moore Lappe does not shy away from encourging political action in the form of green consumerism!
I read this book a long time ago. I still think it is one of the best books describing responsible vegetarianism not only from the perspective of the abuse of animals but from the human-health perspective as well. As a naturopath, I've seen many people run their bodies into all sorts of disrepair through an ill-informed approach to vegetarianism, those people would be well-advised to read this and other books to ensure their intake of essential nutrients and vitamins is adequate.
I read this eons ago, and it helped shape values and lifestyle which still feed my heart. Lappe surely has been a pioneer, not only for her own ( and my) generation, but for a consciousness of interconnectedness, only part of which is diet. ..Think I might read it again!
This book was groundbreaking in its day. At the time it was first published, in 1971, it wasn't common knowledge that eating a meat-centered diet was unnecessary and possibly even unhealthy, and that meat production uses up a lot of resources and contributes to world hunger.
Now a lot of this is common knowledge, and since the last time was updated was 1991, a lot of it is outdated. (For instance, at the time the book was last revised, it wasn't common knowledge that obesity is linked to diabetes...more
Now a lot of this is common knowledge, and since the last time was updated was 1991, a lot of it is outdated. (For instance, at the time the book was last revised, it wasn't common knowledge that obesity is linked to diabetes...more
This is old, but it changed my life shortly after I had my first baby some years ago. I was totally vegetarian for a long, long time after, and now just occasionally eat fish and (only recently, after many years without) eat meat perhaps half a dozen times a year.
This book was groundbreaking when it first hit the scene, but much of the wisdom contained herein is stuff I've grown up knowing (probably because both of my parents read this when they were my age). Lappé provides a lot of fascinating statistics about the rate of return from crops being fed to livestock, but I had a hard time staying focused on what she was saying and retaining the information. However, I think the problem was on my end. This is a good book to read in order to have some solid r...more
Read this one a while back and started making soybean loaves. Good ideas, but wow, were some of the original recipes heavy on the stomach. Wonder if they've changed them over the years.
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Frances Moore Lappe--author of fifteen books, including three-million-copy bestseller Diet for a Small Planet --distills her world-spanning experience and wisdom in a conversational yet hard-hitting style to create a rare "aha" book. In nine short chapters, Lappe leaves readers feeling liberated and courageous. She flouts conventional right-versus-left divisions and affirms readers' basic sanity -...more
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