Diet for a Small Planet [Paperback]

Frances Moore Lappe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 1991

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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

With the new emphasis on environmentalism in teh 1990's, Lappe stresses how her philosophy remains valid, and how food remains the central issue through which to understand world politics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 479 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 20 Anv edition (August 27, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345373669
• ISBN-13: 978-0345373663
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1.1 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Gastronomy > Essays
  • #93 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Natural Foods

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Small planet, big influence, February 27, 2002

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Diet for a Small Planet (20th Anniversary Edition) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is an amazing book. It has lasted longer on the shelves than many other books of its kind and packs an influential punch.

The secret of "Diet for a Small Planet" is that it contains something for everyone, whether you believe in vegetarianism, the ecological production of the food supply or just want better health.

If you are an animal activist or don't eat meat for religious reasons, Lappe provides valuable info on how to get the proper balance in your diet by matching foods to get all the essential amino acids you need (the building blocks of proteins.)

If you are interested in health, you can use Lappe's book to provide alternative main dishes that are satisfying and lower in fat, higher in fiber. Meat is a major source of saturated fats, beans and rice and other grains provide lots of benefits such as soluable and insoluable fiber, vitamins and minerals.

If you are ecologically minded, and this is the thrust of the book, you can eat comfortably, knowing your dietary items take up less resources to grow.

I don't subscribe to all Lappe's philosophies, yet, this book had and continues to have a major influence on me. Rice and beans or grains and beans are regular items on our table, meatless days outnumber days when meat is on the table, and this is because I read Lappe's book long ago. I am sure I am better for knowing the information here.

106 of 126 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Trip down memory lane...., June 9, 2002

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Diet for a Small Planet (20th Anniversary Edition) (Mass Market Paperback)

In the early 1970s, I left my abusive husband, took my three kids and resumed my education (I was a high school dropout age 28 with three kids). Those were the days of "Earth shoes" that tilted your body into a more upright position, and the "discovery" of yogurt and acid rain. Although I did not realize it at the time, it was the beginning of the renewal of the Woman's movement.

My new friends included a small group of women in their late twenties and early thirties who had left abusive husbands, had small children, and were in the midst of gaining a new awareness that later on took on the sobriquet, "consciousness raising." Among other tools we acquired a number of books including, THE WOMEN'S ROOM and DIET FOR A SMALL PLANET.

DIET FOR A SMALL PLANET is a gem, not because it contains wonderful recipes (it doesn't) but because when you read it, you can get an inside view of a subculture that has disappeared. Sometimes I think the happiest moments of my life occurred in those days. I had no money, but I was in college--a life long dream my mother had and never realized--and with friends who helped me to feel good about myself for the first time in my life. DIET FOR A SMALL PLANET nourished this feeling. DIET explained how the real food chain worked and that everything we ate affected some other life form. We learned that we could eat and hurt others less, and save a few bucks because the meals were cheap.

My kids still laugh at some of the meals I served them based on the recipes in DIET. Over the years, we've had many discussions about which food was worst. They say the "yogurt and barly soup" wins hands down. This book explains how to make awful food and many better veggie books are on the market. However, you won't buy this book for the recipes, you'll buy it for it's insight. Laughing at DIET because it is naive is laughing at the Wright Brothers because they didn't build and fly a Concorde. Read DIET with an unbiased eye and understand it was the food bible for a group of young American women who were "backward" because their society wanted it that way, but believed they could become educated and help change the world for the better--and in spite of all the recent sorrow, the world for women and children is better than it was 30 years ago. PS. I don't know why the advertising says this is a 20th anniversary edition. A copy of this book was floating around 30 years ago. Could it have been printed by the "underground" press??

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonder where I've been that I missed this book till now!!??, July 5, 1999

By 

B. Smawley (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Diet for a Small Planet (20th Anniversary Edition) (Mass Market Paperback)

Oh gosh what can one say about a book that is so insightful and factually sound? I commend Ms. Lappe for pulling together all the data contained in this book. She does not preach nor try to change anyone's mind. The info contained in the book reminded me of that old line "just the facts please." I believe she focused on protein because it is "lack of protein if we don't eat meat" (not vitamins, minerals, iron, etc.) that scare people about giving up meat. Ms. Lappe includes charts and facts and figures -- all kinds of information -- to reassure the reader that plant eaters can in fact get adequate protein from veggies -- minus the artery-clogging fat. Certainly, one gets plenty of vitamins and other nutients from plant/grain foods. Perhaps we bring our personal baggage along when reading such a book. I believe it is wasteful to feed grain to animals when people worldwide are starving and I doubt the earth can continue to support such wastefulness. So I welcome books such as this. Each person should think over the issues then decide. If one decides to stop eating meat or to cut back on the amount eaten, this book is loaded with information to help with food combining in the plant/grain families to make sure one will get the necessary nutrients. The recipes are included to help us along, and I will be referring to them and this book often in the coming weeks (or months!) Ms. Lappe's philosophy gets 5 stars too. I highly recommend this book.