Diet for a small planet

Authors: Frances Moore Lappé, with contributions by Anna Lappé and recipes edited by Wendy Lopez (for the 50th anniversary edition)

Published: first edition 1971; updated 50th anniversary edition published in 2021

Publishing House: Ballantine Books

ISBN: 9780307874313

Language: English

Diet for a Small Planet, first published in 1971 by Frances Moore Lappé, is the book that first revealed the waste and destruction implicit in a diet based on grains and meat, offering a new vision of food as a tool for personal and social change. Lappé argues that world hunger is not caused by food shortages, but by a “scarcity of democracy” and an unsustainable food system that consumes enormous natural resources for meat production. The book proposes increased adoption of plant-based proteins, which require less water, land and energy, as a practical solution to reduce hunger, poverty and environmental impact.

With simple rules for a healthy diet, smart food combinations, hundreds of meatless recipes, and a philosophy of personal power related to food, Diet for a Small Planet has sold more than three million copies and has become an essential text for those who wish to link daily nutrition to planetary health and global justice. The 50th anniversary edition, updated with the help of Anna Lappé, his daughter, and chef Wendy Lopez, expands the original message with new recipes, insights into food ecology, and a reflection on the impact of individual choices in a food system dominated by inequality.