About Frances and Anna’s work together

Frances Moore Lappé’s 1971 three-million-copy bestseller, Diet for a Small Planet, awakened a whole generation to the human-made causes of hunger and the significance of our everyday choices in creating the world we want.

In 2002, Lappé—author of fourteen books—released the 30th anniversary sequel to Diet, written with her daughter, Anna Lappé: Hope’s Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet. In it, mother and daughter pick up where the original Diet leaves off, setting out on a journey around the world to explore the greatest challenges we face at the new millennium. Traveling to Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe, they sought answers to the most urgent question of our time—whether we can go beyond today’s consumerism and the isolation of me-first capitalism to find paths we each can walk to heal our lives and the planet.

With a mother like Frances, it is no surprise that Anna began developing a passion for understanding the world with a global perspective when she traveled to Central America at the ripe young age of three. At 30, she holds a Masters degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a BA with honors from Brown University. She has traveled to more than 20 countries and lived and worked in Thailand, South Africa, England, and France.

Since the publication of Hope’s Edge in February 2002, the pair has made numerous appearances around the world. They have spoken in more than 50 cities and appeared on dozens of radio programs, sharing their perspective on food politics, globalization, and the media with a vision for a sustainable future.

In their individual and collaborative work, Frances Moore Lappé and Anna Lappé are sparking what they like to call hope in action, demonstrating that each of us has the power to help create the world we want.