Summary of Frances Moore Lappé's Diet for a Small Planet

By IRB Media

Get the Summary of Frances Moore Lappé's Diet for a Small Planet in 20 minutes. Please note: This is a summary & not the original book. Original book introduction: The extraordinary book that taught America the social and personal significance of a new way of eating is still a complete guide for eating well in the twenty-first century.

Sharing her personal evolution and how this groundbreaking book changed her own life, world-renowned food expert Frances Moore Lappé offers an all-new, even more fascinating philosophy on changing yourself—and the world—by changing the way you eat.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Dec 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781669342021

IRB Media

With IRB books, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

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Insights on Frances Moore Lappé's Diet for a Small Planet

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

It was time to update the book, which chronicles how the author went from being concerned with just her own diet to being concerned with the broader issues of food supply.

#2

The author wanted to find a way to make a difference, and she chose food as her topic of change. She wanted to empower herself and others, and create a world in which people could make conscious choices about what they ate.

#3

In the late 1960s, the author began to question the prevailing wisdom that a meat-based diet was the best diet for humans. She was shocked to discover that almost all of the grains and soybeans fed to animals ended up as meat, while the protein they provided was wasted because the body cannot store it.

#4

The production of meat and dairy uses a lot of resources, and is energy- and water-intensive. It also contributes to the destruction of topsoil.

#5

The author is a third-generation farmer in Kansas who has seen her family’s farm continuously grow, despite the fact that it is becoming more and more difficult to make a profit.

#6

The title of her book is Diet for a Small Planet, which implies that we need to cut down on our consumption. But the message of the book is actually about abundance, not scarcity.

#7

The health benefits of a plant-based diet are numerous and well documented.

#8

The author is not a vegetarian because she enjoys the taste of meat, but she tries to eat meat sparingly.

#9

The author began examining her own consumption habits, and realized that although she wasn’t necessarily to blame for the food system’s inefficiencies, she was still a part of the problem. She began by changing her diet, and found that her choices were much more satisfying and nutritious.

#10

Some may consider such views unrealistic, but the author believes they are the only realistic way to approach the problems that confront humanity.

#11

The author grew up in the 1960s, a time of great social change in America. She was a child of the civil rights movement, and when she graduated from college in