A woman who changed the way the world thinks about food — and now wants to change the way it thinks about democracy — will visit Santa Barbara next month to give a free lecture on behalf of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
Frances Moore Lappé will deliver the 8th Annual Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at La Casa de Maria, 800 El Bosque Road. The retreat center is co-sponsoring the event with the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
Lappé’s lecture, “Living Democracy, Feeding Hope,” captures her passion for participatory democracy built upon hope for a better future. The public is welcome, but space is limited to 140 people. People are encouraged to arrive a little early to ensure getting a seat.
Lappé is a democracy advocate and world food and hunger expert who has authored or co-authored 16 books. She is the co-founder of the Small Planet Institute, which she leads with her daughter, Anna Lappé .
In 1987, she received the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” Her first book, Diet for a Small Planet, has sold 3 million copies and is considered “the blueprint for eating with a small carbon footprint since long before the term was coined.”
Her most recent book is Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad, awarded the Nautilus Gold/“Best in Small Press” award. Last year, that book and Diet for a Small Planet were designated as must-reads for the next U.S. president by Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan, respectively, in The New York Times Sunday Review of Books. Lappé‘s other recent books include Hope’s Edge, written with Anna Lappé, about democratic social movements worldwide, as well as You Have the Power and Democracy’s Edge.
Lappé received the 2008 James Beard Foundation Humanitarian of the Year Award for her lifelong impact on the way people all over the world think about food, nutrition and agriculture.
In 2008, Gourmet Magazine named Lappé among 25 people, including Thomas Jefferson, Upton Sinclair and the late Julia Child, a former Santa Barbara resident, whose work has changed the way America eats. The same year, Diet for a Small Planet was selected as one of 75 Books by Women Whose Words Have Changed the World by members of the Women’s National Book Association in observance of its 75th anniversary.
In 2006, Lappé was chosen as a founding councilor of the Hamburg-based World Future Council. She is joined on the council by Nuclear Age Peace Foundation president David Krieger.
Historian Howard Zinn writes: “A small number of people in every generation are forerunners, in thought, action, spirit, who swerve past the barriers of green and power to hold a torch high for the rest of us. Lappé is one of those.”
The Frank K. Kelly Lecture on Humanity’s Future was established by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in 2002. The lecture series honors Kelly, a founder and senior vice president of the foundation. Each annual lecture is presented by a distinguished individual to explore the contours of humanity’s present circumstances and ways by which we can today shape a more promising future for our planet.
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation initiates and supports worldwide efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, to strengthen international law and institutions, and to inspire and empower a new generation of peace leaders. Founded in 1982, the foundation is comprised of individuals and organizations worldwide who realize the imperative for peace in the Nuclear Age. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan international education and advocacy organization. Click here for more information about the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
Steven Crandell is the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s development director.