Getting A Grip 2: A Discussion Preview

When I first picked up Diet for a Small Planet, it was at the urging of a college political science professor who was trying to steer me toward a developmental studies concentration.  Once I started reading, I could not put it down.  The same is true for the more recent follow-up, Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet.

Frances Moore Lappe's words and deeds -- in all her books and work through the years -- has been nothing short of life-changing. 

And not just for me, either.

The prestigious James Beard Foundation awarded Frances their Humanitarian award in 2008 for her work on global poverty and hunger, saying:

When Diet for a Small Planet was first published in 1971, visionary and democracy advocate Frances Moore Lappé awakened a whole generation and changed the way people all over the world think about food, nutrition, and agriculture.

But changing how we saw the concepts of hunger, scarcity and better resource management throughout the world wasn't enough for her.   Oh no.

Frances has spent years tackling the even more daunting (and irritating) problems of the intersection of politics and values, how we as individual citizens can change things for the better, and what we need to do to continue making that momentum happen in our communities, our nation, and the world at large.

Her latest book is entitled Getting A Grip 2: Clarity, Creativity and Courage for the World We Really Want.


And it explores just that:  what happens when root principles of democracy, pushed forward in creative and courageous ways, meet the rot at the heart of so much of government?  What happens when a call to action grips you so tightly that you cannot ignore it and slink back into your formerly uninvolved, uninspired shell?

Most importantly, how do we produce real, lasting change that brings more democracy for all of us to the current state of "privately held government," as Frances so aptly puts it?

Frances Moore Lappe will be at firedoglake for a live chat tomorrow at 5 pm ET/2 pm PT.  I'll be hosting, and it promises to be a very lively conversation about the problems we all face -- and the ways in which we can tackle these problems together.

Hope you can join us!


The Real Tea Party Story from INVISIBLE HAND on Vimeo.