Quote of the Day

Much of my life energies have gone toward what I call “living democracy” in which we each have both economic and political power.

So, how does shifting my diet serve democracy?

In nourishing ourselves we make multiple choices daily. That alone gives food special power. With each choice I know I am sending signals back through the food chain for sane, fair use of our Earth.

Suddenly, my every bite has delicious purpose. As a vegetarian, I’ve loved knowing I was protecting animals and avoiding massive waste. But now I wonder whether “vegetarian” captures the full impact of such food choices. So, what if we reconceive good eating as not just “plant-based,” but “planet-healing”?

When our dietary habits incorporate environmental, justice, and health awareness as well as animal welfare, might we be “planetarians”?

I believe that with every step aligning our lives with our deepest truths, we become more convincing to ourselves and thus to others – and more likely to take our next step and the next . . . with ever greater courage. And that’s exactly what our planet needs now more than ever.

– Frances Moore Lappé
Excerpted from “‘Vegetarian’ . . . Why Not ‘Planetarian’?”
Common Dreams
May 22, 2023

Related Off-site Links:
Frances Moore Lappé in Conversation with John Torpey – The Graduate Center, CUNY via YouTube (March 8, 2023).
“We Have a Diet That Is Literally Killing Us.” Why Frances Moore Lappé’s Groundbreaking Diet for a Small Planet Is More Relevant Than Ever – Kate Bradshaw (Palo Alto Online, September 2, 2022).
Celebrating 50 years of Diet for a Small Planet with Frances Moore Lappé and Daughter Anna Lappé – Scott Tong and Allison Hagan (WBUR.org, October 11, 2021).
The Godmother of “Plant-Based” Living – Steven Kurutz (The New York Times, November 20, 2021).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Biophilia, the God Pan, and a Baboon Named Scott
• Examining the Link Between Destruction of Biodiversity and Emerging Infectious Diseases
• As the World Burns, Calls for a “Green New Deal”
• Something to Think About – January 19, 2023
• Something to Think About – March 9, 2013
• The Art of Being Kind

Image 1: Cody O’Loughlin for The New York Times (2021).
Image 2: Harvest Urban Farms.