Frances Moore Lappe

At times of great religious or ideological change, when two contending world views threaten to tear civilization apart, concerned intellectuals have tried to frame the issues as clearly as possible in dialogues, literary discussions between two imaginary speakers on opposite sides of the chief controversies of the day. This is what Frances Lappe, author of "Diet for a Small Planet," has tried to do in her new and unusual book, "Rediscovering America's...

It's the final session of a long convention day, and members of the American Dietetic Assn. are drooping as they await a lecture on the politics of hunger. Soon, however, they're sitting up straight for a tiny woman who speaks with passion, poise and an impressive grasp of her subject. She inspires a standing ovation, patiently answers questions, then chats graciously amid a throng of admirers.

It's the final session of a long convention day, and members of the American Dietetic Assn. are drooping as they await a lecture on the politics of hunger. Soon, however, they're sitting up straight for a tiny woman who speaks with passion, poise and an impressive grasp of her subject. She inspires a standing ovation, patiently answers questions, then chats graciously amid a throng of admirers.

In 1971, Frances Moore Lappe turned her one-page handout on the causes of world hunger into a book that she figured "would appeal to maybe 500 people around the Bay Area," where she was then a graduate-school dropout. Rooted in the thesis that hunger exists in the world not because of overpopulation or insufficient food production but because of a wasteful fixation on meat production, "Diet for a Small Planet" was an odd mix of ethical, political and economic analysis, autobiographical details and recipes for mung beans, tofu, grains and legumes.

Your editorial (Dec. 28), "A Groaning Planet," implies that birth control is the only solution worth consideration by nations still burdened with rapidly growing populations. This may not be true at all. D.J. Hernandez of the U.S. Census Bureau examined the research on demographic changes in 83 countries and concluded that the best studies have found little net effect from family planning programs. Why? One answer is supplied by Frances Moore Lappe of the Institute for Food and Development Policy.

In 1971, Frances Moore Lappe turned her one-page handout on the causes of world hunger into a book that she figured "would appeal to maybe 500 people around the Bay Area," where she was then a graduate-school dropout. Rooted in the thesis that hunger exists in the world not because of overpopulation or insufficient food production but because of a wasteful fixation on meat production, "Diet for a Small Planet" was an odd mix of ethical, political and economic analysis, autobiographical details and recipes for mung beans, tofu, grains and legumes.

Choose to Live by Joseph D. Weissman MD (Grove Press: $18.95, 324 pp., illustrated) If you've ever wondered what you can do to fight environmental toxins that cause many of today's deadly diseases, you may want to take a look at Weissman's fight-back program. The changes he proposes include a 10-week program of life-style changes in diet by reducing intake of meat, eggs and dairy products and increasing intake of grains, vegetables and fruit.

A Perfect Waiter A Novel Alain Claude Sulzer, translated from the German by John Brownjohn Bloomsbury: 224 pp., $19.95 ERNESTE is the perfect waiter. An Alsatian, he left home at 16 to work at a Swiss hotel called the Grand.

They do things a little differently at Oxnard College. Instead of having a commencement speaker, the two-year community college invites each graduate to spend a minute at the podium thanking anyone he or she wishes. It's been done this way since the first class graduated in 1976, and the college's May 22 ceremony will be no different. As students troop forward to receive their diploma, they thank parents, children, spouses, former teachers and anyone else who has helped them along the way.

The School of Essential Ingredients A Novel Erica Bauermeister Putnam: 242 pp., $24.95 "Lillian believed in food the way some people do religion." Growing up with a single mother who hides behind obsessive reading, Lillian discovers food as a way to draw her mother out and force her to engage with the world. As an adult, Lillian opens her own restaurant and cooking school.

At times of great religious or ideological change, when two contending world views threaten to tear civilization apart, concerned intellectuals have tried to frame the issues as clearly as possible in dialogues, literary discussions between two imaginary speakers on opposite sides of the chief controversies of the day. This is what Frances Lappe, author of "Diet for a Small Planet," has tried to do in her new and unusual book, "Rediscovering America's...

Your editorial (Dec. 28), "A Groaning Planet," implies that birth control is the only solution worth consideration by nations still burdened with rapidly growing populations. This may not be true at all. D.J. Hernandez of the U.S. Census Bureau examined the research on demographic changes in 83 countries and concluded that the best studies have found little net effect from family planning programs. Why? One answer is supplied by Frances Moore Lappe of the Institute for Food and Development Policy.

Marc Alan Lappe, a toxicologist, author and medical ethicist who fought for public policies that promote a clean and healthy environment, died Saturday. He was 62. Lappe was diagnosed with brain cancer in August and died at his home in Gualala, Calif., said his son, Anthony.

At a lazy Sunday brunch in Santa Monica recently, a prominent artist who teaches said he disliked catching himself mulling over solutions to his students' art-making problems because he needs his brain to be working full time on his own photography. Being an artist in any field requires an unusual amount of self-centeredness; the world around you inevitably becomes source material for your work, and you need the maximum time and mental space to pursue your ideas.