Diet for a Small Planet
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| Author | Frances Moore Lappé |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Kathleen Zimmerman and Ralph Iwamoto |
| Country | United States |
| Subject | Cookbook, vegetarianism |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
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Publication date
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1971 |
| Pages | 301 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 247743 |
| 641.6/3/1 | |
| LC Class | TX392 .L27 |
Diet for a Small Planet is a 1971 bestselling book by Frances Moore Lappé, the first major book to note the environmental impact of meat production as wasteful and a contributor to global food scarcity. She argued for environmental vegetarianism, which means choosing what is best for the earth and our bodies — a daily action that reminds us of our power to create a saner world.
The book has sold over three million copies and was groundbreaking for arguing that world hunger is not caused by a lack of food but by ineffective food policy. In addition to information on meat production and its impact on hunger, the book features simple rules for a healthy diet and hundreds of meat-free recipes. "Its mix of recipes and analysis typified radicals' faith in the ability to combine personal therapy with political activism."
Knowing that her audience would be skeptical that a vegetarian diet could supply sufficient protein, much of the book is devoted to introducing the method of protein combining. With this method of eating, different plant foods are taken together so that their combined amino acid pattern better matches that required by our bodies, termed "net protein utilization". The general principle of combining foods for optimum net protein utilization combines adjacent pairs of the following: [dairy] with [grains] with [legumes] with [seeds].
In some traditional cuisines there is a balance of 70% whole grains to 30% legumes, which may vary to 80% grains with 20% legumes. This tradition can be seen expressed in three regions:
Lappé admitted in the 10th anniversary 1981 version of the book that sufficient protein was easier to get than she had thought at first:
But while Lappé was correct that combining would indeed result in a more meat-like protein profile, some nutritionists have said that it is unnecessary: Individual plant foods contain all the amino acids required by humans, in amounts which satisfy growth and maintenance. However, certain deficiencies of particular amino acids should be considered since such deficiencies can have a negative effect on health.
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