It's difficult to believe that we were sitting in these patio chairs this weekend enjoying sunshine and chickens. We can't say we weren't warned about some major snowfall today and tomorrow. Disappointing nonetheless to not be able to leave the End of the Rainbow Valley to attend Frances Moore Lappé's presentation at Viterbo University this evening on her most recent of 19 books, Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want, coauthored with Adam Eichen. 
If her name sounds familiar to you, it's because Moore Lappé wrote the bestseller Diet for a Small Planet (1971) which Natureman refers to as the groundbreaking bible for the Back to the Land Movement, granola eating and brown rice eschewing anything white. Bah humbug on white flour etc... Dissuading meat due to its environmental impact and ineffective food policy.
Its pages contained healthy diet rules and pages of meat-free recipes. Imagine that, Vegetarianism. Skepticism abounded worrying about obtaining sufficient protein but by pairing dairy with grains and legumes with seeds, it could be accomplished. This was also about the time that Food Co-ops began. Ah, the 70's.
Her books reflect her life's work with themes of hunger, poverty and environmental crisis. Lappé is the cofounder of three world organizations, including Oakland-based think tank Food First and, more recently, the Small Planet Institute which she co-leads with her daughter. They have also cofounded the Small Planet Fund, which channels resources to democratic social movements worldwide.
Well, let me just say dinner tonight was eggplant au gratin in 'our diet for a small planet.' The eggplant was from our garden, the cheese from our goat and the egg from one of our hens. We're doing what we can in the whole scheme of things democratic...
Ms Lappe's visit was cancelled due to the storm so I may indeed be able to hear her in person on another occasion,
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