Anna Lappé

Anna Lappé is a widely respected author and educator, renowned for her work as a sustainable food advocate. The co-author or author of three books and the contributing author to nine others, Anna’s work has been widely translated internationally and featured in The New York Times, Gourmet, Oprah Magazine, among many other outlets. Named one of Time’s “eco” Who’s-Who, Anna is a founding principal of the Small Planet Institute and the Small Planet Fund and has for more than a decade been a key force in the growing international movement for sustainability and justice in the food chain.

Her latest book, Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It (Bloomsbury), was named by Booklist and Kirkus as one of the best environmental book’s of the year. Anna is also the co-author of Hope’s Edge (Tarcher/Penguin 2002), which chronicles social movements fighting hunger around the world, and Grub: Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen (Tarcher/Penguin 2006), which showcases the ecological and social benefits of sustainable food and includes seasonal menus from chef Bryant Terry. In addition, Anna has contributed to eight other books, including State of the World 2011, Food Inc., WorldChanging, and Feeding the Future.

Anna can be seen as the co-host of the public television series, The Endless Feast and as a featured expert on PBS’s Need to Know, the Sundance Channel’s Big Ideas for a Small Planet and the PBS documentary, Nourish. Anna is a regular guest on nationally syndicated radio shows and has been on hundreds of radio programs, including National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition, The Diane Rehm Show, and WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show and Leonard Lopate Show. Anna’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Gourmet, O: The Oprah Magazine, Domino, Food & Wine, Body + Soul, Natural Health, and Vibe, among many other publications.

With her mother Frances Moore Lappé, Anna co-founded the Cambridge-based Small Planet Institute, an international network for research and popular education about the root causes of hunger and poverty. The Lappés are also co-founders of the Small Planet Fund, which has raised more than $785,000 for democratic social movements worldwide, two of which have won the Nobel Peace Prize since the Fund’s founding in 2002.

Anna’s writing and advocacy have earned her numerous accolades. In 2009, The New York Times magazine featured Anna among a handful of “food fighters.” In 2007, she was chosen by the Missing Peace Project for the Compassion in Action Award and in 2006 Anna was selected for Contribute magazine’s “21 Under 40 Making a Difference.”

A frequent public speaker, in the past decade Anna has participated in more than 350 events, from community food festivals to university lectures to emceeing a food-focused fundraiser at Sotheby’s. She has been a keynote speaker and guest lecturer at dozens of colleges and universities, including Boston College, Brown University, Dominican University, Northwestern University, Wesleyan, and Yale University.

Anna holds an M.A. in Economic and Political Development from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and graduated with honors from Brown University. From 2004 to 2006, she was a Food and Society Fellow, a national program of the WK Kellogg Foundation. She is currently an Innovator with the Glynwood Institute for Sustainable Food and Farming. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and their daughter.

Consulting

Anna offers consulting services on fundraising, strategic planning, and media and outreach and has worked with foundations, non-profits, and community groups. She has been an editorial consultant for publications including The Nation and World Ark magazine.

Anna has served as:

  • Consultant for conferences about food and farming, including serving on the planning committee for the Food and Society Conference of the WK Kellogg Foundation (Spring 2005) and advising a Columbia University School of Journalism Food Forum (January 2006)
  • Consulting editor for The Nation’s special issue on food (Fall 2006)
  • Consultant to the Women Donor’s Network Action Fund on media reform (2005-2006)
  • Jury member for MediaRights Film Festival (2004)
  • Free Range Studios
  • Heifer International
  • The Nation magazine for The Nation Institute
  • WK Kellogg Foundation
  • World Ark magazine for Heifer International
  • World Hunger Year
Advisory Posts and Boards

Anna serves informally in an advisory capacity to a number of grassroots media organizations and documentary films. In addition, she served on the Advisory Council to the LightBox Theater Company Food Project (2006), as advisor for a Small Planet Institute event series with (2005), and as advisor to the Active Element Foundation (2003-2004), the League of Young Voters (2004), and the Green Gourmet television pilot.

Anna is an active board member of the Center for Media and Democracy , and a former board member of the Community Food Security Coalition (2005-2006) and b-healthy (Build Healthy Eating and Lifestyles to Help Youth), a New York City-based non-profit organization (2004-2006). Anna is also a proud board member of Rainforest Action Network.

Teaching and Scholarly Positions

- Anna has guest lectured at numerous colleges and universities around the country, including the Gallatin School at NYU, Yale University, and Eckerd College in Florida.
- Anna has conducted a number of workshops, including a workshop with Heifer International staff at their Little Rock headquarters and a weekend workshop at The Marguerite Center near Ottawa, Canada.
Anna offers a range of workshops about food systems and social change for laypeople and educators alike. Workshops range from one day to three days.

Workshops include:

  • Feeding Your Soul, Feeding Sustainability: A women’s weekend with Anna Lappé and friends
  • Pushing the Edge of Possibility: Lessons from Social Movements around the World
  • Decoding the Cornucopia: Charting Your Escape from Food Overwhelm

Past workshop sites include:

  • Hollyhock, Cortes Island Canada
  • Kripalu, Massachusetts
  • Marguerite Center, Ottawa, Canada
  • Omega Institute, New York
  • The Crossings, Texas
Advocacy & Partnerships

The Institute has given its support to many critical pro-democracy campaigns, some of which are detailed below. Anna Lappe has done so via:

  • Various policy change projects through the Food and Society Policy Fellowship with the WK Kellogg Foundation (2004 to 2006)
  • Public testimony in support of the New York City Board of Health proposals to ban trans fats and require restaurant chains to post calories on menu boards. (2006)
  • Public testimony for New York State Legislation on proposed genetically engineered seed labeling and liability laws. (2006)
  • Public testimony for the US Farm Bill Listening Tour. (2006)
Research and International Collaborations
  • Community Food Security Coalition Bridging Borders, Vancouver (2006)
  • Grub Research: Missouri, Upstate New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Nevada, various cities in California, and more. (2004-2005)

Food and Society Policy Fellowship Research trips:

  • Sustainable agriculture in Hawaii (2006)
  • Urban community food renewal in Minnesota (2005)