In 1987 Frances received the Right Livelihood Award (considered an “Alternative Nobel”) “for revealing the political and economic causes of world hunger and how citizens can help to remedy them.” Her first book, Diet for a Small Planet, has sold three million copies and is considered “the blueprint for eating with a small carbon footprint since long before the term was coined,” wrote J.M. Hirsch, Associated Press. In 2008 Diet for a Small Planet was selected as one of 75 Books by Women Whose Words Have Changed the World by members of the Women’s National Book Association in observance of its 75th anniversary and was named by Gourmet Magazine as one of 25 people (including Thomas Jefferson, Upton Sinclair, and Julia Child), whose work has changed the way America eats.

Her most recent work, released by Nation Books in September 2011, is EcoMind: Changing the Way We Think to Create the World We Want. Jane Goodall called the book "powerful and inspiring. “Ecomind will open your eyes and change your thinking. I want everyone to read it," she said. Previous to EcoMind, Frances released Getting a Grip 2: Clarity, Creativity and Courage for the World We Really Want, a thorough revision of Getting a Grip: Clarity, Creativity, and Courage in a World Gone Mad, which received the Nautilus Gold/“Best in Small Press” award. In 2008, Getting a Grip along with Diet for a Small Planet were designated as “must reads” for the next U.S. president (by Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan, respectively) in The New York Times Sunday Review of Books. Other recent books include Hope's Edge (written with Anna Lappé), Democracy's Edge, and You Have the Power: Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear. Lappé’s books have been translated into 15 languages and are used widely in university courses.

Frances has received 18 honorary doctorates from distinguished institutions including The University of Michigan and was a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000-2001. In 2008 she received the James Beard Foundation ‘Humanitarian of the Year’ Award for her lifelong impact on the way people all over the world think about food, nutrition, and agriculture. In 2007 Frances became a founding member of the World Future Council, based in Hamburg, Germany. In addition, Frances serves on the International Board of Advisors of Grassroots International and on the the Value [the] Meal Advisory Board of Corporate Accountability International. She is also a member of the Sisters on the Planet network, part of Oxfam America. Other notable awards include the International Studies Association's 'Outstanding Public Scholar Award', which Frances received in 2009. In 2011, she was awarded the Nonino Prize for her life’s work.

Articles featuring or written by Frances have appeared in O: The Oprah Magazine, Harper’s, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Nation, People, and more. She has appeared on the Today Show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Fox News’ Fox & Friends, WSJ.com, The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s ‘The National’, Frost Over the World, NPR, and the BBC.