Frances Moore Lappé is a democracy advocate and world food and hunger expert who has authored or co-authored 17 books. Perhaps her most famous work is her first book, Diet for a Small Planet, which has sold three million copies, and introduced many to the ecological, social and political implications of eating; long before local and organic food were hot topics. She is the co-founder of three organizations, including Food First: The Institute for Food and Development Policy, and, more recently, the Small Planet Institute – a collaborative network for research and popular education to bring democracy to life – which she leads with her daughter, Anna Lappé. In 1987, Frances received the Right Livelihood Award (widely known as the Alternative Nobel Prize). She has also received 17 honorary doctorates from distinguished institutions. In 2006, she was chosen as a founding councilor of the Hamburg-based World Future Council. She is a member of the International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture, and the National Advisory Council of the Union of Concerned Scientists. She serves as an advisor to the Calgary Centre for Global Community and sits on the board of David Korten’s People-Centered Development Forum.