Archive for the 'Inspired by "Getting a Grip"' Category

Meet a few more of our “Living Democracy” partners

admin August 11th, 2008

Here at Small Planet we value the work of people who are proof of Living Democracy—an empowering way of life in which citizens use their voices and values to make lasting, positive change in our society.

For the past few months we have been connecting with organizations around the country that embody the core elements of Living Democracy. Below you’ll find an example of one such organization and what it is doing to help our planet. We find their phenomenal efforts inspiring and know that you will, too.

Want to become a Small Planet Partner? Please email us at team@smallplanet.org

Redefining Progress

Redefining Progress is the nation’s-leading public policy think tank dedicated to environmental, economic, and social justice. Our team does original, unbiased research about the disproportionate effects of climate change on low-income families and people of color. We develop measurement tools such as the Ecological Footprint and the Genuine Progress Indicator that point people and governments towards environmental and economic sustainability.

Utilizing our research and tools, Redefining Progress outlines policy initiatives at the state and national level to address pressing environmental issues in ways that are economically and socially just. We are available as sustainability consultants and researchers to businesses, labor unions, schools, communities, and governments that seek to become more sustainable or need in-depth information on the impact of policies on their sector. We’ve created free resources for teachers who want to introduce concepts of sustainability in their classrooms and we host the popular Ecological Footprint Quiz (http://myfootprint.org), the world’s most well-known personal measure of sustainable living.

The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture

“The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture promotes grassroots involvement in the creation of federal policy for food systems and rural communities that are healthy, environmentally sound, profitable, humane and just. We are built on farm- and community-based knowledge–proven quite literally in the field–that sustainable agriculture can produce the food we need, and generate jobs and a healthy rural economy, without environmental harm. Our process of dialogue and consensus building enables us to generate agreement and unified action among groups who have traditionally found little common ground.”

YouthBuild USA

“YouthBuild is a youth and community development program that simultaneously addresses core issues facing low-income communities. These include housing, education, employment, crime prevention and leadership development. A network of 226 local YouthBuild programs help low-income youth rebuild their communities and their lives. In March, 2008, at the Skoll World Forum Award Ceremony in Oxford, England, the Skoll Foundation unveiled a seven-minute film about YouthBuild as a solution to the issues affecting low-income youth in the United States.”

Watch the film here: http://www.youthbuild.org/site/c.htIRI3PIKoG/b.4126063/

Getting a Grip: “A little book with a big call to action.”

admin July 11th, 2008

An excerpt from a new review of Getting a Grip:

Lappé tackles the shortcomings of our current political and economic framework and gives us hope for the future by proposing a new lens through which to see and act in our world. Simple and effective graphics capture the book’s big ideas, and key themes are highlighted with poignant quotes. [...] Getting a Grip is ultimately about reclaiming democracy, and it provides paths for each of us to find our parts in it.”


The review comes from The Orton Family Foundation, an operating foundation that seeks to help communities in the Northeast and Rocky Mountain West to identify, articulate, enrich, and protect their “heart and soul.”

Read the review learn more about the OFF here.

How can we Get a Grip? Listen to Frances talk about a few of her ideas

admin June 24th, 2008

KUOW 94.9 FM recently put up a podcast of Frances giving a talk at the Elliott Bay Book Company (Seattle) where she explained the power of ideas asking, for example, why there could be hunger in our world of plenty. Frances boils down her ideas clearly and engagingly, always with the desire to share and learn. Listen to her talk about the ideas behind Getting a Grip here:

http://kuow.org/program.php?id=15165

“Getting a Grip” is the Gold/Best in Small Press Nautilus Award Winner!

admin June 17th, 2008

It’s been quite a month for Frances. If you’ve been following this blog, then you know she won the James Beard Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year Award, and has a done a good deal of high-profile and wonderful indy press. In addition, her latest book, Getting a Grip, has been named the winner of the Gold/”Best in Small Press” Nautilus Award this year.

Frances shares the honor with some fine company. You’ll find a list of the other honorees here.

And to see more of the recent coverage of Frances, Getting a Grip, and her ongoing work  as an author, food and world-hunger expert, and “Living Democracy” advocate, just scroll down — and keep coming back.

New York Times: “Getting a Grip” and “Diet for a Small Planet” are must-reads for the next president

admin June 2nd, 2008

In this new piece from the New York Times‘ Sunday Book Review, Frances’s first book Diet for a Small Planet, and her latest, Getting a Grip, have been recommended (by Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver, no less) as must-reads for the next US president.

Writing about Diet (as well as of Wendell Berry’s Unsettling of America, Pollan writes: “In Diet for a Small Planet, Frances Moore Lappé shone a light on the wastefulness and environmental costs of meat-eating, predicting that humanity’s growing appetite for meat would lead to hunger for the world’s poor. Together these two visionary writers — who fell out of favor during the cheap-food and cheap-energy years that began in the ’80s and are just now coming to a calamitous close — still have much to say about the way out of our current predicament.”

About Getting a Grip, Kingsolver writes: “Forget the personality claptrap: our next president will need to know how to restructure the carbon-based economy, pronto. I assume all the candidates have read An Inconvenient Truth, by Al Gore, so they understand that anything they promise will have to be delivered without cheap fossil fuels. For further reading, Bill McKibben’s Deep Economy and Frances Moore Lappé’s Getting a Grip offer new definitions of progress and economy with an eye toward the human aptitudes for resourcefulness and community.”

“Becoming Part of an Extraordinary Story,” by Bruce Haynes

admin May 1st, 2008

The following is adapted from an essay written by Bruce Haynes, a writer and slam poet from South Africa who has become very committed to working for change and Living Democracy. It was originally written as part of an International Essay Contest being held by the Goi Peace Foundation (http://www.goipeace.or.jp/). The contest’s theme is “My project to create positive change in my environment. How can I foster sustainable development in my community?”

Being that Bruce was inspired by Getting a Grip, he sent it to us and we in turn asked his permission to share it with you. We hope you’ll enjoy it.

I’m so excited about life. I’m using my power. I’m using my capacity to act. I’m trusting the process. And I’m loving it.

brucehaynes.jpg

My name is Bruce Haynes. I’m a recovering stutterer. I’m also a 19-year-young Slam Poet. Goi Peace foundation, are you hearing me? Tokyo, Japan! Are you hearing me? Humanity! Do you hear me? I spent nine months in the UK last year with the purpose of finding out about what was really going on with the climate change situation. I did! I went back to my home country for three months with the intention of finding my voice. I did! My life has become a project to create positive change, and fostering sustainable development will come as a by-product of turning this whole situation upside-down. I believe very strongly that we can do that. I believe strongly that we can co-create positive change. Continue Reading »