I had no identity [when I was 27] - I was terrified that somebody would ask me what I was doing, and I would have no answer.
Frances Moore LappéI learned this [ that fear doesn't have to stop me] when my world came apart. I was living a life-long dream of a family life combined with an organization to promote living democracy - all on a gorgeous 45-acre compound in rural Vermont. I'd spent a decade building my dream, and then it started to crumble, piece by piece - my marriage, my organization, my confidence.
Frances Moore LappéThe act of putting into your mouth what the earth has grown is perhaps your most direct interaction with the earth.
Frances Moore LappéIf we start with "limits" and a premise of scarcity and fear, it makes us fearful of each other, and that makes us vulnerable to anti-democratic systems.
Frances Moore LappéRecent breakthroughs in science show we have just the capacities we need to face our planet's challenges. We're "soft-wired" for cooperation, empathy, fairness, along with a deep need to "make a dent," as social philosopher Erich Fromm put it. My hunch is that one reason depression is a global pandemic is that the dominant mental map denies so many of us expression of these deep needs and capacities.
Frances Moore Lappé