World Hunger: 10 Myths

Driven by the question “Why does hunger exist despite an abundance of food?” Lappé and Collins dispel the myths that prevent us from finding solutions to hunger across the globe. This book offers fresh, often startling insight into tough questions—from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to climate change and population growth, the role of US foreign aid, and more. Brimming with little-known but life-changing examples of solutions to hunger worldwide, this expansive, myth-busting book argues that sustainable agriculture can feed the world; that we can end nutritional deprivation affecting one-quarter of the world’s people; and that most in the Global North have more in common with the world’s hungry people than they thought. For novices and scholars alike, World Hunger: 10 Myths is an accessible, solutions-based book that will change how people think about the world and inspire a new generation of hunger fighters.

 

Praise for World Hunger: 10 Myths

“Like its predecessors, this brilliant book distills the truth about the state of global hunger so accessibly and urgently that you’re left not just wiser, but armed and ready for the fight to make the world better.”

–Raj Patel, Author of Stuffed and Starved

World Hunger addresses problems of enormous human significance with valuable and often surprising information, much insight, sound common sense, and fundamental decency. It should become not only a book for study, but a guide to action.”

–Noam Chomsky

“A must-read from the world’s most trustworthy guides to how we can end hunger. With great clarity, Lappé and Collins not only discredit widespread misconceptions but provide persuasive evidence of what’s needed to meet the challenge.”

—Hilal Elver, United Nations, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food

About the Author

Frances Moore Lappé is the author or co-author of 19 books about world hunger, living democracy, and the environment, beginning with the three-million copy Diet for a Small Planet in 1971. Her fall 2017 book is Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want coauthored with Adam Eichen.Frances is the cofounder of three organizations, including Oakland based think tank Food First and, more recently, the Small Planet Institute which she leads with her daughter Anna Lappé. Visit the Small Planet Institute founded by Anna and Frances: smallplanet.org and follow Frances on Twitter: @fmlappe.

Real Food Reads Recipes

In honor of World Food Day on October 16th we are delighted to share recipes from this month’s featured author, Frances Moore Lappé, and our resident recipe guru Jessica Jones. Check out Jessica’s blog and podcast, Food Heaven Made Easy, an online resource for delicious and nutritious plant-based living. 

Enjoy these recipes! We hope you’ll share them with your friends, family and community members. We count ourselves amongst the millions of others around the world who are committed to eradicating hunger in our lifetime. We believe that every person has the right to be free from hunger and to have access to food that is nutritious. If you would like to get involved in World Food Day events in your area visit the official World Food Day website.

Frances’ Cauliflower and Millet Soup 

From Frances Moore Lappé, Diet for a Small Planet,  New York: Ballantine Books, 1991, p. 290-291*

Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients

2 tablespoons oil plus oil for sautéing
½ cup millet
1 ½ cups water
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium head cauliflower, very coarsely chopped
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons dry vegetable soup base
½ teaspoon each basil, mint, chervil, thyme, and ground celery seed
2 tablespoons white miso (dark miso will make the soup tan instead of creamy)
¾ cup raw cashews
1 cup water
1/2 ounce nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a soup pot and toast millet until golden brown and beginning to pop.
  2. Remove from heat, add 1 ½ cups water, bring to a boil, and simmer for 20 minutes.
  3. In a medium skillet, heat oil and sauté celery, green pepper, onion, garlic, and carrot untilonion is translucent.
  4. To millet pot add 6 cups water (for thick soup), cauliflower, bayleaf, sautéed mixture, soup base and herbs and celery seed, stirring occasionally so millet doesn’t stick.
  5. Simmer for 20 minutes.
  6. In a blender, process miso, cashews, 1 cup water,and yeast. Add to soup and simmer 10 minutes.
  7. Taste for salt and adjust consistency with more water if you like.

*We chose a millet recipe because women of the Deccan Development Society in Andhra Pradesh, India—featured in our book—began growing this traditional grain organically as part of reclaiming their food security, health, and the health of their land. Read about them in “Myth 10”!

Coconut Lentil Rice

 
Serves 3 
 
Ingredients
1 cup uncooked brown rice
2 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup lentils
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp coconut oil
1/2 onion chopped
3 garlic cloves
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
 

Instructions

  1. In a pot, bring the 2  ½ cups of water to a boil
  2. Add the uncooked brown rice and cook over low-medium heat for 35 min. with the lid on. Cook with the lid off for the last 5 minutes, or until all the water has evaporated and the rice is tender
  3. Once the rice and lentils are cooked, heat your coconut oil and tomato past in a pan. Add the chopped onions, and sliced garlic cloves and sauté for 2 min.
  4. Then add the cooked rice and lentils, and using a large spoon, mix all the ingredients well together
  5. Cook on low heat for 3-4 minutes
  6. Remove from the stove, and season with salt and cayenne pepper to taste
  7. Throw in the fresh cilantro, and mix in well with the rice.

Rosemary Cheddar Hasselback Potatoes

From Food Heaven Made Easy

Serves 4

Total Time: 1hr 30min

Ingredients

4 medium red potatoes
1 ounce of grated cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 Rosemary twigs
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

  1. Create a 1/8″ slice from the bottom of each potato, so that they are able to stand firmly on a surface.
  2. Then create thin 1/8″ slices through each potato, making sure not to cut completely through the potato. Stop right before you hit the bottom.
  3. Place the potatoes in a baking dish, and drizzle olive oil.
  4. Stuff the slices with the garlic, and place rosemary twigs in baking dish.
  5. Bake at 460F for 60-80 minutes (longer if you prefer crispiness.)
  6. Finish off by adding grated cheese, and salt and pepper to taste.

 

Jalapeño Cornbread 

From Food Heaven Made Easy

Ingredients
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup oat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda 3-4 berries
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup plain yogurt
1 jalapeño, de-seeded and minced

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400F
  2. In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, oat flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and set aside.
  3. In a bowl, beat your eggs with a whisk until they’re foamy. You can also use an electric mixer, and beat for 2-3 minutes on high-speed.
  4. Once that’s done, add your beaten eggs, yogurt, and jalapeno to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Mix all ingredients well with a whisk or an electric mixer.
  5. Pour the batter into an oiled 8×8” pan or an 8” skillet.
  6. If you want to top the corn bread with a jalapeno garnish, simply slice another jalapeno in rounds, remove the seeds, and place on the batter.
  7. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy with a thin spread of butter.