Diet for a Small Planet is a book by
Frances Moore LappéFrances Moore Lappé is a noted social change and democracy activist, and the author of 16 books, including the three-million-copy bestseller, Diet for a Small Planet . Her most recent book is .-Biography:Lappé was born in 1944 in Pendleton, Oregon to John and Ina Moore and grew up in Fort Worth,...
presenting her theory of "Complementary
ProteinProteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and folded into a globular form. The amino acids in a polymer chain are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues...
" sources in the
human dietNutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
. As the eight essential amino acids making up the "complete proteins" found in
meatMeat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs, livers, skin, brains, bone marrow, kidneys, or lungs...
are each present to various extents in a range of plant sources, the theory maintained that eating plant foods in "complementary" combinations
combine proteinsProtein combining is a theory, now largely discredited, that vegetarians, particularly vegans, must eat certain complementary foods like beans and rice together in the same meal, so that plant foods with incomplete essential amino acid content combine to form a complete protein, meeting all amino...
would be equivalent to those found in meat, to meet human nutritional requirements.
The bestselling first edition, published in 1971 by
BallantineThe Ballantine Publishing Group, better known as Ballantine Books, is a major American book publisher founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973 and remains part of that company today...
, was sponsored by the
Friends of the EarthFriends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 77 countries.Friends of the Earth International are the world's largest grassroots environmental network and they campaign on today's most urgent environmental and social issues...
organization.
Diet for a Small Planet is a book by
Frances Moore LappéFrances Moore Lappé is a noted social change and democracy activist, and the author of 16 books, including the three-million-copy bestseller, Diet for a Small Planet . Her most recent book is .-Biography:Lappé was born in 1944 in Pendleton, Oregon to John and Ina Moore and grew up in Fort Worth,...
presenting her theory of "Complementary
ProteinProteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and folded into a globular form. The amino acids in a polymer chain are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues...
" sources in the
human dietNutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
. As the eight essential amino acids making up the "complete proteins" found in
meatMeat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs, livers, skin, brains, bone marrow, kidneys, or lungs...
are each present to various extents in a range of plant sources, the theory maintained that eating plant foods in "complementary" combinations
combine proteinsProtein combining is a theory, now largely discredited, that vegetarians, particularly vegans, must eat certain complementary foods like beans and rice together in the same meal, so that plant foods with incomplete essential amino acid content combine to form a complete protein, meeting all amino...
would be equivalent to those found in meat, to meet human nutritional requirements.
The bestselling first edition, published in 1971 by
BallantineThe Ballantine Publishing Group, better known as Ballantine Books, is a major American book publisher founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973 and remains part of that company today...
, was sponsored by the
Friends of the EarthFriends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 77 countries.Friends of the Earth International are the world's largest grassroots environmental network and they campaign on today's most urgent environmental and social issues...
organization. Besides the book's promotion of
vegetarianismVegetarianism is the practice of following a diet based on plant-based foods including fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, nuts, and seeds, with or without dairy products and eggs. Vegetarians do not eat meat, game, poultry, fish, crustacea, shellfish, or products of animal slaughter such as...
, its underlying orientation emphasized a responsible use of the Earth's resources. The book includes recipes based on the complementarity combinations, and was followed by a collection,
Recipes for a Small Planet by Ellen Buchman Ewald, with an introduction written by Lappé.
Some scientists called "protein combining" a myth, particularly the alleged need to consume the complementary proteins in a single meal or within hours or on the same day in order for the digestive process to assimilate them as equivalent to "complete proteins". In a later edition of the book (1981), the author herself recanted her emphasis on combining proteins from plant sources, consistent with findings that mimicking the composition of animal proteins is not essential to human nutrition.
Lappé also brings to light the fact that to produce unit weight of protein in the form of beef or veal, we must feed 21 units weight of protein to the animal. Other forms of livestock are slightly less inefficient, but the average ratio in the U.S. is still 1:8. It has been estimated that the amount of protein lost to humans in this way is equivalent to 90% of the annual world protein deficit.
Topics covered in the book
- Part I: Earth's Labor Lost — Protein in United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
agribusinessIn agriculture, agribusiness is a generic term that refers to the various businesses involved in food production, including farming and contract farming, seed supply, agrichemicals, farm machinery, wholesale and distribution, processing, marketing, and retail sales...
- Part II: Bringing Protein Theory Down to Earth — Protein in human nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
- Part III: Eating From the Earth: Protein Theory Applied — Includes tables of food values, and explanations relating proteins to caloric and economic factors
- Part IV: Combining Non-Meat Foods to Increase Protein Values — Guidelines and recipes
- Appendices, Notes, Index