Biography

Anna Lappé is the Executive Director of the Global Alliance of the Future of Food. An internationally recognized expert on food systems and a respected advocate for sustainability and justice along the food chain, Anna is the founder or co-founder of three national organizations, including Real Food Media, a communications strategy non-profit, and the Small Planet Fund, which supports democratic social movements worldwide. In 2016, she launched the Food Sovereignty Fund of the Panta Rhea Foundation, moving resources to organizations, initiatives, and alliances in the United States and around the world working at the intersections of food systems, health, climate, biodiversity, and social justice. In this role, Anna worked closely with philanthropic partners around the world, including the Global Alliance, the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders, and the Agroecology Fund.

Named one of TIME’s “eco” Who’s-Who, Anna is the co-author or author of three books on food, farming, and sustainability and the contributing author to, or featured in, nineteen more. A recipient of the James Beard Leadership Award, Anna’s work has been translated internationally and featured in The Washington Post, Gourmet, Oprah Magazine, among many other outlets. 

Anna most recently helped edit the U.S. edition of The Pesticide Atlas and relaunch her mother’s iconic 1971 classic Diet for a Small Planet, with a new introduction and all new recipes. In addition, Anna’s book, Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It (Bloomsbury), was named by Booklist and Kirkus as one of the best environmental books of the year. In addition to her books, Anna’s opinion writing can be found in The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, and The Guardian, among other outlets. She has contributed a regular column for Al Jazeera America and Earth Island Journal and has been a guest editor for special editions on food for The Nation magazine.

A sought-after public speaker, in the past twenty years Anna has participated in more than 600 events, from keynoting the largest natural foods trade show in the United States to hosting a food-focused fundraiser at Sotheby’s. She has also been a guest lecturer at dozens of colleges and universities, including Boston College, Brown University, Columbia University, New York University, Northwestern University, Wesleyan, Vassar, the University of California at Berkeley, and Yale University, among many others. Her popular TEDx talks and Food MythBuster videos have been viewed nearly 2 million times.  

Anna has been a featured expert on PBS’s Retro Report, Need to Know, and Nourish and the Sundance Channel’s Big Ideas for a Small Planet as well as co-hosted the public television series, The Endless Feast. Anna is also a frequent guest on nationally syndicated radio shows and has appeared on dozens of radio programs and podcasts, including NPR’s Weekend Edition, All Things Considered, and Here and Now. 

Anna holds an M.A. in Economic and Political Development from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and graduated with honors from Brown University. She is an active board member of the Rainforest Action Network and serves on the Steering Committees of the Food and Farm Communications Fund and the Castanea Fellowship.

Anna is based in the San Francisco Bay Area where she lives with her husband and daughters.