Her newly released Democracy's Edge has been widely praised. Historian Howard Zinn called the book "poetic and passionate," adding: "A small number of people in every generation are forerunners, in thought, action, spirit, who swerve past the barriers of greed and power to hold a torch high for the rest of us. Lappé is one of those."
Democracy's Edge is the completion of a trilogy which began in 2002 with Hope's Edge, written with her daughter Anna Lappé. It is the 30th anniversary sequel to Lappé's first book. Jane Goodall said of Hope's Edge: "Absolutely one of the most important books as we enter the 21st century." Second in the trilogy is You Have the Power: Choosing Courage in a Culture of Fear, written with Jeffrey Perkins.
Frances and Anna Lappé lead the Cambridge-based Small Planet Institute, a collaborative network for research and popular education to bring democracy to life. Together they founded the Small Planet Fund which solicits and channels resources to democratic social movements, especially those featured in Hope's Edge.
In 1975, with Joseph Collins Lappé launched the California-based Institute for Food and Development Policy (Food First). Its publications continue to shape the international debate on the root causes of hunger and poverty. The Institute was described by The New York Times as one of the nation's "most respected food think tanks."
In 1990, Lappé co-founded the Center for Living Democracy, a ten-year initiative to help accelerate the spread of democratic innovations. Lappé served as founding editor of the Center's American News Service, which placed solutions-oriented news stories in almost 300 newspapers nationwide.
Lappé's books have been used in a broad array of courses in hundreds of colleges and universities and in more than 50 countries. Her articles and opinion pieces have appeared in publications as diverse as the New York Times, O Magazine and Christian Century. Her television and radio appearances have included PBS with Bill Moyers, the Today Show, CBS Radio, and National Public Radio.
Lappé is a sought after public speaker and has received 17 honorary doctorates from distinguished institutions. In 1987 in Sweden, Lappé became the fourth American to receive the Right Livelihood Award, sometimes called the "Alternative Nobel," for her "vision and work healing our planet and uplifting humanity."