Remember Frances Moore Lappe? In the 70's she asked: "Where is all the grain going? Answer: 8 to 22 lbs. to every pond of beef. She wrote Diet for a Small Planet.
In the 80's she asked: "How come countries cannot feed themselves?" Answer: agribusiness, the world bank, and the abuse of land. She wrote Food First".
Theresa Francis, sixty four, is the widow and mother of three grown children. For twenty-five years she worked for Century Brass in Scoville, Connecticut. When her company threatened to move, she feared for her job. For as many years, Theresa sang in her church choir but had a limited public life beyond that. Then she say, 'I got involved with the Naugatuck Valley Project because of the sense that I could do something to save my own job.' Once she became connected to this community-church-union organization, Theresa's life changed. "I learned so much for myself. I met with presidents of companies. I investigated city plans for land use and ownership. I met with the mayor. How I'm high for anything I want to do, making myself stretch. That feels so good, I can't tell you.
Theresa's just one of the hundreds of people who redefine 'public life' as what they can do with where they are. The authors graph key roles every person plays, detailing specific public-life skills and activities involved in each role. Economic life, media, education, cultural, recreation, civic life, human and health care services, religious life. For example, in our economic life we may act as consumer, worker, employer, saver/investor, owner voter/policy shaper, rate payer, etc. Each role can enhance our own self-interest and community well-being at the same time.