Actress and wellness advocate Mariel Hemingway sits down with West of the City to talk health, her new website and finding balance.
Academy Award nominee and wellness advocate Mariel Hemingway was in Mississauga recently, where she visited Roma Kitchens and Design Centre in her capacity as spokesperson for Cambria. The company she represents makes beautiful, environmentally-friendly kitchen counter tops, floor tiles, vanities and wet bars out of quartz, a natural substance that is harder than granite and ideal for food preparation. Mariel, granddaughter of famous American author Ernest Hemingway is herself the author of three books: Finding My Balance: A Memoir with Yoga, Mariel Hemingway's Healthy Living From the Inside Out, and Mariel's Kitchen.
She has also recently launched the Mariel's Kitchen website for her health food company. On November 22, she will turn 50, and the wholesome lifestyle she advocates is more than evident in her youthful appearance and vibrant personality.
West of the City: How long have you been interested in promoting good health and healthy living?
Mariel Hemingway: I've always been concerned about health, and I've always been an environmentalist. Both these things are important to your home and to your life. That's why I chose to represent Cambria. They're Green Guard certified.
Q: What should we do to live healthier lives?
A: Well, I don't want to tell people what they should do. I just want to present them with choices so they can make their own informed decisions. With the right information about the foods we eat and a willingness to change, we can all make better choices for ourselves and our loved ones. By learning what is good for us, and altering our diets accordingly, life can become more about disease prevention and less about the acceleration of the aging process. And living a healthier life isn't an overwhelming process. You can start by changing one meal each day or by drinking more water. To me, water in plastic bottles is a huge problem, both in terms of health and the environment. If you choose not to drink out of plastic, it makes a huge statement.
Q: What about diet?
A: We should avoid processed foods. They are bad for us. We need neighbourhood farms to get people back to nature. When you buy local food rather than a genetically modified organism, it makes a big difference to the planet. There are so many pesticides and hormones in our food and in the soil, and many people are becoming sensitive to the food they eat. Small changes in our lives can make a big difference. I'm simply encouraging people to make those changes. It will affect them, and it will affect their kids.
Q: You're writing a fourth book, The Willing Way. What's it about?
A: My boyfriend Bobby Williams and I are working on it together. It's about lifestyle, but it's also about the male/female dynamic. We want to learn to harness the differences between men and women and to use those differences to make the world a better place. It's also about what it means to have a focused existence that is simple and asks, “What would nature do?” It's about the power of thought, and what people can do to make their lives and their environment better. Food is your environment. Your home is your environment. If all of us had a bit more awareness, the world would change.
Bobby and I are also interested in reversing the aging process. We want to get the message out that people around the world do different things in different ways. We want to give people the ability to make those same choices. To ask themselves, “˜How can we connect to Nature?' We want people to think different thoughts, so they can change their lives for the better.
“People think they're smarter than nature,” Hemingway adds, “but the truth is we are nature.”