When Alicia Silverstone starred as Cher, the ditzy, matchmaking Valley girl with the gigantic heart in Clueless, one of her trademark lines was, “Anything you can do to draw attention to your mouth is good.” With her new vegan cookbook, The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Losing Weight, Feeling Great and Saving the Planet (Rodale, 2009), she’s succeeded in drawing attention not just to our mouths, but also to our bodies, the planet and all sentient beings.
The actress has lost none of her charm or trademark frothiness in the 14 intervening years (and various stage and film roles), but has gained a whole lot of down-to-earth wisdom. Her information is well informed, but her style is totally girlfriend: She talks and writes about what goes into the body and what comes out with equal candor; has no qualms about recounting a meltdown in which, “Suddenly I’m on the floor, sobbing;” and casually munches collard greens throughout our conversation. Her website, thekindlife.com, features her dishy blog, networking with like-minded users, and tons of info about her fave cruelty-free designers, products and restaurants.
And just to be clear? The boxed quotes below were never Alicia, just a fun and memorable (but far less aware) character she played.
When did you first start thinking about not eating meat?
I was on an airplane with my brother and it was the first time I made the connection between animals and food because I was eating lamb, and my brother started making lamb noises. Because I was eight, my resolve was not very good.
I know how you say, “Never accept a first offer,” so I figure these grades are just a jumping off point to start negotiations.
What caused you to completely stop eating meat?
When I was 21 I saw video footage of how animals were raised for food, and there was no longer any denying it. It wasn’t an idea any more; this was the fact and this was unacceptable. I really had to take a look at my dog and say, “If I’m not willing to eat my dog, why am I willing to eat these other creatures who have the same desire to live, the same capacity for pain and playfulness, and passion for living? Why am I picking one over the other?”
Dionne: Hello? There was a stop sign.
Cher: I totally paused.
The American Dietetic Association recently conceded that a well-planned vegetarian diet is safe for children, but prior to that, it was generally thought kids would suffer from malnutrition. What did your family think about your choices?
My parents are English so I grew up on meat and potatoes. My dad did put vegetables on the plate, though. And they have been extremely supportive of my decision.
Daddy’s so good he gets $500 an hour to fight with people. But he fights with me for free because I’m his daughter.
Did you feel regret about all those intensely satisfying tastes you’d be missing?
I didn’t think I’d ever eat a good meal again. I loved food but my commitment at that point was bigger than my desire to have good food or be healthy. And two weeks into it I found that not only was I eating great food, I was eating food I’d never even heard of and getting turned on to all these sophisticated tastes. My tongue was getting cleared, I could taste food more, and I started to really understand and appreciate food on a deeper level. I think of myself as a food connoisseur.
So your decision had nothing to do with health?
I was anti-health, on the bacon-doughnut diet. That’s pretty much all I ate. Two weeks into it I got so healthy and it was funny, cause I was so anti-health. People were like, “You’re glowing,” and my eyes started to get really white and my nails got so strong there was no way I could bend them. All those white marks on my nails went away and my body slimmed down, I started to have so much energy and feel amazing. And I thought, “Is this just good karma?”
I feel like such a heifer. I had two bowls of Special K, three pieces of turkey bacon, a handful of popcorn, five peanut butter M&Ms and like three pieces of licorice.
Would you be tempted by a free-range, organic steak sizzling on the grill?
I just know that there are so many other more delicious things. Of course if I were starving and walked by . . . sometimes you can smell the flesh, and that smells terrible, but sometimes you smell the sauce. If you barbecue zucchini and onions it smells delicious. When you throw in the smells of the meat—like those carts on the streets in New York—I want to vomit, it smells so disgusting. The smell of burning flesh is not appealing. When I look at steak I can appreciate and remember that it tasted good, but the amount of violence and suffering that goes into that steak— planetary, health-wise, animal—is so huge that there’s just nothing appealing about it. When you know there is this other plate next to it that tastes just as delicious, maybe even more delicious, and doesn’t do any of those nasty things, it’s a no-brainer. This isn’t some sacrifice; it’s better for my body on every level. And the thing I’m trying to do, help animals, is actually saving my life.
As soon I get my license, I fully intend to brake for animals.
What’s the role of food in the health care debate?
All I can do is hope more people read this book so they can find their truest health. I don’t go to a doctor, I don’t take pills, I shouldn’t have to pay for the same insurance. This health care crisis is crazy; no one is addressing the preventative. If we would all just focus on preventing illness, it would be so easy.
Some people are all, “What about the strain on our resources?”
Well it’s like when I had this garden party for my father’s birthday, right? Some people came that, like, did not RSVP.
I had to haul ass to the kitchen, redistribute the food, and squish in extra place settings.
We know what cows do to the planet, but what about humans? Do you think overpopulation is a problem, or is it just the way we choose to live?
I don’t think it would be a problem if people ate and lived more kindly. But I do think it’s a huge problem because of the way we’re living. There’s enough food on the planet for everyone to eat, right now, but we’re giving it all to cows. If we would stop giving all our food to cows, everybody would be able to eat.
It’s like a painting, see? From far away, it’s okay, but up close, it’s a big old mess.
Are you planning to have kids?
Oh, for sure.
By the end of the day it was, like, the more the merrier.
Do you take supplements?
I don’t think we need them. If you eat a bad diet, yes. When you’re eating nasty food, I don’t even know what to say other than “Stop eating nasty food.” But if you follow the Kind Diet, especially the Superhero plan, there’s no supplement you need except B12.
How much are you influenced by macrobiotics?
A lot. I already was vegan and around age 25 I was doing a play in New York, it was snowing, and I was trying to get raw food. It’s snowing and I’m trying to eat mangoes! Macrobiotics taught me that mangoes are designed to cool your body in the heat—that’s why they grow in tropical areas. There are no mangoes growing in Manhattan and certainly not in snow. So here I was in a cold environment and cooling my body off. It wasn’t healing; it was actually harmful. Where it’s cold we need things that are warming and grounding. We can have whatever we want wherever we are, but I started to understand the health implications of that.
Do you still practice Judaism?
I don’t really identify with being a Jew. The part I relate to is my history. When I was a little girl we had a particularly lovely temple, called Temple Beth Jacob. I loved that temple, but it doesn’t have a place in my life now because I’m so much more inspired, I’m doing so many more mitzvahs (good deeds) every day as a person not going to temple and not communicating with my Jewish community than I would if I were. For me, temple is not enough. Meditation, yoga, eating well, growing food and healing the planet… that’s where it’s at for me. When you’re eating good food and sharing and helping each other, religion doesn’t matter.
I had to find sanctuary in a place where I could gather my thoughts and regain my strength (the mall).
What else are you working on?
I did a line of makeup brushes and cosmetic bags called EcoTools by Alicia Silverstone, and they’re completely green, cruelty-free and beautiful. They’re made with hemp, vegetable dyes, recycled bottled caps, recycled metal and bamboo.
And I’m going to Broadway to do Time Stands Still with Laura Linney and Eric Bogosian.
Mel: I’d like to see you have a little direction.
Cher: I have direction!
Josh: Yeah, towards the mall.
You obviously have a lot of talents. What would you most like to be remembered for?
That’s a hard question. A deep question, too. I don’t know if I want to reveal it completely. Quite a few come to mind so I’m sort of like, which one . . . Making a significant difference in the suffering of animals; healing the planet; being a solid, great actor; being kind.
Was there one tiny thing that after the book went to press you thought, “Oh dang, I forgot to say…”?
There’s stuff every day, and that’s why I have my blog.
