The Ultimate Power Couple - Lifestyles Magazine
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The
Ultimate
(Sustainable)
Power Couple
Written byLeah Morrison
James Cameron and Suzy Amis Cameron want you
to be part of the world’s solution, not its destruction.
“For the first time in my Which shouldn’t come as a surprise to
anybody. Suzy has been acting since 1984—her
life, I have hope.” first major role was in 1985’s Fandango opposite
The sentence made Suzy Amis Kevin Costner and Judd Nelson—and has been
Cameron stop in her sandy tracks producing movies since 2002. Jim—or James, as
during a walk on the beach and he’s known in cinematic credits—is an Academy
stare at her husband, Jim, in shock. Award–winning director, writer, and producer
Coming from a man who has said for known for films like The Terminator, True Lies,
years that hope is not a strategy (he Avatar, and Titanic.
even has it on a T-shirt), the words It was on the set of the latter the couple met.
just about knocked her over. They married in 2000 and have built a beautiful
“The more people we can inspire life together. They work hard at their careers, are
to eat plant-based, the more we can a dream team when it comes to parenting, and
move the needle on climate change,” prided themselves on their wellness and food
he elaborated. choices.
It was that moment she real- Until 2012.
ized their actions had the power That was when they watched a documentary
to change the future. And it was all called Forks Over Knives that changed their lives,
thanks to a movie. from their diets to their business practices.
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Exploring the Tasman
Glacier in New Zealand
PHOTO BY ALISTAIR GUTHRIE
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Jim and Suzy in Ponui,
New Zealand
and walked out of the room. She
followed him to the kitchen, where
he announced they could no longer
have animal products in the house.
Twenty-four hours later, the
house had been cleared out of such
foods, and the Camerons were plant-
based eaters. As Suzy says, “That’s
just how Jim and I roll—we commit
to something, and we go all in. No
turning back.”
The couple began to learn all
they could about plant-based eating
and its health benefits, or, as they
phrase it, they “went down the rabbit
hole.” Then they hopped up on their
soapboxes to announce the new life-
Suzy discovered the film first—it had been style to anyone who would listen.
sitting on the shelf for nine months when she de- “People tend to ignore what
cided to watch it while running on the treadmill. doesn’t fit their world view or their
Within 10 minutes, she had stopped her workout view of themselves,” says Jim. “A lot
and was sitting on the floor, feeling like her entire of it you’re not open to until you go
world was falling apart. plant-based. Then you can look at
Forks Over Knives follows the experiences of things like the real cost of eating the
a group of people who used plant-based eating to way I had been eating for, at that
reverse degenerative diseases. It is based on the time, 58 years. I’d been eating that
works of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a surgeon who way and I felt very self-righteous
worked at the Cleveland Clinic, and Dr. T. Colin about it. ‘This is what I need for my
Campbell, a nutritional biochemist from Cornell health.’ We were healthy carnivores,
University. we thought. It turns out when you’re
“The film is all about science, it’s about a re- talking about humans, there’s no
search project that Colin Campbell did for 40 years such thing.”
in China. You can’t dispute it at all,” she says from Suzy remembers creating bags
New Zealand over a Zoom call. “It gutted me when filled with books about plant-based
I was watching it because I felt so—and it’s not eating, cookbooks, and DVDs that
my character, but I felt so betrayed, I felt like I had they shipped to their families for
been lied to my whole life about how the only way Christmas one year.
to be healthy was to eat meat and to drink milk.” “We’d say, ‘You’ve got to do it,
Shaken, she asked Jim if he would watch the do it cold turkey and it’s great, you’re
movie with her the next day without telling him going to feel great and have great en-
what it was about. ergy!’” she says. “People would see us
“‘Sure, I like movies’ was his response,” Suzy coming and they would turn around
says, smiling. and walk away.”
She had to know if he would be affected by The couple’s children were not
the film as much as she was. When the end credits as enthusiastic about the dietary
began to roll, Jim, who had been silent, stood up change at first.
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“We announced to the children “During that time, we started looking at what
that we were going plant based. It businesses we had, what investments we were
was more of an edict than a request,” making, and we just wanted to make sure we
says Jim, chuckling. “They kind of were really walking the walk,” Suzy explains. “We
went along with it, I think they were started investing in farmland and businesses that
curious. After about two weeks, our would further humanity as opposed to be destruc-
boy Quinn came to me and said ‘Hey tive to the future of humanity.”
Dad, about this whole vegan thing, It was an idea that Eric Maidenberg, a busi-
are you digging it?’ And I said, ‘Yeah, ness associate of the Camerons, followed as well.
I love it, it’s fantastic,’—I sort of just Working in asset management and family office
did my spiel—and he said, ‘Yeah, solutions at UBS for 24 years, Maidenberg found
because I’m not.’ He wanted burgers himself scouring the investment universe for new
and pizza, and I think there was a lot ideas, opportunities, and networks in support of
of peer pressure about that.” his clients. He kept stumbling on issues of climate
Wanting to take their commit- change, oceans and seas dying, social atrocities,
ment further, the pair started explor- and the surprising ignorance about it all. It be-
ing new investment opportunities. came too much to ignore at that stage of his career
Jim pursues what his colleague Barry and his life.
Didato has dubbed the Scientific “The thought that I would be leaving my chil-
Method for validating and innova- dren and future grandchildren in a world that was
tion: observation, research, data, hy- exponentially worse off than the one I was brought
pothesis, iteration, look at solutions, into was just not acceptable, and I needed to do
explore potential business models, something about it,” he says.
do it to scale. Using this approach, Maidenberg left his job and became a manag-
the Camerons began to look at ing director at Parley For the Oceans. Parley’s
investments “through a plant-based mission is to end marine plastic pollution and in
lens,” as Suzy calls it. the process also shine a light on ways to create
“I think it’s wise to divest from new opportunities through collaborative and
oil and things like that and create a fiscally lucrative approaches to environmental-
healthy portfolio that’s future-proof,” ism. The company defines its culture based on a
Jim says. concept it calls “Eco Innovation” and Maidenberg
He and Suzy began researching is now in the process of building into Parley a
companies that benefit the world, unique investment platform that will target high
not only studying the bottom line upside business opportunities that can scale and
of such businesses, but also making mainstream with tangible benefits to the environ-
sure their practices are good for the ment. Parley Mothership, as he calls it, will operate
environment, people, and animals. alongside its core business and each will draw
They also turned to their own com- from each others’ expertise to drive more impact.
panies to make sure everything was “I saw firsthand how investors were seeking
compatible with their new lifestyle. to develop new investment policies, yet had very
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little faith in the prevailing products and solutions “Investors have to look at where
that could demonstrate both return and tangible things are changing and where
and transparent positive impact,” says Maiden- they’re changing rapidly. We know
berg. “Parley and I found each other and the rest is because we’re in that part of the
history.” business—plant proteins are in
While Maidenberg discovered Parley, the demand faster than that demand
Camerons decided to launch Verdient Foods can be met,” explains Jim. “We were
in Saskatchewan, Canada, as a way to address lucky to have gotten in, kind of for
the current and future demand for plant-based ideological reasons. We weren’t look-
protein. Verdient produces protein concentrates ing for a great investment, because I
from peas and lentils. Recently, it entered a joint don’t think that way. I try to put my
partnership with global ingredients company In- money where it’s going to do some
gredion, which will invest $140 million to expand good, and I’m prepared for failure,
into a range of plant-based proteins. I’m prepared for a learning curve.
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When we invested in protein extraction from Patrick Baboumian, members of the
legumes in Canada, we assumed that it was going Miami Dolphins, Dr. Dean Ornish,
to be a fast growing sector, but it certainly wasn’t and Dr. Kim Williams.
at the time. By the time we’d broken ground and “It’s about performance, wheth-
built our plant and gotten it online and so on, by er it’s athletic performance, mental
the time we were actually producing our product, performance, sexual performance,
the demand was more than we could possibly all of those things,” says Suzy. “Vegan
meet. We wish we’d built a plant two or three times athletes are breaking records. Jim
that size.” and I have experienced it. We work
The Camerons also shut down the dairy out harder than we ever have before
production of their New Zealand farm—which and I’ve had four kids. I’m in better
was one of the most successful in the Waihopai shape now than I ever was in my
Valley—to the shock of local farmers. twenties. It’s just an energy boost. I
“We took all of those paddocks, which have a know there have been articles about
lot of soil fertility because of all those cows for so CEOs who have decided to go plant-
many years, and we now grow organic vegetables based for that edge.”
on a large scale, so we sell the vegetables around The Game Changers became
to stores and restaurants here in New Zealand,” the most streamed documentary on
Suzy says proudly. Netflix. When it was released, online
In fact, she and Jim are working to develop searches for plant-based diets and
new methods for ecological farming, including veganism went up 250 percent, ac-
planting one of the largest food forests in the cording to Suzy.
world. “We were not expecting The
Most notably, Jim and Suzy executive-pro- Game Changers to be as successful,
duced The Game Changers, a 2018 documentary or the game changer, that it really is,”
that follows former UFC champion James Wilks she says.
as he explores plant-based diets among athletes Suzy and Jim are definitely do-
and nutrition experts. The film features people like ing their part to live healthier lives
Arnold Schwarzenegger, world surfing champion and better the planet, but it’s not
Tia Blanco, world-record-holding strength athlete unfamiliar territory.
“It was Jim who started talking
to me about the big environmental
issues. He was processing something
on a completely different level when
he went plant-based,” Suzy remarks.
Jim knew of a few books that
showed how detrimental a non-
plant-based diet was to the envi-
ronment and animal agriculture.
Though he initially changed his
lifestyle for his personal health and
wellness, he was affected by the sta-
tistics he learned about. He has been
concerned about the environment
for years and has worked to promote
ocean and land conservation.
Jim always knew he wanted to
tell stories.
It was the B sci-fi films from the
1950s that inspired him to build his
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own cardboard robots. It was 2001: would allow for exploration in the ship’s interior.
A Space Odyssey that inspired him to He did 33 dives down to the wreck but didn’t stop
learn about set shots when he was there. As National Geographic’s Explorer-in-Resi-
14 years old. It was Star Wars that dence, he has led several expeditions into the sea,
inspired him to make his first film including 3D imaging of deep hypothermal vent
with friends, a short called Xenogen- sites in the East Pacific Rise, in the Sea of Cortez,
esis, with a $20,000 investment from and along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
a group of dentists. “I spend a lot of time underwater—I see the
“I got to say ‘Action’ and ‘Cut.’ slow degradation of the oceans, I see the degrada-
That’s when you become a director. tion of the coral reefs,” he has told people.
All you have to do is shoot some- In 2012, Jim worked with National Geographic
thing and say ‘Action’ and ‘Cut’ a few to film the DEEPSEA CHALLENGE 3D. He piloted
times. Everything after that is just a sub of his own design called the “Deepsea Chal-
negotiating your price,” he wrote in lenger” into the Mariana Trench—the ocean’s
an essay for Empire. deepest point at 6.77 miles below the surface—
Forty years later, Jim has experi- becoming the first person to do so. He collected
enced an astounding amount of suc- samples and documented the experience in the 3D
cess in the film industry as a writer, format he is known for.
producer, and director. His movies Jim is still active in ocean conservation and is
have grossed more than $6 billion developing a number of ocean projects. In partner-
worldwide; several of his films, ship with BBC Studios and Ray Dalio’s OceanX,
such as Titanic, The Terminator, and he is producing a new television series that takes
Terminator 2: Judgment Day, are on place on board the OceanXplorer, a state-of-the-art
many top movie lists, including Ste- marine research ship that will anchor in the Carib-
ven Jay Schneider’s 1001 Movies You bean for ocean research.
Must See Before You Die. It’s not only the ocean’s conservation Jim is
Jim has always enjoyed diving, concerned about. He has been an environmental
which was taken to a whole new advocate since he was in high school.
level in the mid-1990s as he got ready “I grew up as a naturalist. I spent all my time
to direct Titanic, a film that broke out in the woods—I loved nature. It was part of
Academy Award records, wining 11 me, I was part of it,” he has said.
of the 14 Oscars it was nominated He’s tracked issues like deforestation and pol-
for. Starting in 1995, he made a lution into adulthood, always doing what he can
number of submersible dives into the to help.
North Atlantic to study the famous Some could call Jim’s 2009 film, Avatar, a love
shipwreck, which sits on the ocean letter to the environment, though the impact it
floor two and a half miles down from would have wasn’t seen right away.
the surface. “As for Avatar, that was practically pro-
In 1998, Jim and his brother nounced dead by the powers that be before it was
established Earthship Productions, released—I remember the head of the studio at
a company that makes documentary the time said that ‘Avatar is just a word. It doesn’t
films about deep-sea exploration and mean anything to people,’” Jim wrote in his Empire
conservation. Jim continued making 30 essay.
dives down to the RMS Titanic, flying He developed new camera technology and
bots inside the wreckage. Wanting special effects technology to capture what a
to learn more, he commissioned the beautiful, natural world can look like, free of the
building of two robot vehicles that devastating effects that climate change can have.
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In the film, the Na’vi share and embrace
the interconnections of themselves and
the physical world around them, aware
of the impact their actions will have on
their environment.
It’s not just an issue in fictional
worlds.
Jim wants everyone to be aware of
how their actions can affect the world.
He has been vocal about the climate
dangers facing the planet and cham-
pions sustainable practices to benefit
Earth’s health, but he really started to
study the environment in earnest about
a decade ago in order to come up with
solutions he as an individual can carry
out.
Jim has campaigned for Indigenous
peoples against invasive industrial-
ization in Canada and Brazil. He has
spoken to world leaders on panels and
at conferences about environmental
threats and encouraged action. He
founded the Avatar Alliance Founda-
tion to promote strategic environmental
research with its multimillion-dollar
endowment, given by Jim. (Part of the
foundation, the Food Choice Taskforce,
works with NGOs to provide up-to-date
analysis on the science and current
numbers on issues like animal agricul-
ture.)
The new campus of Jim’s production
company, Lightstorm Entertainment, is
eco-friendly as well: It features chemi-
cal- and toxic-free paints and cleaning
products, has a water conservation
program, offers plant-based meals, is
solar powered, and has energy-saving
programs. Jim is simultaneously work-
ing the next two Avatar sequels at his
production studio, with a fourth and
fifth film planned to be released before
the end of the decade.
Now Jim is inviting everyone to see
how everyday objects—like cars—can be
sustainable and eco-friendly. In January
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2020, Mercedes-Benz unveiled the VISION AVTR, an “It was Jim who handed me
electric car inspired by Avatar. In partnership with the first book to read about it and
Jim and his creative team, the vehicle was show- started talking to me about it,” she
cased at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las says. “He was processing it more
Vegas. The car has unique spherical wheels inspired from that point of view.”
by the “seeds of the Tree of Souls” from Avatar, She notes that at the time
which are said to make less impact on forest floors. of his research—about a decade
Passengers interact with the car through a control- ago—there were no libraries full of
ler on the center console that can—along with the information on the subject.
seats—vibrate with the pace and heart rate of the “That’s why we ended up work-
driver, demonstrating how man and machine might ing with Chatham House and Oxford
one day merge. University,” she explains, “because
(For you film buffs, this is reminiscent of how if we were going to go out into the
the Na’vi interact with their banshees in Avatar.) world and start talking about animal
The car is the image of what sustainability agriculture and the environment, we
could look like: It is powered by graphene-based really wanted to have the numbers.”
organic battery cells, which may be compostable And the numbers are astound-
in the future, and the interior is outfitted in vegan ing:
leather and recycled plastics. Even the plant in • Animal agriculture is the number
which the AVTR was built is sustainable, according one contributor to extinction and
to Ola Källenius, the chairman of Mercedes-Benz’s biodiversity loss due to the land
parent company, Daimler. needed for raising livestock.
“The AVTR concept car was symbolic of a • Animal agriculture is the second
philosophy of sustainability, but showing how it leading cause of greenhouse
could be done with flair and with imagination and gases—more than all transporta-
with style,” Jim remarks. “It was meant to capture tion combined—by contributing
the imagination and the attention of car enthusiasts 14.5 percent.
everywhere and then ride in on that the message • 17 percent of global freshwater
that Mercedes-Benz is making a big investment and consumption is used for livestock.
they’re taking their company that way—they’re tak- • Beef generates 20 times more
ing their company to zero carbon on the manufac- greenhouse gas emissions and
turing side and on the operating side and they’re requires 20 times more land than
using their highly advanced design capabilities to beans, per gram of protein.
design the vehicles of the future.” • The livestock sector is the largest
Jim’s environmental activism all comes back contributor to global water pol-
to the idea of one person being able to make small lution and a major driver of the
differences. ocean’s 404 dead zones.
“I think it’s about the psychology of indi- • Every day, upward of 80,000 acres
vidual choice and what we can do as individuals to of tropical rainforest are lost to
empower ourselves in this conversation,” he tells cattle ranching, wiping out 135
Arnold Schwarzenegger during the 2020 Austrian plant, animal, and insect spe-
World Conference, which was the biggest environ- cies—50,000 species a year.
mental conference in the world. When Jim explains the idea of
Jim explains that he started to learn more about veganism to others, he compares it
the impact of dietary choices on the environment: with what he knows: business.
climate change, ocean pollution, river pollution, “The fundamental principle in
deforestation, habitat destruction, and so forth. He business is you cut out the middle-
learned everything he could on the connection be- man,” he tells Schwarzenegger.
tween diet and the negative environmental impact “The animals take a huge tax from
to the point where he began to teach Suzy. us, from our world, for being the
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middleman between us and the chemicals that are used in milling fabrics and
plants. You take them out, you eat dying fabrics and even some of the fabrics...” Suzy
the plants directly, things get much trails off, lost in thought. She shakes her head
more efficient—in terms of land and quickly cites board shorts as an example of
use, maybe 10 times more efficient. her concern: “When the sun hits them, the fabric
In terms of carbon footprint for an breaks down and it leeches into the body. If you’re
individual, maybe a third, maybe a sweating profusely in some of these fabrics—your
quarter of what you were.” skin is your largest organ, so those chemicals are
Although plant-based eating has going to go straight inside you. They’re carcino-
changed Suzy’s life drastically, she, genic, they’re endocrine disrupters.”
like her husband, was already con- Red Carpet Green Dress is a contest to create
cerned with environmental issues. an environmentally friendly evening gown from
Suzy founded Red Carpet Green sustainable materials. The dress is then debuted
Dress in 2009. It raises awareness at a red carpet event. Designers are encouraged
about the impact the fashion indus- not only to use upcycled materials—to use bits
try has on the environment as the from old clothes to create something new—but
second leading cause of pollution. also to source the material as best as they can.
“What people won’t realize (One designer came to Suzy with the concern that
is the dyes that are used and the an environmentally friendly silk was harvested
PHOTO BY ALISTAIR GUTHRIE
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by children who use slingshots to kill birds trying lunch and snack program for the
to eat the silkworms. The issue made Suzy realize children—everything was grass-fed,
how the program can deal with social responsibil- cage free, and organic. It has a seed-
ity and animal welfare.) to-table program, so the students
Suzy wore the first winner’s design to the were growing—depending on what
Academy Awards. Since then, winners have been time of year it was—60–80 percent
given internships with top designers like Vivienne of the produce they would eat at
Westwood and have been presented with new school.
career opportunities. The program now has a part- “They’d plant it, grow it, harvest
nership with Tencel Luxe for its own Red Carpet it, they learned to prepare it, and
Green Dress fabrics. then we have compost for them that
But it was plant-based eating that inspired we use,” says Suzy.
Suzy to create an entire movement. Called OMD, After Suzy and Rebecca’s
she set forth an idea to help people make a large families went plant-based, the sisters
impact with a small action. realized they couldn’t call MUSE an
One Meal a Day (OMD) is a lifestyle that was environmental school while serving
born out of MUSE School, the school Suzy and animal products. They decided to
her sister Rebecca founded in 2006. The school make their food programs plant-
nurtures students’ passions and celebrates them based; they also took 18 months,
as individuals. It has a huge environmental com- starting in January 2014, and created
ponent that is threaded through everything the an educational program for the staff,
students do, from their academics to their passion students, and students’ families
projects. about plant-based eating.
MUSE had an online program for students “We had speakers come in once
traveling abroad with their families, but when the a month: doctors, climate scientists,
COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the world, Suzy and authors, chefs, athletes, people who
her sister got down to business. They launched were experts in their field to come
MUSE Virtual, a school-wide robust online learn- in and talk to the children—we have
ing program. With students in the United States, students from two years old all the
Austria, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, way to 18—and they spent the day
Suzy and Rebecca are able to help students con- going from classroom to classroom,
tinue learning on a global scale. speaking to the children about being
The campus is solar powered, zero waste, and plant-based in a developmentally
a dye-free, toxin-free, pesticide-free zone. (Jim appropriate way depending on how
designed the school’s solar sunflower, a sculptural old the kids were,” Suzy explains.
solar arrangement that tracks the sun.) “At nighttime, we would gather the
In its beginning, MUSE offered a wonderful parents and families and give them
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beautiful plant-based food and a glass of wine. We
had food committees with the children, food com-
mittees with the parents, and Dr. Neal Barnard
was incredibly supportive and helpful, and he cre-
ated a document for us to give out to parents who
were concerned.”
And some were really concerned. How would
their children get protein? How would their brain
develop normally without “proper” nutrition?
How could the school do this—the children will go
hungry!
It was that last comment that Jeff King, the
head of the school, eventually heard too much of.
“‘People! You can feed them what you want for
breakfast and feed them what you want for dinner!
It’s one meal a day! It’s OMD!’” Suzy imitates King
with gusto. “So that’s where OMD was born.”
MUSE became the first 100 percent plant-
based school in North America (that Suzy and
Rebecca are aware of) in the fall of 2015.
“And we promptly lost 50 percent of our fami-
lies,” says Suzy with a burst of laughter. “I looked
at my sister and I thought, ‘Well, we just killed the
school, but at least we did it for a great reason!’”
The loss of students didn’t last long. Word
got around that MUSE was entirely plant-based
and enrollment surpassed what it had been in
less than a year. Families have moved closer to the
school because of its plant-based programs and
environmental components, some from as far as
Europe.
As awareness has spread about the school’s
platform, so have the inquiries to establish MUSE
schools in various locations. MUSE is currently
in discussions with management partners, family
offices, and others regarding the worldwide expan-
sion of MUSE schools in a way that maintains the
unique “DNA” of MUSE globally.
The success of OMD led to Suzy penning
The OMD Plan: Swap One Meal a Day to Save Your
Health and Save the Planet. In it, she explores
studies done on how plant-based eating can help
prevent and reverse issues like diabetes, high
blood pressure, dementia and Alzheimer’s, obesity,
and overall mortality. She outlines the benefits of
a vegan lifestyle and points out the staggeringly
harmful effects agriculture has on the environ-
ment, which include deforestation, extinction, and
greenhouse gas emissions.
PHOTO COURTESY
BY XXX OF THE CAMERON PERSONAL FAMILY PHOTO ARCHIVE
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“Our OMD pledge is one person “It’s virtually destroyed—or at least temporar-
swapping one meal a day for a plant- ily—what used to be my core business, which is
based meal for one year, and this filmmaking for theaters,” he points out. “The big,
yields a savings of 200,000 gallons theatrical experience is basically dead right now,
of water and the carbon equivalent or at least dormant—I would say it’s in a coma.
of driving from Los Angeles to New It will revive and it’ll come back and that market
York,” says Suzy. “Now imagine if demand will come back. But not without a big hit
everyone on the planet did just that, to the theaters and the infrastructure and how
or two meals, or all three! Wow!” much of that is extant after a year or two with only
In addition to study references 20 percent of your former revenue. So I think we’ve
and facts, Suzy writes about her own seen the world is changing.”
story of plant-based eating and those Jim notes that the pandemic is a zoonotic dis-
of her friends and family. The book ease—it mutated in an animal and had the ability
acts as a step-by-step guide for those to transfer to humans. He points out that the next
interested in adopting a vegan diet. pandemic could be an H1N1 avian virus and that
(An entire section is dedicated to every chicken on the planet would be put down
plant-based recipes.) after its discovery, to have mutated to be able to
Her site, omdfortheplanet.com, transfer among humans.
is the anchor of the OMD movement “Our relationship with animals should be
and offers tons of information, sto- that we watch them on National Geographic,” he
ries, recipes, and encouragement. determines. “There are so many good reasons for
On top of creating an entire us to shift as a civilization toward plant-based eat-
movement to better the world, Suzy’s ing that have to do with sustainability, the survival
work has earned her a position as of the human species on a finite planet, and the
a global visionary for UBS. She also survival of our natural ecosystems—it causes so
serves on the mission board along- much deforestation and pollution and so on. There
side Richard Branson and Arianna are so many good reasons and that’s just another
Huffington of IMAGINE—which one. How about if we didn’t have these pandem-
works with CEOs transforming their ics? Wouldn’t that be cool?”
companies into sustainable busi- Jim and Suzy haven’t just made it their mis-
nesses—where she works in its food sion to change the world—it is their life. They have
and fashion sectors. Recently, Suzy embraced ways to feel healthier, practice sustain-
joined the board of Live Kindly—one able businesses, and do their part to make sure the
of the fastest growing plant-based planet is in good shape for future generations.
companies of its kind—along with “I wake up every day thinking about what else
Paul Polman, Kees Kruythoff, and can I possibly do to help make the world a better
Walter Robb. place for our children to grow up in,” says Suzy,
The COVID-19 pandemic has looking a little sad for the first time. “I know how
put a halt on many of the Camerons’ I grew up. I grew up swimming in clean lakes and
plans, including Suzy’s speaking en- being able to romp around outside and it wasn’t
gagements and Jim’s film schedules. sweltering. There were tornadoes in Oklahoma,
PHOTO BY ALISTAIR GUTHRIE
40 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE PRE-SPRING 2021COVER PROFILE
James Cameron & Suzy Amis Cameron
but there always have been tornadoes in Oklahoma. Yet I don’t their fault. But they’re inheriting
remember hearing about big fires or hurricanes or cyclones or something, a big mess.”
anything like that.” Hopefully, by the time their
She looks up, an expression of wistfulness on her face. grandchild is grown, the world won’t
“It’s heart-wrenching. I hear my children talk about what’s be a mess any longer. This game-
going on in the world. As children have grown up and gotten changer couple invites you to be part
older, there’s always been something, whether it’s the Cold War of the planet’s solution, not its
or the Vietnam War, or something like that. For these children destruction.
to have that stress of not knowing: Are the grown-ups going to
fix it? Are they going to take a stand and make things different? FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE
Because we’re the ones who messed it up. Not the kids, it’s not VISIT OMDFORTHEPLANET.COM
PRE-SPRING 2021 LIFESTYLES MAGAZINE 41You can also read
