Sheherazade Ventura Goldsmith (' Bentley; 14 March 1974) is a British environmentalist,

jeweller A bench jeweler is an artisan who uses a combination of skills to make and repair jewelry. Some of the more common skills that a bench jeweler might employ include antique restoration, silversmith, Goldsmith, stone setting, engraving, fabricat ...

and columnist. During the 1990s, Goldsmith worked in the

fashion industry Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashio ...

and, after

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...

, engaged in environmental activism undertaking a variety of green initiatives starting with an

organic food Organic food, ecological food or biological food are food and drinks produced by methods complying with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming features practices that cycle resources, promote ecological ...

business that she ran in London until 2002. In 2007, she edited a guide to eco-friendly living, ''A Slice of Organic Life: Get Closer to the Soil Without Going the Whole Hog'', which she followed a year later by publishing a how-to guide for celebrating Christmas in an environmentally friendly way, called ''A Greener Christmas''. In June 2013, she launched a "concept jewellery" label ''Loquet London'' with her friend and model

Laura Bailey Laura Bailey is an American voice actress. She made her anime debut as Kid Trunks in the Funimation dub of ''Dragon Ball Z''. Her other anime credits include Emily / Glitter Lucky in ''Glitter Force'', Tohru Honda in ''Fruits Basket'', Lust in ...

. Goldsmith frequently contributed as a columnist to various national newspapers and other UK publications; she has three children by her former husband,

Zac Goldsmith Frank Zacharias Robin Goldsmith, Baron Goldsmith of Richmond Park, (born 20 January 1975) is a British politician, life peer and journalist serving as Minister of State for Overseas Territories, Commonwealth, Energy, Climate and Environment s ...

, former Conservative MP for

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park ...

, whom she divorced in 2010.

Early life

Goldsmith was born at

King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed b ...

Camberwell, London Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles and a Common land, commo ...

to John Bentley, a financier and entrepreneur, and Viviane Ventura, a Colombian actress. She was educated at the French Lycée in London and

Aiglon College Aiglon College is a private co-educational boarding school in Switzerland, broadly modelled on British boarding school lines. It is an independent, non-profit school located in the Swiss Alps. It is located 60 km from Lausanne in the alpine vil ...

Career

Goldsmith was known as Sheherazade Bentley prior to marriage, her pen name in newspaper columns such as ''The Sunday Times''. Since her divorce, she has continued as a writer and spokeswoman for various environmental causes.

Business

In 2000, while pregnant with her first child, she and her friend Serena Cook opened ''Deli'Organic'', an organic

delicatessen Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...

in Battersea's so-called "Nappy Valley". The café also soon became one of the first of its kind to set up what ''

W Magazine ''W'' is an American fashion magazine that features stories about style through the lens of culture, fashion, art, celebrity, and film. W was created in 1972 by James Brady, the publisher of sister magazine ''Women's Wear Daily'' (''WWD''), ori ...

'' called a "thriving business delivering fresh, organic baby food" to interested mothers. Goldsmith cooked children's food from the shop's kitchen and served customers for nearly two years, her deli's best-seller being the full English breakfast: restaurant critic A. A. Gill said in a review, "The Deli'Organic is, despite everything, quite fun in a homespun, uncomfortable... way." After the birth of her second child in 2002, Goldsmith closed down the enterprise.

Journalism

Goldsmith has contributed articles on environmental concerns, organic food and products, style and beauty, and other topics to a variety of national newspapers and publications. She wrote a regular column for ''The Sunday Times'' on organic food and dining from October 2002 to March 2003. She has also written columns for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' and has been a food contributor to '' Harper's Bazaar'' magazine. Goldsmith has also contributed columns and recipes to various media organizations and brand names such as Sophie Grigson's ''The Fairtrade Everyday Cookbook'', Waitrose, and the

UKTV Food Good Food was a cookery channel broadcasting in the United Kingdom and Ireland, latterly as part of the Discovery, Inc. network of channels. The channel originally launched on 5 November 2001 and relaunched in its final format on 22 June 2009 ...

channel.

Books

Goldsmith is the editor-in-chief of ''A Slice of Organic Life: Get Closer to the Soil Without Going the Whole Hog'', which was published by Dorling Kindersley in 2007 and became a best-seller The book offers more than 90 self-contained projects to grow food organically, cook homegrown produce, and keep specific livestock, with different applications for city dwellers, suburban populations and homeowners with vast lands. The publication's projects range from growing strawberries in a hanging basket to keeping chickens or energy saving tips for home. ''BookPage'' called the book "an earnest, friendly manual that'll entice you into the kitchen to make jam, even if you've never before successfully boiled water": its central aim was to illustrate "that you can live anywhere and still make a contribution to the environment without actually making any sacrifices". After the book's publication, Goldsmith stated, "there is a huge misconception that being green is more labour-intensive, more expensive and means giving up all your creature comforts." Goldsmith's second book, called ''A Greener Christmas'', was published by Dorling Kindersley in September 2008. ''A Greener Christmas'' is a collection of various projects to help families celebrate an environmentally-friendly Christmas.

Activism

Goldsmith's interest in environmental issues was sparked by

motherhood ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of gesta ...

: "I became interested when I became pregnant with Uma, and then suddenly became very concerned with what I was eating, what I was washing with and so on, and the effect it would have on the baby. When your child is born you start to worry about a zillion other aspects too, such as toys, food and toiletries," she told ''Health and Organic Living'' magazine. She is an admirer of David Attenborough, Sir David Attenborough, whose "love, passion and also his understanding of nature and what she can offer" she has often praised. She is a longstanding event organiser and donor of the

Soil Association The Soil Association is a British registered charity. The organisation activities include campaigning – against intensive farming, for local purchasing and public education on nutrition – and certification of organic foods. It was establ ...

, for which she also served as a spokesperson during its Organic Fortnight from 6 to 21 September 2008.

Philanthropy

Goldsmith is a supporter of London-based charities: she has been a committee member of the HOPING Foundation, and is also a supporter of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity, for which she helped organise a fundraising fashion show with the designers ''Robinson Valentine'', which made her

wedding dress A wedding dress or bridal gown is the dress worn by the bride during a wedding ceremony. The color, style and ceremonial importance of the gown can depend on the religion and culture of the wedding participants. In Western cultures and Anglo ...

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goldsmith, Sheherazade 1974 births English jewellers English people of Colombian descent English columnists English environmentalists

Sheherazade Scheherazade () is a major female character and the storyteller in the frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the '' One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade'' de ...

Living people People educated at Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle People from Chelsea, London People from Denmark Hill People from East Dulwich Spouses of life peers Writers from London Women jewellers