Anorexic Model Crystal Renn Thinks Children Should Learn Farming

Fashion model Crystal Renn nearly killed herself to achieve fame and beauty, and she wants to make sure other young women don’t do the same. In an interview with the Telegraph she confesses that the worst thing about modelling is “the lack of control.” Now 28, the in-demand fashion model wrote a memoir, Hungry, at the tender age of 23. Hungry tells the story of being just that–hungry, while trying to lose the weight a talent scout told her she needed to if she wanted to be a top model. Renn became anorexic and chillingly thin. Now she’s a well-balanced “plus-size model,” a size 12 according to the Daily Mail. And her career, like Renn herself, is in better shape than ever before.

The Mississippi-born Renn has lit up the runway for Jean-Paul Gaultier and been the body and face for brands like Agent Provocateur and Chanel. She’s even worked with the ubiquitous artist Marina Abramovic, when Abramovic edited an edition of Ukrainian Vogue. (Yup, Ukrainian Vogue.) As for her hopes, Renn would like to see yoga and meditation taught in schools. And one more thing, too–proving you can take the girl out of Mississippi but not Mississippi out of the girl–agriculture. A sound foundation in learning, according to the plus-size beauty, would have to include agriculture. Also known as making food.