Australian cook, author and restauranteur, Maggie Beer, has established a charitable foundation that aims to improve quality of life for current and future generations of older people.

With its slogan ‘creating an appetite for life’, the Maggie Beer Foundation wants fresh food that is full of flavour to be a daily pleasure for everyone as they age.

Below, Mrs Beer answers questions from the Dying to Talk Discussion Starter, launched on Wednesday as part of National Palliative Care Week.

For support in discussing end-of-life wishes with your loved ones, download it from www.dyingtotalk.org.au

If you had a condition that you could not recover from, what would be important to you, towards the end of your life?

To be able to say goodbye to everyone special to me and to leave a letter for each of the family for later, talking of the things I hope for each of them and how much I love them.

Are there any pets that you would like to see or be with you, if this is possible?

If I had a pet at the time yes.

Would you prefer a quiet environment or do you prefer activity and chatter around you?

I would want to be able to look out on the garden and to have music playing and my family around so that’s a bit of each.

Would you like music to be playing and if so, what style or what music?

See how important music is! It was one of my first thoughts. I would like classical, probably opera, or jazz from the 1930s and ’40s.

Is there anyone particular you would like to see or talk to?   

I would love to talk to retired Reverend Ian Parsons.

Is there anything else you can think of that you would like?    

I would like to plan the music and the food for my funeral. I want to be buried in a balsa wood coffin on the property we live on and have an olive tree planted to mark my resting place. Next to me, I would like a space for my husband for when his time comes, with a big strong red gum for him.

What is on your bucket list of things you would like to do or achieve before you die?

I have so many things I still want to do in life, like the work with my foundation [Maggie Beer Foundation]. In terms of family, I want to see my daughters happy and each of my grandchildren grow up and find their niche, their purpose and their happiness.

How did you feel during the process of completing this form? Was there anything about the process that interested or surprised you?    

I felt a little sad but satisfied to have written it down.

To read more about the Maggie Beer Foundation or make a donation, click here.