Zooey Deschanel wants to make sure you\u2019re not mentally checked-out the next time you\u2019re filling your shopping cart in stores or online.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe New Girl\u201d star\u2019s latest gig is an unscripted series that just dropped on the Warner Bros.-owned \u201cI don\u2019t like the idea that healthy eating is a privilege and not a right,\u201d Deschanel told MarketWatch in a recent interview. \u201cI think it should be everyone\u2019s right to be able to eat healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n \n \u201c<\/span>\u2018I don\u2019t like the idea that healthy eating is a privilege and not a right.\u2019\u201d<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n And her new series comes at a critical time, as shoppers have seen grocery prices and other everyday items spike over the past couple of years. Prices for food at home rose 7.1% in April compared to last year, and low-income families are facing record-high food insecurity. So it\u2019s not surprising that many of us often resort to buying what\u2019s cheap or what\u2019s familiar \u2014 which often isn\u2019t the healthiest option.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong> Grocery prices are rising more slowly, but food insecurity is surging among low-income Americans<\/p>\n Solving this problem is something Deschanel, 43, and a mother of two, has been passionate about for years. In fact, the new Max series grew out of a show she did with media company ATTN: called \u201cYour Food\u2019s Roots.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt wasn\u2019t like [\u2018What Am I Eating? With Zooey Deschanel\u2019] was a show that was pitched to me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was something I was deeply involved in for a long time before this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In fact, Deschanel has co-founded two companies devoted to giving more people access to healthy food. One is Lettuce Grow, launched in 2017, which sells customizable hydroponic systems to farm fresh vegetables at home. That can be a pricey initial investment at $350 or so, however. So Deschanel also co-founded Merryfield, a free app that helps make healthier food options less expensive. Users scan their grocery store receipts after shopping, and they earn rewards for buying items from Merryfield\u2019s roster of dozens of \u201cbetter-for-you\u201d partner brands. These products won\u2019t contain artificial colors, artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils, for example.\u00a0<\/p>\n MarketWatch chatted with Deschanel about her new show, and got her tips on how to shop healthier without putting all of your money where your mouth is \u2014 just in time for Memorial Day weekend. Here are edited excerpts from that conversation.<\/p>\n MarketWatch:<\/strong> So what got you involved in parsing through food myths and simplifying what to buy at the supermarket? Was there a particular food-shopping question or dilemma that really helped sell this concept to you?\u00a0<\/p>\n Deschanel:<\/strong> It was when I was pregnant with my first [kid] that I started becoming really curious about what I was eating, where it came from. I was eating for two, and getting ready to feed my own family, and trying to figure out the healthiest way to do that. They were all just questions that came out of that \u2026 How can we be inspired to be the healthiest eaters we can be, and also enjoy our food, while also making connections and creating community through food? And I learn so much every time I meet a chef or a baker or a farmer.\u00a0<\/p>\n MarketWatch:<\/strong> Now that you\u2019ve done this series and learned all of these facts and myths around what we eat, is there a food or grocery-store item that maybe you used to buy all the time, that this show got you to toss or to swap out for something else? [Some products that the first few episodes of the series recommends include swapping out canola oil for grapeseed oil or peanut oil to get some healthy fats, for example, or using ghee \u2014 a type of clarified butter \u2014 over regular U.S. table butter.]\u00a0<\/p>\n Deschanel:<\/strong> I think it\u2019s definitely expanded what I buy, more than it has limited it. I can\u2019t think of anything I bought all the time that now I\u2019m like, \u201cEw, no, I don\u2019t buy that.\u201d It actually introduced me to a lot of things \u2026 that I think is such an asset as a home cook. It does really inspire me to eat in a very conscious way and a very sustainable way, and to know what I\u2019m buying and where it\u2019s from.\u00a0<\/p>\n MarketWatch: <\/strong>How does having kids complicate following all of these shopping tips you\u2019ve picked up on, and do you have any advice for other parents out there? Groceries are getting very expensive, and of course kids are expensive, too.<\/p>\n Deschanel:<\/strong> Food democratization is extremely important to me, and it\u2019s one of the reasons why I\u2019m interested in all of this.\u00a0Groceries are expensive. And that is definitely not lost on me. But I think the more we start being curious about our food, asking questions about our food, and going for those better-for-you brands as much as possible, we\u2019re able to actually drive those prices down. The more demand there is for healthy food, then the supply will go up and the cost will go down. So I believe that if we\u2019re all going for those things, then more companies will come into fruition to fulfill those needs, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n \u201c<\/span>\u2018Groceries are expensive. And that is definitely not lost on me.\u2019 \u201d<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n But in terms of kids, my kids are extremely picky. I can\u2019t say like, \u201cOh my kids eat broccoli all the time and love it, because I decided that we\u2019re gonna like it.\u201d They still eat kid foods. No judgment there, because I certainly order pizza for my kids sometimes [laughs.] I think the best thing with kids is to try and involve them in the process of making food at home. Instead of ordering pizza, making the pizza yourself. It\u2019s fun. They like it. They can expand their palate and see what they like and don\u2019t like, what they want to put on their pizza. <\/p>\n MarketWatch:<\/strong> One thing that came up in the first episode on fats and oils is that it may be worth spending a little extra money on cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, because there are so many benefits to it. What are some other purchases or services that you\u2019ve come to realize it\u2019s better to pay a little more for, because it\u2019s really worth investing in the quality?\u00a0Or, what are some hard passes you won\u2019t splurge on?<\/p>\n Deschanel: <\/strong>I think a lot of that has to do with personal preference. I can\u2019t tell somebody what they should or shouldn\u2019t do. From a health perspective, we do know that some foods, some non-organic foods, have more pesticides and herbicides on them than others. You can look them up, they\u2019re called the \u201cDirty Dozen\u201d [listed by the Environmental Working Group], so if you can, try to buy those organic. And then there\u2019s the \u201cClean 15\u201d \u2014 those are ones that generally they don\u2019t find as many of these chemicals on them, so those are safer to buy non-organic. I certainly don\u2019t buy everything organic, myself \u2026 but definitely the \u201cDirty Dozen,\u201d I buy organic.<\/p>\n But if you have some special thing you want from a special market, go spend that money. But don\u2019t just pile stuff in your cart and not think about it. Like, one time I put something in my cart, and then I realized they were\u00a0charging $15 for pomegranate seeds, and I was like, \u201cWait, no, that is not money I want to spend!\u201d <\/p>\n MarketWatch:<\/strong> Any other money-saving tips?\u00a0<\/p>\n Deschanel:<\/strong> Here\u2019s another hack; in my opinion, a big, big hack. I love buying coffee at the local [coffee shop], but not doing that every day saves you a lot of money. I make cold brew at home. It tastes great. There\u2019s so many things that we spend a lot of money on, not realizing too how certain things are easy to make at home, and you can have fun making them at home.\u00a0<\/p>\n There\u2019s coupons. There\u2019s certain stores that tend to have better prices. I might go to three different markets a week, and there\u2019s one that\u2019s a lot less expensive, and there\u2019s one that\u2019s medium \u2014 I\u2019m not going to name their names! \u2014 but\u00a0I\u2019ll try to buy as much as I can at the lower-price market, and a lot of times find a lot of great stuff there.<\/p>\n MarketWatch:<\/strong> What\u2019s the best piece of financial advice you ever got? Something you really still live by today?\u00a0<\/p>\n Deschanel:<\/strong> This isn\u2019t advice somebody gave me. I just find this to be a very good practice: Think about what you spend the most money on, and try to spend no money on it for a month or something, or however long you think you can, and then see how you feel.\u00a0<\/p>\n Because I actually did that this year \u2026 I tend to spend too much money on clothes. And for two months, I didn\u2019t shop. I wouldn\u2019t even let myself buy anything clothing-wise, even stuff I knew I needed. And it actually, totally changed my perspective, because before that, I kept thinking, \u201cOh I need this, I need this.\u201d And by the end of this cleanse, I actually was like, \u201cOh, I actually need less, and I want to give away stuff.\u201d It totally changed my perspective on want and need, and actually made me want to have less. And made me really understand that I really didn\u2019t need a lot of the stuff I was buying.\u00a0<\/p>\n Or subscriptions! I think we could all look through our subscriptions. You can accidentally subscribe to things and you\u2019re like wait \u2026\u00a0why do I have, like, a thousand bottles of almond milk or something? I accidentally signed up for a subscription like three months go, and now I have like a thousand [laughs]. I misjudged how much I needed. Looking at it, you can make it like a little fun game.\u00a0<\/p>\n So I think having those little periodical cleanses with the things that you kind of maybe spend a little too much money on is always a good thing. Just give yourself a little audit and see, like, \u201cHow much am I spending on that thing?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n streaming service formerly known as HBO Max (now Max) called \u201cWhat Am I Eating? With Zooey Deschanel.\u201d The six episodes seek to solve everyday food dilemmas that shoppers are facing, like whether it pays to spend the extra cash buying organic produce over non-organic fruits and veggies, or how to sort through which of the many, many milks and dairy alternatives are best for you and your budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n