California Official Visitor's Guide 2024 - 31

ZOOEY THE ENTREPRENEUR
OOEY THE ENTREPRENEUR
Soon after becoming a parent, Deschanel started
thinking hard about the availability of healthy food.
" I really hate the idea that food can be elite, " she says.
" I don't like exclusivity. I think it's ridiculous. Why
should healthy food be some exclusive thing that
only people who make a certain amount of money
can get, or it's only for people who drive far out of
their way and have endless time on their hands? That
irritated me. "
So she got to work. Deschanel cofounded Lettuce
Grow in 2017, a company that sells home hydroponic
systems that can grow more than 200 varieties of
veggie, herb, and fruit seedlings. They're perfect for
the ambitious urban or suburban farmer.
Her good-food advocacy didn't stop there.
In 2021, Deschanel became cofounder and chief
creative officer at Merryfield. The company manages
a consumer app that rewards people for purchasing
food and home products from health-focused
brands. Shoppers take photos of their receipts, and
the app tracks their purchases much like a frequentflyer
program and offers rewards for choosing high
quality, better-for-you products.
" The idea behind Merryfield made so much sense
to me, " Deschanel says. " I'd been thinking for a while
about ways to incentivize people to really think about
their choices and the impact of those choices. Making
more informed, positive decisions for myself and my
family makes me feel good, and I know a lot of people
out there feel the same way I do. "
She & Him
"
OOEY
I think we need
to celebrate
people who are
optimistic and
positive. I like
- ZOOEY DESCHANEL
OEY DE CH
being inclusive.
On the topic of food accessibility, she does not hold
back. " The experience of having the resources to be able
to afford all this amazing produce, and also being able
to go to farmers' markets-it's something that shouldn't
be a luxury, you know? It really should be something
everybody gets to experience and everybody has access
to. That was very much the inspiration behind both of
those ventures. "
ZOOEY AT HOME HOME
Nearly every weekend, Deschanel and her fiancé
entertain at home. Their house is colorful, unique, and
joyful. It's them.
" We worked on the house very well together, " she
says. " He has amazing taste. But he wasn't like, 'Oh, it's
my way or the highway,' while we were redoing it. He's a
professional, and he's done hundreds of homes. But he's
also very collaborative. "
Deschanel says they each picked up where the other
left off. " He favors function-he wants everything to
function well, flow well. He can look at a floor plan and
know exactly how it's going to work practically, which
is such an incredible skill. I like choosing decor-
fabrics, rugs, wallpapers, tiles, paint colors, all that
stuff. That was my area. "
What they created was a home where everyone
in their lives is welcome. " We're very social. We love
having people over, " she says. " We love to have a party,
sometimes casual, sometimes more formal. "
Often they invite just their friends, and other times
it's their friends plus their friends' kids. " Because, you
know, then all the kids are happy. "
The last sunset she saw was last night, she says, from
her Los Angeles backyard. How does she describe it? " I
felt like I was home, " she says. And she's not leaving.
"
VISITCALIFORNIA.COM | 31
http://www.VISITCALIFORNIA.COM
California Official Visitor's Guide 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of California Official Visitor's Guide 2024
