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Despite her cultivation broadside hustle, movie prima Zooey Deschanel is adamant that she does not person a greenish thumb.
"People presume that because I'm the co-founder of Lettuce Grow, I emotion to garden," she laughs. "I'm like, the full constituent of Lettuce Grow is for group who don't needfully emotion to garden!"
Related: Zooey Deschanel Embraces the Word 'Quirky' and Thinks Businesses Should Too
Lettuce Grow is simply a hydroponic vertical plot strategy that allows you to turn fruits, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers astatine home. If you don't cognize what that means, don't worry, you're not alone. While the wording tin beryllium confusing pinch Lettuce Grow, the ngo is clear: make caller nutrient much accessible.
While ever passionate astir the environment, Deschanel and her business partner and ex-husband Jacob Pechenik were peculiarly inspired to return connected this situation aft becoming parents.
"While nurturing a baby, I wanted america each to eat arsenic people arsenic possible," Pechenik shares. "But I was shocked by really costly it was to bargain real, unprocessed food."
This realization led him down a rabbit hole, culminating successful the creation of The Farm Project, their first task aimed astatine revolutionizing the caller nutrient industry. Through that process, Pechenik discovered that the existent situation isn't increasing the food — it's getting it from the workplace to people.
As he explains, our existent nutrient strategy prioritizes shelf-stable, packaged equipment complete caller produce, moreover though eating much greens is amended for some our wellness and the planet.
The problem is that greens don't recreation good — they commencement losing freshness the infinitesimal they're picked, starring to astir 50% discarded owed to spoilage during carrier and at market stores.
This discarded contributes to c emissions, h2o discarded and chemical runoff from business farming. Pechenik believes addressing nutrient distribution inefficiencies tin importantly amended some wellness and biology outcomes.
The cardinal lies successful the packaging — not conscionable of the product, but of the message. To efficaciously marketplace Lettuce Grow, the co-founders focused their messaging connected individual health, connecting the dots betwixt what group eat and really they feel.
"For astir people, the information starts pinch individual health," Pechenik says. "That's what hits home."
In a cleanable world, everyone would person entree to caller produce, but Deschanel acknowledges that's a lofty goal.
"We want to get everybody increasing nutrient astatine location because it's the champion way, but who wants to build a raised bed, haul successful ungraded and hold for seeds to germinate?" she says.
While farming offers numerous benefits, it besides comes pinch barriers for illustration cost, knowledge and time—especially for engaged people. Lettuce Grow's newest product, the Counterstand, intends to break down these barriers and guideline mundane group toward increasing their ain food.
"We wanted to return the guesswork retired of increasing and make it nosy and easy," Deschanel explains. "If personification says they don't person time, we opportunity it only takes 5 minutes a week. If they're unsure what it looks like, we show them really awesome it looks connected a countertop aliases patio. It's for illustration training wheels for growing."
The Counterstand is not conscionable a increasing strategy — it's a manner portion that helps group turn their ain plants.
"It's particularly awesome for group who unrecorded unsocial aliases struggle to usage up caller produce," says Pechenik. "You tin person lettuce, basil, aliases onions increasing correct connected your countertop each season, cutting arsenic needed."
In keeping pinch its ngo of accessibility, Lettuce Grow precocious collaborated pinch Costco to waste the Counterstand and their celebrated Farm Stand Nook.
"We're really excited astir Costco," Pechenik says. "They're the country's largest integrated nutrient seller, and it's a awesome opportunity to present Lettuce Grow to a broader audience."
Related: How to Turn Your Home Into an Urban Farm
"This business feels for illustration a existent reflection of what America wants," Deschanel added. "Sustainable, patient choices. It's a awesome ballot of assurance for us, and we couldn't beryllium much excited to person them arsenic a partner."
While Deschanel has played galore divers roles successful her acting career, co-founder of Lettuce Grow is 1 of the fewer that represents a existent hold of her individual values.
"The constituent of acting is to measurement into a characteristic and do thing different for myself," she explains. "With entrepreneurial projects for illustration this one, I tin correspond my ain morals."
Still, it's easy capable to image a Lettuce Grow Counterstand nestled successful the area of Jess's New Girl apartment.
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