Zooey Deschanel isn’t here to fearmonger about food.
Instead, the former New Girl star is on a quest to find answers to common questions in the kitchen to help viewers better understand the food system and make informed buying decisions at the grocery store. Beginning Tuesday, all six episodes of her new educational series, What Am I Eating?, are available to stream on Max, the rebranded streaming service from Warner Bros. Discovery. Episode topics include subjects like fats, fruits, grains, greens and chocolate and feature Deschanel — along with a group of correspondents — traveling to local farms and speaking with experts to find the truth behind food myths and commonly held perceptions, such as whether buying organic is always necessary or if plant-based milk is healthier than cow’s milk.
“A lot of people get scared of things because they hear something’s so bad,” Deschanel tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I don’t want people to feel scared of eating. We want people to enjoy [eating] and be informed.”
The Max Original series is produced by ATTN:, the digital media company that was acquired last year by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs’ Candle Media. Previously, ATTN: had collaborated with Deschanel on Your Food’s Roots, a social media food series that served as the inspiration for What Am I Eating? and has garnered more than 16 million views for its most popular episode on bread.
As a longer-form streaming series, What Am I Eating? leans into the educational aspects of the show with infographic segments narrated by Deschanel, cooking segments and on location shoots at places like Bob’s Red Mill for an episode on grains and a Jelly Belly factory for an episode on fruit and fruit juice concentrate.
“Our goal was to avoid being elitist at all costs. In fact, some of the episodes help people save money because we say, ‘Hey, you actually don’t need to buy this [type of produce] organic — spoiler revealed,” Matthew Segal, the co-founder of ATTN: and an executive producer for the show, tells THR. “This show has literally made me smarter at the grocery store, and it’s my hope that other people will be smarter at the grocery store — and Zooey’s a great guide.”
In addition to streaming on Max, What Am I Eating? will be available to watch on the linear Food Network channel, which is under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella. And while the show isn’t skimping on sharing up-to-date food information, Deschanel says the episodes remain fun and accessible so that families of all ages can get together and enjoy the series.
“There’s something for everyone in this,” Deschanel says.
