the “Baby Food” myth

Rachel — Mon, 23 May 2011 14:50:54 +0000

Are babies best served by food that is “scientific, uniform, twice boiled, and sold in jars.” And what about that white rice cereal? In our culture, it’s a classic first food. But, Dr. Greene says it’s akin to feeding baby white flour. He goes so far as to say, “it’s no wonder that kids are hooked on junk food when their first food is akin to Wonder Bread!” (see the entire article at Healthy Child, Healthy World)

My husband and I bought up (expensive!) baby food and fed our babies rice cereal and water (or breast milk) like most parents. But when I think about the concept of “baby food” after reading Dr. Greene’s work, my common sense tells me that feeding baby the whole foods we eat – with variety, spices and all – is a logical way to avoid fussy eating and teach baby to love those greens!

Making baby versions of your family’s food should be easy, convenient, frugal, earth-friendly and healthy. Of course, that’s assuming you’re already eating organic, whole foods. But if you’re not, approaching baby’s diet as an extension of your own might be just the encouragement you need to start making those choices that you really want to make anyways! And, that’s good because baby will be eating exactly what you’re eating someday. And that day comes more quickly than you’d expect!

If you want to learn more about the issues and science behind the baby food myth, get yourself a copy of Dr. Green’s Feeding Baby Green. The book is chock-full of ideas you can use to develop your family’s approach to feeding baby well.

Organize a Baby Food Swap!

Rachel — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:25:31 +0000

Do you plan to feed your baby homemade baby food? Or, maybe you already do? Either way, you’ll quickly discover that cooking baby food is easy. Run down to the farmer’s market and buy whatever fresh, organic produce is priced right. Cook and puree single foods or mix and match a few for an older baby.

OK… But, now you have a quart of sweet potatoes and one teensy tiny baby mouth to feed. What do you do with all the leftovers? I know, I know, you freeze that baby food into convenient ounce-sized portions with Fresh Baby’s clever baby food trays. Since you want to provide a varied diet, your freezer soon becomes packed with a few recipes and baby starts getting tired of your sweet potatoes. What next?

Organize a Baby Food Swap!

What a perfect excuse for new moms to get together! A Baby Food Swap is simple – just ask each mom to bring one large batch of homemade organic baby food either freshly made or frozen. She can pack it in 2 cup containers or bring it frozen in baby food cubes a lá Fresh Baby for easy sharing. Just like a cookie swap, each mom will leave with several servings of a variety of recipes.

Is your group intimidated about making homemade baby food? You can make the Baby Food Swap a cooking party too. Ask each mom to bring fresh ingredients for cooking at the party. Equip yourself with a few good food processors and share the love. When they see how easy it is to prepare, they’ll be ready to schedule the next Baby Food Swap with finished products (there’s more time for chatting that way). If you don’t know much about making baby food yourself, checkout Fresh Baby’s “So Easy Baby Food Kit“, which includes an instructional DVD and homemade baby food cookbook, plus those handy dandy baby food trays.

I only wish I’d heard of this idea when my children were eating baby food. Oh, the money I could have saved. And, oh, the fun we would have had!

Euphoria for Green Mamas » homemade baby food

the “Baby Food” myth

Organize a Baby Food Swap!