Back to basics. Why good baby food
is important and how I started a
baby food company.
Kids have a habit of exposing our
flaws, making us grind our teeth as
our would-be perfect worlds are smashed
by nightly wake up calls, sticky fingers
on the couch, last minute cancellations,
no downtime; life lived on the brink
of happy, messy chaos.
So what can we do about it? I always
say that having kids (I have 4) made
me more relaxed; more nonchalant, even.
After the first years of learning to
throw up my arms and saying “whatever”,
my brain has developed a capacity to
select. From an emotional point of
view this means letting the noise and
niggles just wash over me. From a practical
point of view it made me prioritize.
So what were my priorities as a Mom
of 4 when they were babies? I realized
early on that basics are what count.
Sleep, healthy food and fresh air are
what counted for me. Sleep first:
as baby is not going to eat well when
she’s tired. Then food: when
baby is well-rested and ready to eat.
Then fresh air: to enable the cycle
to be repeated all over again.
I always cooked for my children from
the very start. That was my way of
giving to them – I felt it was important.
It was also, coming from England, part
of our culture to cook for our children.
When I came to the States just before
my second child was born (1998), I
saw a very different scenario. Children
were not eating many vegetables, and
ate a limited variety of fruits. They
did however, eat a lot of crackers,
plain pasta, and processed cheese;
a lot of white/yellow foods. A lot
of their Moms would say to me that
their children simply refused the vegetables.
It made me realize that what you give
your babies when they first start eating
solids is really important in order
to teach them what to eat. You also
have to persevere: if your baby doesn’t
like a particular food one day, come
back to it another and she may have
changed her mind. Most importantly,
you have to model good eating habits
yourself or the whole thing just doesn’t
work.
Out of interest, I started researching
babies and organic food. At the same
time, and as I got to know more Moms
in Cambridge and Boston, I realized
that they just didn’t give themselves
enough time in the day for cooking.
It was as simple as that! I thought,
why don't I start making fresh,
homemade organic baby food and freezing
it, just like I did for my kids? There
are a lot of Moms out there who intuitively
feel that homemade baby food is better
but where do they go for advice? Pediatricians
don’t have the time to advise
them adequately. There are websites
dedicated to homemade baby food, but
even then it can seem daunting. So
I decided to give it a go.
That was the easy bit. The next 6
months were spent finding a path through
the myriad of food safety, licensing
and organic certification requirements;
a bit of a minefield to say the least.
I also needed to source the organic
ingredients wanting to use as much
local organic produce as possible (though
unfortunately the growing season in
Massachusetts is woefully short). Then
it was a question of getting the word
out. Apart from their pediatricians,
Moms listen most to other Moms. So
getting Moms to spread the word about
this new kind of baby food was key.
The biggest hurdle has always been
getting Moms used to the idea that
baby food can be found in the frozen
foods section of a store, not just
on the shelf. And then, how to handle
frozen product so that it becomes as
convenient as a jar.
Another important factor is getting
Moms to understand that the preservation of
this baby food is in the freezing.
The jars of baby food are heated up
for longer during the manufacturing
process in order to make them shelf
stable. The jars also have additives
in them like ascorbic acid which prolongs
shelf life. Most importantly for me,
the jarred foods lack a lot of the
taste and it is the taste (color, smell
and texture) that teaches babies about
real food and makes the transition
to whole fruits or vegetables much
easier. I want babies to eat as close
to the real taste of food as possible.
That’s
why I call my baby food “real
food for babies”.
Right now I am in four stores around
Boston: Whole
Foods in Cambridge,
Debra’s Natural Gourmet in Concord – a
fabulous natural food store in the
top 100 in the USA; South
End Formaggio – a
wonderful purveyor of cheese and prepared
foods with a large number of babies
in the area; and Fresh
Pond Market in Cambridge – an old-fashioned
neighborhood store, family-run where
the owners know everyone’s names.
It is important for me to find out
about the market slowly, to get customer
feedback and find out how quickly food
is selling and which products are most
popular; whether parents are coming
back or whether they tend to be onetime
buyers.
A word on price: although my food
is more expensive than the jarred variety,
unlike the jars, I don’t add
any water to the food (except to the
sweet potatoes otherwise they would
have too much beta-carotene/ vitamin
A in them), so it’s higher quality,
more concentrated and goes further.
Finally, if a Mom comes up to me and
says that I’ve inspired her to
cook for her baby, I’m happy.
Although it would be foolish of me
to start a business without an eye
on the business, a huge reason for
starting it is to get babies eating
healthier and better from the very
start. This way they stand a better
chance of becoming healthier children
and adults.
Interestingly, researchers are now
going further back than 6 month old
babies: they are saying it's
important what you eat when you are
breastfeeding; they are also saying
it's important what you eat when
you are pregnant. All these factors
influence the health of our children.
And let’s face it, our health
is the most valuable thing we have.
Sara Cabot
Founder, little lettice Organic Baby
Food
www.littlelettice.com
sara@littlelettice.com
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