Organic Baby Food

Hi J.---You can download a list of 100 different foods that are ranked from worst to best at www.ewg.org. They also have a link to personal care products, make-up, shampoos, sunscreens, etc that you should avoid. You can also input the products that you use and a ranking will appear for most of them. It's a really great, comprehensive website and you can request a wallet sized, reference card that you can carry with you when you go to the grocery store.

For example, potatoes should be organic, but it's not as important to eat organic with broccoli, cabbage and onions. Also, keep in mind, that it's more important to eats lots of fruits and veggies, organic or not, rather than avoid them because they are NOT organic.

I am taking a wellness class from a naturopath in Columbus OH. Dr. Popper also has her PhD in nutrition. I'd be happy to share what I am learning. I'd like to offer to facilitate an in-home wellness presentation with your family and friends. I do this at no charge. We just talk about the importance of whole food nutrition, do a little label reading and then see where that leads us in terms of learning how to feed our families more healthfully.

Just give me a call if you have any additional questions.
In health, D.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi J., At five months our son got all organic baby food. Now that he's older we buy organic bananas, grapes, green beans, carrots, blueberries, applesauce, yogurt, cheddar duck crackers, fruit bars & cookies by Earth's Best, milk, animal crackers, and as much as I possibly can. It can be more costly but there are health benefits and that can be long term savings.

Apples, strawberries, peaches - organic. Sooo many pesticides on them. The Environmental Work Group has a website that list the top offenders.

I used Earth's Best and/or made my own food (Super Baby Food book). I found Earth's Best at Babies R Us and Coscto for pretty good prices. Meijer carries it too.

I highly recommend the Super Baby Food book. Great recipes that are easy to make.

Hello,

We use organic food. I did some research as well and I found that I like the Earths Best jarred organic food best. They come in a ton of varities too. It also comes in cases of fruit, veggies, brakfast, lunch and dinner. Which I really like. the cases are about 10 dollars each and single jars range from 75 cents to 88 cents. The only issue is that most stores don't have a huge selection, I normally get mine at Meijer, and they can be ordered online. They also have a great website- check it out it was very helpful for me!

Good luck!
If you have any more questions feel free to message me!
A.

I tried to feed them organic when possible. As another poster said, if you eat the skin you should go organic. Sometimes financially this is impossible, but I try when I can. I do recommend making your own babyfood. It was really easy (seriously! it is! We picked a few things to make every week on Sundays and froze them) and since we have twins, it ended up being a great way to save money. Seems like now thwere are a lot more choices for organic jarred food, when my kids were babies there were a lot fewer out there.

I tried to feed my twins as much organic food as possible as infants. It may cost more, but I think it's the MOST important time to spend that extra money.

I also wanted to mention that I bought a lot of Earth's Best at Target - and often got a good deal there.

Hi J.,
If you are able to afford it, organic is a good way to go. I did organic for my daughter in the beginning. What I would suggest is making your own baby food... That is the most natural there is, and it really isn't as hard as everyone thinks it is. Each time I would make a different fruit/veggie I would make a bigger batch, grind it in my happy baby food grinder and freeze it. (Like another poster said, maybe cook new things once a week...) Ice cube trays work great for freezing, then just pop the cubes into a ziplock bag. Then, you just pull out the cubes you want for each meal and thaw them, so there's no cooking/grinding, etc. at every meal. I also liked it because the flavors are most natural because there is no preservative changing the flavor. Good Luck! :)

I found that Target had significantly lower prices on Earth's Best jar food, crackers, etc. compared with Meijer...

I work full time in a demanding career but made all my baby food organic and home made its real easy and real cheap
.

You need a blender and an ice cube tray (or two)

3 organic pears cost lets say at 1.29 a pound total $2.00
if you cut the fruit - possible steam 2 minutes add in blender and add a little water you in like less than five minutes have 1 to 1-1/2 trays of organic baby cubes that are about 2 oz each - bananas even easier, plums same! Other fruits are mango. Honestly I buy the jar of organic applesauce its way easier than making applesauce plus some have apricots and some have strawberry added! I open the jar and put into ice cube trays.

I place cubes into plastic label freezer ziplock and use same bags over and over.

I also do green beans, carrots, sweetpotatoe and when older I put leftover crockpot meals in blender and make more complex foods!

I should mention you can make rice, barly, oatmeal, quinoa and millet (my babys favorite) and then put into cubes. Seriosly it takes like two minutes to add grain and water to a pan and another two to put it into cubes when cooked.
when baby is young you can blend the grain to powder it before cooking!

Have fun!

I also use Earth's Best for cereals and make my own organic pureed food for my 8 month old son. I think it is important, not only for the little ones, but as a way to protect the environment.. We vote with our money every day!

Hi J.,

I started feeding my daughter organic food as soon as she was old enough to try solids. I really like the Happy Bellies organice cereals, and more importantly my daughter does, too. I googled organic fruits and vegetables to buy and basically found that if you're eating the skin (or it is thin skinned) you should buy organic (peaches, nectarines, apples, potatoes, etc). The thicker skinned foods that you peel (butternut squash, avocados, bananas, etc) you can buy conventional. Hope that helps, making baby food is fun!