New York Times Lists Top 5 Organic Foods, Misses One
This week Tara Parker-Popes’ excellent health blog on the New York Times site listed the top five organic family foods. On her list are milk, potatoes, peanut butter, ketchup and apples. Great choices to be sure, but how can one talk about organic family foods and not include something for baby? Baby’s brain and body are growing so quickly that nutritious food is a must, and baby’s developing immune, central-nervous, and hormonal systems are highly vulnerable to environmental toxins.
Today, there are more organic choices available to parents than ever before. There have been a slew of new organic product introductions in recent years. This growing organic competition means that there is finally some downward pricing pressure in the organic market, and so good deals can be found if you shop around and compare prices on baby food. Some manufacturers even offer coupons, and Big Box retailers like Target and Walmart carry organic baby food as well. While organic baby food is still more costly than conventional food, the price difference is not as great as one might expect.
Some of the options available among jarred foods include: Earth’s Best, Gerber Organics, Healthy Times and Organic Baby. In the DC metro area, where I shop, the best prices are on Gerber Organics. However, for just a few more cents, you can get far more interesting food combinations with Organic Baby, available at Mom’s Organic Market.
A relatively new category is frozen organic baby food. Although not as widely available as jarred organic baby food, and somewhat more expensive, this is a very convenient way to provide healthy organic food for baby. Brands available include: include: Baby Cubes & More, TastyBaby and Plum Organics. Like so much else with the organic movement, there is more choice available in California, but many of these products will soon be available nationwide.
But perhaps the best – and least expensive – way to give baby a wide variety of organics is to give him pureed or steamed organic food or biodynamic foods. An easy way to do this with very young babies is to purchase small trays, similar to ice cube trays, which can be used to store small portions of pureed foods. Follow the guidelines your pediatrician provides regarding food introduction.
And remember, the habits you instill today in baby’s diet will lay the foundation for a lifetime of good health.
— Lynn
Copyright 2007, Organicmania
3 Responses to “New York Times Lists Top 5 Organic Foods, Misses One”
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I am sure that most people reading this blog are already familiar w/ http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com but I thought I’d throw it out there just in case. When my son was eating “baby food”, especially purees, I referred to it daily, using organic produce and grains to make his baby food. It is a great resource with lots of recipes, tips and nutritional information.
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I totally agree with you, Allison. Wholesomebabyfood.com is a great resource! Thanks for passing this along. — Lynn
There’s another organic frozen baby food – HAPPYBABY – which is available at most DC metro area Whole Foods, along with some other smaller supermarkets. HAPPYBABY works closely with Dr. Sears. We are planning the launch (shortly) of a dry cereal called HAPPY BELLIES (with DHA and probiotics), as well as a frozen line for toddlers.
KARIN, Thanks so much for mentioning HAPPYBABY. Now I recall seeing it at the Tenleytown Whole Foods. I didn’t buy it, but the packaging looked great and the name is terrific. — Lynn
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