By: Earth’s Best Organic
I Paid: $1.19 for a 4-ounce jar
(prices may vary by region)
Taste:4stars
Marketing:4stars
SuperTaster Video
James Norton edits the Upper Midwestern food journal Heavy Table. He's also the coauthor of a book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers. His Supertaster column, in which he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus, appears on CHOW.com most Mondays and Thursdays. His wife, Becca Dilley, takes the photographs for Supertaster. She specializes in weddings and food photography, and is the coauthor of and photographer for the book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers.
Buy an organic sweet potato. Nuke or steam it. Mash it or cut up small. Serve it. Save money and packaging.
Babies do not have to eat baby food. After seeing how my sister fed my niece (steaming veggies, cutting them up in a small dice and putting them on her high chair tray to feed herself), I wonder why anyone buys insanely exspensive little jars of food, which they then spend countless hours trying to spoon into their kids' mouths. No wonder the kids don't like veggies! If someone was trying to force spoonsful of strained peas into your mouth, you wouldn't like them either!
Baby food is really just marketing -- how do you think humans managed to survive before Gerber? And now they have special foods for toddlers and even older kids -- heaven forbid they should eat what their parents eat! Eventually you end up with families where they don't eat together and no one cooks, because it's too much trouble to make different things for each member of the family.
All these special kids foods are just a way for them to sell you less food for more money.
I agree too. I made my own baby food for my three as well. I bought a jar of food once and when I opened the lid it kind of smelled like ash tray. Who would want to feed their kids that??? My kids are pretty good eaters now. I even have one that loves brussel sprouts!
The jars don't end up in landfills all the time- they're highly sought after as stuff-holders. But you're right, how hard is it to roast or microwave a couple of butternut squash or sweet potatoes? Sheesh. Yes, I raised my son that way, and he eventually developed a well-rounded palate. He doesn't subsist on fast food like a lot of his friends.
I have to disagree with all of you dissing baby food. It is an excellent appetite enhancer for cats recovering from surgery (esp. the above mentioned Earth's Best turkey and veggie dinner). Also, jars are quite useful for carrying salad dressing to work for lunch.
Whoa there! Careful not to fall off those high horses, y'all!
Sometimes I like to go out of the house with the baby. Sometimes we go out for a few hours at a time, even. It's nice to be able to carry a jar of baby food that won't spoil, doesn't take up much room in the diaper bag, and that won't spill all over the place.
Yes, yes, I steam and puree vegetables for the kid as well, but there's also a place for convenience.
2nd ~ as a mom of 6 month old twin boys who works full time, making my own baby food for them is not an option right now. would love to save the $$, but until they can eat a mushed up version of what i'm eating, there will be little glass jars overflowing my cabinets
I too have 10 month old twins, and work FT,,, but I make almost all my own food, mostly because the thought of feeding my kids stuff out of a jar nauseates me. If I won't eat it, why should they? One of the first times I actually went shopping for baby food, i saw ham and pineapple blended together in a jar.... GROSS. It was grey!
My stick blender has been well worth its price...
I do mix the foods with either baby barley, rice ceareal or oatmeal... just so they get some carbs and vitamins... But tofu and sweet potatoes... or yogurt and brocolli, or ginger carrots with yogurt have proven to work well for us. Avocados, Applesauce, bananas, blueberries, appricots, strawberries... all fresh.
These Supertaster columns aren't about best practices. These columns are about reviewing commercially made products sold in stores - so can we please get over the shock, dismay and snobbery some of you have with with buying jarred baby food - or any other jarred, boxed or canned food? It happens - get over it.
Babies can't use their thumbs and index fingers to pick up food until they're fairly old, so they need to be spoon fed. I made lots of baby food, especially sweet potatoes. Still, variety is nice. I'd say I gave my son one Earth's Best a day for about a year. But they were only 50 cents 15 years ago. (Has inflation been that bad?)
I don't think it's inflation that's jacked the prices up. I think people really are alienated from babies, tend to think of them as entirely different sorts of beings that they have to study up on before they dare interact. Many concerned parents, wanting to do what's best for the child, will trust "science" over their own instincts, whether that means not sharing carrot soup or choosing the formula that's "most like mother's milk" rather than using the simple, quick method that nature gave us to always have the age-appropriate food right up our sleeve (and over a bit). Some folks are even afraid to take the little one out of the house (see above) without taking along a special set of nutrients, as though you can't pick up something for a little one where ever you are--California roll at the sushi place, fresh fruit or simple low-sodium crax lots of places.
Vorpal, you mean it's not a personal thing between me and mwl that we never agree on anything? I have always appreciated your posts for being thoughtful and respectful, even in stating disagreement.
As for baby food jars--eat more capers, pimentos too!
saacnmama: I've only ever once seen mwl agree with anyone (over at Table Manners), and I must admit I was shocked - although I believe the agreement was in being critical towards someone else. I don't believe in, "If you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all," but I do firmly believe that, "If you never have anything nice to say, you should seek help."
I also have enjoyed your posts! You often take a child-oriented consideration in your opinions, which a childfree old coot like myself hadn't considered, having little experience with little ones.
As for baby food, this article is quite enlightening to me, as I actually eat it myself sometimes for health reasons! I have Crohn's Disease, and find that when I'm quite ill and bedridden, I need something extremely inoffensive, completely natural, and easily digestible, and jars of baby food do the trick. At least now I'll be able to pick jars with a bit more sophistication now :D.
Regardless of the marketing and ecological factors, my kid would never eat any commercial baby food apart from the bananas. Sometimes when I heated the vegetables up and added salt and/or some other spices, he would eat them. Nothing could convince him to eat any of the meat-containing baby foods, regardless of brand. After tasting them, I could see why. They're pretty disgusting on their own. I finally figured that if he wasn't going to eat them unless I sauteed them with salt, cheese, pureed onions, or what have you, then I might as well just put some of what we were having in a blender and feed it to him. It ended up being easier in the long run, and he was more likely to eat it.
There seems to be a belief that babies don't need flavor in their food. My own kid certainly seemed to. It seemed to me that the Gerber stuff was the most flavorless, but all of them were pretty gross.
my kids took baby food with them to daycare and when we went out and i had no issue with it. they're pretty natural. sure the made at home is less processed but they're not that bad. my kids are GREAT eaters now at 6 and 2. didn't stop them from anything but it made me sane and life more convenient.
I thought the tasting was funny and entertaining. And, I agree that the convenience is worth something so I don't necessarily diss busy moms and dads who use baby food.
I had a 9 month old who refused baby food and would only eat what we ate. It was a really interesting phenomenon, since I had a two year old at the time, who had eaten a lot of the baby food you are all 'dissing'. Trying to cook everything soft enough, and cut it small enough so she could feed herself was a big job.
Shhhhhhhhh - I still love Gerber Toddler Plums - buy them all the time, for a snack.
As for the question of convenience: I guess it depends what you call 'convenient'. More categories of stuff to keep track of stocking up on, more separate meals to prepare for other folks, the perpetual calendar of when what food has been introduced...for me, none of that could approach the convenience of offering my child the choice between what I've got on my plate and what I've got for nursing afterwards. But parents are under fire enough without criticizing each others choices. Cheers!
Just out of curiosity....what is the point in having an adult eat baby food to decide its taste ? Isn't that sort of assuming that things taste the same to an adult as they do to a baby? I was under the impression that the taste buds had to have a little time to develop, and that many tastes are very overwhelming / strong to the young that taste otherwise mild to us.
i understand what you are saying IM-NOMAD, and the same can be said for pet foods when they say " better tasing" but they have to use adults comparasions (i think) so we as adults can relate to it. but again you have a good point
I worked with many PHDs in Nutrition at the largest Teaching Pediatric hospital in N.A. It's downright dangerous to select food for an infant based on appearance, smell or adult tastes. In particular Moms, absolutely no sodium for little ones.
Recent scientific investigation indicates that it can take a dozen attempts to introduce a new food before it is accepted. So be patient. Their main job is to grow and they need calories to do it. Get them in to them any way you can without doing harm.
Rather than stick jars of baby food in the diaper bag, I stuck a little hand-held baby ricer, called, I think, "Happy Baby". It ground up teeny portions of whatever veggie I was eating. As for something like chicken, I guess my animal instincts took over and I just slipped a piece in my mouth, chewed once and got a little gastric juice going on the stuff and popped that in baby's mouth. They seemed delighted. Kind of a time-honored tradition, I'd say.
But what a concept, finding relief for Crohn's with baby food. Very imaginative. I feel for you! Baby rice cereal might work too or just cream of wheat (unless wheat is a problem; there's also cream of rice -- get them both from Indian stores for cheaper if you've one near you). If jarred baby food works for Crohn's, I wonder if human breast milk would be better? Just a thought....
Buy an organic sweet potato. Nuke or steam it. Mash it or cut up small. Serve it. Save money and packaging.
Babies do not have to eat baby food. After seeing how my sister fed my niece (steaming veggies, cutting them up in a small dice and putting them on her high chair tray to feed herself), I wonder why anyone buys insanely exspensive little jars of food, which they then spend countless hours trying to spoon into their kids' mouths. No wonder the kids don't like veggies! If someone was trying to force spoonsful of strained peas into your mouth, you wouldn't like them either!
Baby food is really just marketing -- how do you think humans managed to survive before Gerber? And now they have special foods for toddlers and even older kids -- heaven forbid they should eat what their parents eat! Eventually you end up with families where they don't eat together and no one cooks, because it's too much trouble to make different things for each member of the family.
All these special kids foods are just a way for them to sell you less food for more money.
Agreed. And frankly when I attempted commercial foods they grossed me out and I threw them away.
I agree too. I made my own baby food for my three as well. I bought a jar of food once and when I opened the lid it kind of smelled like ash tray. Who would want to feed their kids that???
My kids are pretty good eaters now. I even have one that loves brussel sprouts!
I have a question about these brands. Which one doesn't contain melamine?
What Ruth said, plus...all those dinky jars that cost energy and resources to make and transport and finally wind up in landfills.
The jars don't end up in landfills all the time- they're highly sought after as stuff-holders. But you're right, how hard is it to roast or microwave a couple of butternut squash or sweet potatoes? Sheesh. Yes, I raised my son that way, and he eventually developed a well-rounded palate. He doesn't subsist on fast food like a lot of his friends.
I have to disagree with all of you dissing baby food. It is an excellent appetite enhancer for cats recovering from surgery (esp. the above mentioned Earth's Best turkey and veggie dinner). Also, jars are quite useful for carrying salad dressing to work for lunch.
As to feeding actual babies, agreed.
Whoa there! Careful not to fall off those high horses, y'all!
Sometimes I like to go out of the house with the baby. Sometimes we go out for a few hours at a time, even. It's nice to be able to carry a jar of baby food that won't spoil, doesn't take up much room in the diaper bag, and that won't spill all over the place.
Yes, yes, I steam and puree vegetables for the kid as well, but there's also a place for convenience.
1st ~ i agree... Earth's Best are the best choice
2nd ~ as a mom of 6 month old twin boys who works full time, making my own baby food for them is not an option right now. would love to save the $$, but until they can eat a mushed up version of what i'm eating, there will be little glass jars overflowing my cabinets
I too have 10 month old twins, and work FT,,, but I make almost all my own food, mostly because the thought of feeding my kids stuff out of a jar nauseates me. If I won't eat it, why should they? One of the first times I actually went shopping for baby food, i saw ham and pineapple blended together in a jar.... GROSS. It was grey!
My stick blender has been well worth its price...
I do mix the foods with either baby barley, rice ceareal or oatmeal... just so they get some carbs and vitamins... But tofu and sweet potatoes... or yogurt and brocolli, or ginger carrots with yogurt have proven to work well for us. Avocados, Applesauce, bananas, blueberries, appricots, strawberries... all fresh.
These Supertaster columns aren't about best practices. These columns are about reviewing commercially made products sold in stores - so can we please get over the shock, dismay and snobbery some of you have with with buying jarred baby food - or any other jarred, boxed or canned food? It happens - get over it.
mwliechty: Do you ever say *anything* positive? I've seen your posts all over Chow and they've been astoundingly critical and unpleasant every time.
Babies can't use their thumbs and index fingers to pick up food until they're fairly old, so they need to be spoon fed. I made lots of baby food, especially sweet potatoes. Still, variety is nice. I'd say I gave my son one Earth's Best a day for about a year. But they were only 50 cents 15 years ago. (Has inflation been that bad?)
I don't think it's inflation that's jacked the prices up. I think people really are alienated from babies, tend to think of them as entirely different sorts of beings that they have to study up on before they dare interact. Many concerned parents, wanting to do what's best for the child, will trust "science" over their own instincts, whether that means not sharing carrot soup or choosing the formula that's "most like mother's milk" rather than using the simple, quick method that nature gave us to always have the age-appropriate food right up our sleeve (and over a bit). Some folks are even afraid to take the little one out of the house (see above) without taking along a special set of nutrients, as though you can't pick up something for a little one where ever you are--California roll at the sushi place, fresh fruit or simple low-sodium crax lots of places.
Vorpal, you mean it's not a personal thing between me and mwl that we never agree on anything? I have always appreciated your posts for being thoughtful and respectful, even in stating disagreement.
As for baby food jars--eat more capers, pimentos too!
saacnmama: I've only ever once seen mwl agree with anyone (over at Table Manners), and I must admit I was shocked - although I believe the agreement was in being critical towards someone else. I don't believe in, "If you don't have anything nice to say, you shouldn't say anything at all," but I do firmly believe that, "If you never have anything nice to say, you should seek help."
I also have enjoyed your posts! You often take a child-oriented consideration in your opinions, which a childfree old coot like myself hadn't considered, having little experience with little ones.
As for baby food, this article is quite enlightening to me, as I actually eat it myself sometimes for health reasons! I have Crohn's Disease, and find that when I'm quite ill and bedridden, I need something extremely inoffensive, completely natural, and easily digestible, and jars of baby food do the trick. At least now I'll be able to pick jars with a bit more sophistication now :D.
say vorpal
seeing that you actually eat the stuff
on a pure taste level who's is worst / best
gerber beechnut.........
Regardless of the marketing and ecological factors, my kid would never eat any commercial baby food apart from the bananas. Sometimes when I heated the vegetables up and added salt and/or some other spices, he would eat them. Nothing could convince him to eat any of the meat-containing baby foods, regardless of brand. After tasting them, I could see why. They're pretty disgusting on their own. I finally figured that if he wasn't going to eat them unless I sauteed them with salt, cheese, pureed onions, or what have you, then I might as well just put some of what we were having in a blender and feed it to him. It ended up being easier in the long run, and he was more likely to eat it.
There seems to be a belief that babies don't need flavor in their food. My own kid certainly seemed to. It seemed to me that the Gerber stuff was the most flavorless, but all of them were pretty gross.
my kids took baby food with them to daycare and when we went out and i had no issue with it. they're pretty natural. sure the made at home is less processed but they're not that bad.
my kids are GREAT eaters now at 6 and 2. didn't stop them from anything but it made me sane and life more convenient.
I thought the tasting was funny and entertaining. And, I agree that the convenience is worth something so I don't necessarily diss busy moms and dads who use baby food.
I had a 9 month old who refused baby food and would only eat what we ate. It was a really interesting phenomenon, since I had a two year old at the time, who had eaten a lot of the baby food you are all 'dissing'. Trying to cook everything soft enough, and cut it small enough so she could feed herself was a big job.
Shhhhhhhhh - I still love Gerber Toddler Plums - buy them all the time, for a snack.
Wait...who pays for surgery for a cat? It seems it would cost less and be an earth-saver to just get another cat that already exists.
?????
foodperv--see StrawbrryF's comment above.
As for the question of convenience: I guess it depends what you call 'convenient'. More categories of stuff to keep track of stocking up on, more separate meals to prepare for other folks, the perpetual calendar of when what food has been introduced...for me, none of that could approach the convenience of offering my child the choice between what I've got on my plate and what I've got for nursing afterwards. But parents are under fire enough without criticizing each others choices.
Cheers!
Just out of curiosity....what is the point in having an adult eat baby food to decide its taste ? Isn't that sort of assuming that things taste the same to an adult as they do to a baby? I was under the impression that the taste buds had to have a little time to develop, and that many tastes are very overwhelming / strong to the young that taste otherwise mild to us.
i understand what you are saying IM-NOMAD, and the same can be said for pet foods when they say " better tasing"
but they have to use adults comparasions (i think) so we as adults can relate to it. but again you have a good point
I worked with many PHDs in Nutrition at the largest Teaching Pediatric hospital in N.A. It's downright dangerous to select food for an infant based on appearance, smell or adult tastes. In particular Moms, absolutely no sodium for little ones.
Recent scientific investigation indicates that it can take a dozen attempts to introduce a new food before it is accepted. So be patient. Their main job is to grow and they need calories to do it. Get them in to them any way you can without doing harm.
Rather than stick jars of baby food in the diaper bag, I stuck a little hand-held baby ricer, called, I think, "Happy Baby". It ground up teeny portions of whatever veggie I was eating. As for something like chicken, I guess my animal instincts took over and I just slipped a piece in my mouth, chewed once and got a little gastric juice going on the stuff and popped that in baby's mouth. They seemed delighted. Kind of a time-honored tradition, I'd say.
But what a concept, finding relief for Crohn's with baby food. Very imaginative. I feel for you! Baby rice cereal might work too or just cream of wheat (unless wheat is a problem; there's also cream of rice -- get them both from Indian stores for cheaper if you've one near you). If jarred baby food works for Crohn's, I wonder if human breast milk would be better? Just a thought....