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Jar No More In an effort to save money and better control what their kids are eating, more parents are turning toward making their own baby food  Image courtesy istockphoto Today's modern conveniences sure do make life easy. How did we once live without the microwave, the meal in a box or fast food? Life is busy, everyone knows that, and with nutty schedules, some days there's just no time for the prep, cook, serve days of old, which is why for some, the idea of making their own baby food - an item readily available in multiple flavors in cute little jars - may seem a big time suck when that time could be spent elsewhere. But speaking of spending, they're not convenient for nothing. Karen Cicero, the food and nutrition editor for "Parents" magazine, tells the story of a co-worker who makes his 8-month-old child's food and estimates that for every jar of canned fruit he buys, he can make the equivalent of 12 jars using fruit bought at the supermarket on sale. "It could save you $20 to $25 a week," Cicero says. "Right now, the big thing is the cost savings." A quick cost shopping comparison showed pre-packaged banana baby food bought at Walgreen's was $1.79 and a half-dozen bananas at Whole Foods cost $.99. Jennifer Taggart, author of The Smart Mama blog and book, "The Smart Mama's Green Guide," (Center Street,2009) made all her own baby food for her two children, now ages 4 and 6. She wanted to limit their pesticide intake as well as utilize locally grown vegetables to reduce resource consumption. "At that time, the selection of organic baby food was relatively limited," she says. Along that same line, "those little jars are waste intensive," Taggart says. "Baby food is expensive. It's way cheaper to buy a sweet potato and you get eight servings out of it." Taggart utilized the popular ice-cube tray method, which she notes are easy to pop out and serve. Cicero says that another advantage to homemade is that you can introduce your child to more flavors because, while there is a plentiful variety of flavors available on the market today, there's still more outside the jar. That said, there are some foods that children under certain ages shouldn't eat if you're making them at home. Because jarred food can be tested for things like high levels of nitrates, a parent interested in home-making baby food should consult the American Academy of Pediatrics' Web site for information on the recommendations. It's no secret that when it comes to babies, everyone's got an opinion. Whether or not to make your own food is a personal decision and in no way renders one a good or bad parent. It's simply a matter of choice. In Taggart's case, it was important to her to know exactly what her kids were eating. But as New York-based pediatrician, Dr. Anatoly Belilovsky notes, "presumably you get the same nutrition as you would from store bought with a little more vitamin losses from the cooking process." Belilovsky says that the only really big advantage he sees is that it's a bonding experience. "You put your love and effort into your own baby food," he says. |
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