Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Organic Baby Food: A Buying Guide

As you may already know, there are a number of benefits to eating organic foods.  To reap the most benefits, organic food should be consumed as often as possible, for as much of your diet as you can, to minimize toxins in your body.  What does this mean for parents?  It means that organic food consumption should start with baby food. 

Baby eating baby food (blended green beans)Image via WikipediaIf you just recently made the decision to integrate organic foods into your family meals, you may be looking for more information on organic foods for babies.  If so, you will want to continue reading on.  A few tips to help you get started with feeding your baby organic foods are highlighted below.

As previously stated, there are a number of benefits to eating organic foods.  These benefits include pesticide and chemical free foods.  These types of foods are even more important for babies and other small children, who need the best and healthiest building blocks in order to build healthy bodies as they grow.  In fact, there are now a number of professional healthcare providers who recommend to their patients that they feed their babies organic baby foods.  Many believe that eliminating potentially harmful chemicals and pesticides can help to promote healthy growth and good behavior in small children. 

Official seal of the National Organic ProgramImage via WikipediaWhen it comes to buying organic baby food, you will find that you can shop both locally and online.  Regardless of where you shop, it is important to look for certified organic foods.  These foods often have a specific label, which should be the same for all organic foods, no matter what the brand.  The United States does not allow a manufacturer to claim that their products are completely organic, unless they truly are.  That is why you should look for certified organic labels before making an organic baby food purchase.

As previously stated, organic baby food can be purchased both locally and online.  For many parents, they prefer to shop locally, as it is convenient to do.  Many supermarkets now carry a small selection of organic baby foods.  This means that parents can buy food for their babies while doing the rest of their shopping.  This is very convenient for many parents.  With that being said, you are often only presented with a limited selection of organic baby foods.  This can be difficult when looking to “spice,” up the foods that your child eats.  Also, examine stores that specialize in the selling of natural, organic foods.

As for shopping online for organic baby food, you can also find many more selections here.  As organic foods steadily increase in popularity, there are a number of online stores that sell organic foods, including organic baby food.  These websites can be found with a standard internet search.  To help get you started, Earth’s Best Organic, Diamond Organics, and Sweatpea Baby Foods all sell organic baby food.  Additional online stores and product manufacturers can be found with a standard internet search.  When looking to shop online, you may find it easier to search for the best prices.

When looking to purchase organic baby foods, especially online, look for foods that are convenient.  For example, there is a company that is known as Baby Cubes.  They sell cubes of frozen vegetables and fruits that are certified organic.  This is ideal if you must do your shopping online.  The ability to freeze organic baby foods and in safe containers can reduce the number of online orders that you have to make on a weekly or biweekly basis. 

In addition to buying organic baby food, many parents choose to make their own.  There are a number of books and online websites that highlight ways that baby food can easily be made at home.  (See below for a few articles and resources on this.) When following these recipes, just be sure to use organic fruits and vegetables.  As a reminder many supermarkets, specialty stores, and some farmer’s markets sell organic fruits and vegetables.  (And we love our CSA, for the freshest local organic food around!) When you start with fresh organic foods, you can rather easily and cheaply provide your baby with homemade organic baby food, which many claim is the best type of food to feed growing babies.
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Organic Baby Food Resources:
  

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