BenefitsEnvironmental Benefit: ★★★☆☆
Just imagine the countless little glass jars you can save! Sure, glass can be recycled but there is a high energy cost for making new bottles from old (they aren't just washed and reused in the U.S.).
Money Saved: ★★★★★
Baby food isn't cheap! Making your own is MUCH cheaper.
Lifestyle Benefit: ★★★★☆
Like many conservation-minded practices, this one takes a little extra work. But not much, especially when you consider all the extra shopping you'll save (not to mention shelf space in your pantry!) Babies that are old enough to start solids can handle most of the same foods you are preparing for your own family with very little additional work. Also, most commercial baby food preparations are actually less healthy than what you're probably eating. Eating a variety of "real" foods is more interesting for youngsters too - and my feeling is that they're less likely to be picky eaters later.
What We Did
The only baby food Shannon ever bought for our four girls (to my knowledge) was the dry box cereal mixes (rice & oats). She started them with a little of this and some mashed bananas, like many parents do. Actually she started them off breastfeeding, come to think of it, which still fits into this category of making your own baby food! Hopefully everyone knows the health and money-saving benefits of breastfeeding already. But after 4-6 months when they became ready for more, we simply had a little hand masher tool (a variety are available) that you press your own food through to mash and strain it (so no chunks that could cause choking). Sometimes she'd then add a little water and dry cereal mix to it so it had a better consistency and a higher cereal content. That's about it! They mostly ate what we ate, and were all very healthy for it. And yes, that is a photo of our one-year-old eating with chopsticks! They can manage so much more than we sometimes imagine . . .
Links
Here are some links with good guidelines for preparing your own baby food. Good luck!
A Little Humor
Q. What kind of bees make milk?
A. Boobies!
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