Life is much easier in many respects now that Hannah is eating solid foods, but now we have a whole new set of challenges. Like snack foods. Our day consists of a series of Meals, Naps, Snacks, and In Betweens, so I need a ready supply of portable food to get through my errands. Unfortunately, there's a serious shortage of snack food that isn't disgustingly messy. Hannah would be in heaven if she could snack on avocado all day, but the world doesn't contain enough wet wipes to make that possible.
Snacks mainly consist of cheerios, freeze-dried bananas and mangoes, and Gerber puffs, which are like cheerios with flavor (sweet potato, corn, banana, etc). They're mostly air- a serving is 75 puffs and has a whopping 35 calories- but she thinks they're delicious. And yes, they have sugar in them, but so does everything. Even cheerios. So I figure, weighing sugar and some processed ingredients against baby happiness and a lack of smearing, the puffs are ok.
But I couldn't help but think that Hannah might like a little variety in her life. So the last time we were at the grocery, I was checking out the baby section to see what else they might have in finger foods.
Canned Meat Sticks? Hmmm, both messy AND disgusting. (really? Who was the marketing genius behind that one?) Aha, Gerber Lil' Crunchies. A baked whole grain corn snack. And look, pictures of peppers and tomatoes on the can. Those look promising. I tossed a can in the cart and we continued on our way.
Snack time rolls around and I bust out the crunchies. Hannah is in baby heaven. She flaps her arms, kicks her feet and dives for more. Curious, I try one. And yes, they are fabulous. Because they're the consistency of Cheetos (the puffy kind) and have the same flavor as Cool Ranch Doritos. And hey, they have the same first two ingredients- corn meal and corn oil- as Doritos. Chip industry - 1. Mom - 0.
Sneaky, Gerber, very sneaky... Maybe Nestle, Gerber's parent company, also owns some kind of chip line and this is their way of creating the next generation of consumers. I checked- that's not the case, although they do own Hot Pockets. Maybe they're just taking a blanket approach for a taste in processed foods.
As if my immediate "what have I done to my child" guilt wasn't enough, a few days later I was listening to a radio interview with Michael Pollan, author of
The Omnivore's Dilemma. And the main premise of his new book,
In Defense of Food, is that there are a lot of eat this, not that debates out there, but the easiest decision is this: You should eat (and by extension, feed your children) food. Not edible foodlike substances, which can be identified by their laundry list of ingredients and failure to resemble anything that grows in your garden or lives in your pasture.
Gerber Lil' Crunchy, anyone?
And the Hannah picture of the week.
"I can't believe this liberal bias. The New York Times is such a lefty rag."
prize,
