I feel blessed that I was able to breastfeed my son and felt great about providing him all the extra good nutrients and antibodies. Therefore, I also decided to make his baby food at home. Knowing what my son was eating and where it came from made me feel good. Making your own homemade baby food is super easy and very rewarding. Future posts to come regarding "super easy ways of making your own baby food."

The choice of conventional or organic food you introduce to your baby is a personal one. We all want what is best for our baby, especially when it comes to food. And for most parents, this means food that is fresh and with optimal nutrients which is why some parents choose to feed their baby organic food. I know we have all stood in front of the produce, looking at fresh fruits and vegetables, wondering, is organic really the better choice? One good reason to choose organic food over conventional is the use of pesticides on agriculture products like fruit, vegetables and grains. This is especially important for babies and children as they are still developing and limited in the foods they get, therefore this can increase their exposure to pesticides.

Why foods with pesticides? Food with pesticides help make groceries more affordable by saving crops from damage.

Why organic food? Organic food is free of pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones and genetically modified ingredients!

Exposure to pesticides can cause a wide range of health problems such as cancer, lung disease, reproductive problems, learning disabilities and even long-term damage to the brain and nervous systems, even though some of the effects may not become apparent until later in life. Infants and children are more vulnerable to pesticides because they are still developing and may not be able to break down pesticides and infants may more easily absorb the pesticides. Furthermore, pesticides can block the absorption of nutrients causing further problems with development. Eating organic is not initially about eating healthy, but eating food free of pesticides.

Simple steps to limit pesticides in food:

• buy organic, especially fruits and vegetables
• look for local grown products
• purchase products in season
• choose products free of decay and mold
• serve wide variety of foods

How often might you hear from your mom or other friends; "Well, we were raised on non-organic food and turned out ok"? That's true. However, the fact is that food didn't used to be pumped full of hormones or covered in pesticides when you were a child compared to the produce now.

...organically fed

When starting with solid food for my son, I made the mistake of giving non-organic food too soon. I thought, if I am already making his food fresh at home why does it need to be organic then? Well I was assured very soon to switch to organic food! Every time I gave my son non organic food that I had prepared with a lot of enthusiasm and love, he would get bad diarrhea. I tried different vegetables and fruits, thinking it might be just carrots, but no mater what I served him, it always ended in diarrhea! After researching and switching to organic food, my child began to absorb and digest his food properly. That´s the day when preparing and feeding solids became fun.

'Wisemommies'