My husband Joe and I were planning to have a child, and we got excited about looking for Paleo baby food, but we couldn’t find anything! I searched in grocery stores, baby stores, online—nothing! That’s how the idea for Serenity Kids was conceived.
Today’s organic baby food is ridiculously high in sugar, and contains almost no fat. We did a study of 250 leading organic baby foods and found that 80 percent have 5g of sugar or more. Feeding a 15-pound baby 5g of sugar equates to an adult having an 18-ounce Coke. Sixty percent of organic baby foods contain 10g of sugar or more—two 18-ounce Cokes! Even though meat is an ideal first food, only four percent had meat (none of which was grass-fed), and all of the meat foods contained fillers like grain, dairy, legumes or fruit. Less than one percent had more than 2g of fat.
The more we learned about infant nutrition, the more we discovered the importance of fat intake in the development of a baby’s body and brain. The USDA says infants need at least 30 grams of fat a day, and yet high-fat baby foods are virtually non-existent. Grass-fed and pastured meats provide the best source of protein and fat one can eat, yet no company makes them accessible to babies.
Cheap fruit purees bring in a HUGE profit margin. Babies get hooked on them, as they provide little nutritional value and make the baby need to eat more and more. Sugar addiction starts at infancy. Joe and I set out on a mission to transform the baby food industry and end childhood obesity.
We tested ten different recipes on babies all around Austin, and narrowed it down to their three favorites. Our baby foods are one third fatty meat, and two thirds starchy and green vegetables. We add a little Himalayan sea salt for flavor and added minerals, and some water for consistency. But that’s it! No fruit, no sugar, no fillers, and no common allergens.
Taylor Collins, the founder of Epic Bar, connected us with the regenerative farming movement. We are now able to source meat from animals raised exclusively on pasture on small American family farms, that are never given hormones, antibiotics, or GMO feed. We visited these farms and saw first hand how much care they put into their animals, and you can taste it in their meat!
Science is clear that pasture-raised meat is better for us on every level. It is MUCH higher in Omega 3 Fatty Acids, CLAs, and quality vitamin content. It makes sense that if you feed animals what nature intended them to eat, their meat contains the nutrients nature intended for us! Plus, the regenerative farming movement teaches farmers how to graze ruminants, foragers, and fowl in a way that mimics nature, and thus improves the land they’re grazing on. Thus making a more sustainable business for the farmer. So it turns out that what’s healthiest for your baby, is also what’s most economically viable for the farmers, humane for the animals, and is healing the planet!
We’re excited for babies, toddlers, and even adults to enjoy our food as a meal or snack when on the go or when cooking isn’t an option. And to help give back to farmers and to heal our planet in the process is a huge added bonus that we are committed to as a company and a community.
Let us know what you think!
