Food Companies Lied to Parents—Here’s How to Take Back Control (Part 2 of 3)

Feeding your family should be simple—but today, food companies have made it confusing on purpose. 

Nearly 70% of toddlers’ food and 73% of grocery store products are ultra-processed. 

And it’s not by accident—it’s by design, for profit.

In this episode, we’ll pull back the curtain on how we got here, revealing the six ways the baby food industry manipulate parents into thinking convenience equals better nutrition. 

We’ll review the real impact of ultra-processed foods on your child’s brain, gut health, and long-term eating habits.

But here’s the good news: You can take back control! 

I’ll share simple strategies for batch cooking, making one meal the whole family can enjoy (yes, even for babies!), and small steps to break free from the trap of processed convenience foods.

You don’t have to be perfect—just start making small changes today! 

🎧 Tune in now and take the FIRST step toward a healthier, stress-free approach to feeding your family.

==========================

Shelburne Farms, Vermont: Cheese Making

The Dorito Effect, by Mark Schatzker

Building Vocabulary Guide - get it NOW!

CONNECT WITH ERIN
contact@HyerLearning.com

www.HyerLearning.com

Join the Waitlist CLICK HERE - a lot is coming in the next few months!

Transcript

Erin: 0:00

The tactics aren't about making your kids healthier, or the best version of themselves, or to improve their sleep, or to improve their attention, or their mood regulation, or to inspire biting and chewing and good swallowing so then the teeth erupt on time. They don't care about that. They are motivated to keep us Hello, and welcome to Talking Toddlers, where I share more than just tips and tricks on how to reduce tantrums or build your toddler's vocabulary. We're going to cover all of that, but here, our goal is to develop clarity. Because in this modern world, it's truly overwhelming. This podcast is about empowering moms to know the difference between fact and fiction, to never give up, to tap into everyday activities so your child stays on track. He's not falling behind. He's thriving through your guidance. We know that true learning starts at home. So let's get started. Imagine this, your child at six or seven years old, eager to help in the kitchen, cracking eggs, stirring batter or chopping soft vegetables with a kid friendly knife, of course, but they're excited to try new recipes, pick out fresh ingredients at the farmer's market. Maybe even harvest something from a small garden that you together grew. Mealtime isn't a battle. It's a time to connect, share, and truly enjoy food together as a family. That vision, it doesn't just happen. It actually starts now. When your baby is 6, 8 months old. Exploring real food for the first time. The habits that we all build early. What we offer. How we eat together. The examples that we set. That lays the foundation for a lifetime of healthy, enjoyable eating together. So, in the last episode, part one, we uncovered the hidden dangers of ultra processed foods and why whole, nutrient densed options are essential for your baby's brain development, their gut health, and His or her emotional well being. But here's the biggest challenge and we're going to talk about that today and how they've manipulated us into thinking that time and convenience are really the enemy. And I get it. Life is busy, especially with little ones, but the food industry has made it ridiculously easy for you and me. All of us to fall into the ultra process food. But here's the good news. I'm always here trying to push the good news and what's in your control with a little planning batch cooking and serving one meal for the whole family. Why that isn't just possible, but it's incredibly attainable. And at the end of the day, it's life changing. Today, we're going to walk through how to make that happen, how to make your home really smooth when it comes to food and dinner time and lunch time. And it's all about not spending hours upon hours in the kitchen. So feeding your families needs to be and should be simple. But the food companies, like I said, and we're going to talk a lot about them today because they are against us. They have made it confusing on purpose. So you and I are overwhelmed with the choices and the language that they use and the beautiful packaging. But here's the truth, and it's pretty stunning in my opinion, nearly 70 percent of toddlers in the United States, 70 percent of their food is organic. Ultra processed. 73 percent of any grocery store, all of their food products are ultra processed. That really adds up, aligns with one another. And I tell you, it's not by accident. It is truly by design. And for profit on their side. So today let's get a little more practical with some history. I'm all about the knowledge base that we can come literally to the table with will help us when we have to make. Those decisions and plan our day and plan our week. How do we actually make home cooked meals work for you and your family? So let's just first recap what we talked about in part one, why food choices impact human development. You can go back later and listen to that episode, or if you choose you could stop now and go back. Both can stand on their own. You don't have to listen to part one in order to understand part two. But for now, what we did talk about in that episode was the power of Real whole foods and why they're essential for the baby's development. I looked at cognitive in particular that your baby's brain is growing at such an incredible rate. He or she needs the right building blocks to thrive and think of it as that foundation to the beautiful home that you're building, right? It needs to have solid footers. It needs to be shored down into the ground. So whatever you build on top is not on unstable ground. So how we do that is through the nutrients like iron, DHA, high quality proteins are crucial for brain function, memory, fluidity, and learning. Ultra processed foods, on the other hand, lack these key nutrients and that ultra processed foods even contain additives that negatively impact focus and development, all the things that you're striving for to help your toddler build it through your, your everyday experiences. I also focused on the gut and the brain connection. And we now know that critical. Critical communication is so important at any age, but especially as they're just beginning to build these neural connections, right? Your baby's gut health influences everything from his or her mood, their attention behavior, even their immune system. And that's true for you and me. as well, or at any age in between. But when we're looking at your baby and toddler, it's critical. The health gut, which is really supported by real, real whole foods like vegetables and fruits and quality proteins, and of course, healthy fats, that helps regulate the emotions, improve the digestion and support. Attention and learning again. All of these buzzwords that you and I talk about. How do we get them to attend and focus and thrive in this environment? But the processed foods are loaded with additives, sugars and preservatives. All of which disrupt that delicate balance. And so then we end up with a moody kind of grumpy kid, poor sleep habits, digestive issues. We talked a lot about digestive issues. What's your goal, right? When you look at your baby or your toddler or your, your You know, soon to be preschooler even. What's your goal? We want them to attend, to follow directions, to listen, to laugh and joke around. Not to have meltdowns, but to have smooth transitions. To tolerate changes when, the day is disruptive. To be open to learning and listening, engaging and playing. With himself and his peers and his family members. So the takeaway from last episode was that food, the food that you introduce early on literally shapes the brain and the body health for years to come. And that's why my message is always to move beyond the so called convenience of boxes and bags and pouches and focus on nourishing whole foods. Think, and I say this over and over again, but it's nutrient dense for you and me, especially for your little ones. So, At this stage, when we look at how do we set up our daily routines, right, our, our, our shopping patterns and our cooking patterns and our sit down meals together, the biggest challenge is always time and then, pushed up against what's most convenient and I understand you're busy. And the thought of making fresh meals on top of everything you're doing every day is overwhelming. And that's why families default to these pre packaged foods and these snacks and these pouches. These kid friendly objects, right? But here's the key. Nine out of 10 of those work against your babies. And the good news is, I'm always trying to find the good news, right? That feeding your baby and your toddler real food isn't complicated. Just like parent rearing, I don't think it's complicated either. It's exhausting. We have to plan ahead. It takes a lot of patience, right? A lot of team building, but it's not complicated. With a little planning around meals and shopping and cooking and prepping and a shift in your mindset. You can make it easier than managing separate meals because that's what ends up that, you know, the adults in the family eat one meal and then the kids eat their special food or their limited food choices, right? And then there's a lot of stress over these store bought options. And when you go to the grocery store, there are meltdowns there. Trust me, you can and want to avoid creating that infamous picky eater, the little one who only eats certain chicken nuggets or only eats certain types of pasta noodles or has a special cracker or a special biscuit. And that's all he'll eat. Like I said, Nearly 70 percent of the calories American toddlers consume is ultra process food products. I say they're products because they're not real food. Some people, or someone once said there's, there's no such thing as junk food. There's junk. And then there's food, right? But what that basically means is that by the time your little one is two or three, his diet, his food consumption is dominated by what we call meltables, right? Crackers or packaged snacks, those puffy, crunchy things, all of those things that as soon as they hit their mouth and a little bit of saliva, they just melt. Or sugary yogurts. Pouches, and we'll talk about pouches, but none of which require chewing. And here it's about oral motor development and the snowball effect that it supports for speech and articulation. It supports for good posture of your jaw and your tongue and which then supports good nasal breathing. If you're a good nasal breather, then that helps filter the air and less likely to get sick. Right. We, and then that supports good solid sleep patterns and not disruptive sleep patterns because they end up being mouth breathers. So it's all the cyclical interwoven relationship. Um, I want you to think about how we can all get on the same page and let's define what, what ultra processed food means and then look at what real natural single ingredient food means and how can you build your routines. right? You have to feed your kids three meals a day, a couple of snacks. You have to shop, you have to prep, you have to clean. There's a lot involved, a lot of steps, but we can make it easier. So ultra processed foods mean that they've undergone an extensive industrial processing. And we'll talk about A little bit we'll talk about because I think history is important. How did we get there, right? Or how did we get here? And, and UPFs, ultra processed foods, also add ingredients like preservatives, artificial flavors, and what does that mean? Colors, what does that mean? Right? None of which are really helping anybody, especially a baby or a toddler or a preschooler who's just getting his or her feet underneath them, literally, right? They're learning how to roll over and crawl and climb and talk and sit and swing and bike and read and, and all kinds of things. Right. But these ultra processed foods, which are the refined grains, breakfast cereals, energy bars, not much energy in there, chips, crackers, cookies, anything in a box or a bag. And now we have to include in a pouch. And, and the truth is We now have enough data over the last 30 to 50 years that this really lines up with long term health issues. And we're, we're looking at diabetes in children, obesity, depression, even cancer. And I've shared this statistic with you before and I'll keep going back, that 54 percent of American children have a chronic disease. And, and that data comes from 2019. Or I'm sorry, it's even worse than that. That data comes from 2013 and it includes only the ones that are properly diagnosed by a medical practitioner. What about all the kids that are just suffering, that are just getting by, that have low grade chronic whatever? Um, poor sleep habits that aren't sleep apnea, right? All of those kind of low grade things. And so when we look at what's happened in the last 30 to 50 years, and we look at how are the grocery stores laid out? And you might think, well, what difference does that make, Erin? Well, like I said, 70 percent of toddlers food or calories comes from ultra processed food. 73 percent of all the food products in a grocery store are ultra processed. So all of that is found, typically, or I'd say 90 percent of it, in the interior aisles. And this is true for pretty much any grocery store you'll walk into the less processed or minimally processed or better yet raw foods are located on the periphery. So I always have told parents and anyone that will listen shop on the periphery and then when you need paper goods like toilet paper or cleaning supplies or, a perhaps, you know, can of sardines. You can go in the center aisle, but don't go down each and every one of them. And yes, we'll talk a little bit how yogurt, butter, and cheese are all considered minimally processed and they're found on the periphery, right? And they're processed because they're not in the original state. They're all dairy or milk products. So, you know, think of One ingredient, a steak is a steak, an apple is an apple, a mushroom is a mushroom, but cheese and butter and yogurt are minimally processed, but you have to look at how there, there's definitely a marketing ploy that's been happening and gaining momentum over the last several decades and is designed, I believe, to keep you and me, All of us confused to doubt ourselves when we're shopping to feel overwhelmed. And then what do we do? We impulse shop, right? If we don't have a hard list and we don't know where to find the things that we're looking for, then we end up buying things that we don't need or want or serve us. Right? So let's take a quick peek at some of what I call the shenanigans, but it really is manipulation. They use terms like quote unquote, natural flavors. And I remember this was probably a good 10 plus years ago that I realized how that term is really misleading anything, any package that you look at. And when it says natural flavors. I put it back, right? And there was a book that I read in 2017. It really came out in 2016, and I've shared it with you before. I'll share the link down below as well, but it's called The Dorito Effect. The surprising new truth about food. And it's by a gentleman named Mark Schatzker, S C H A T Z K E R, Schatzker. But, let me just kind of give you his summary. And, and I just find it fascinating because once I realized what was happening in the labs, in the chemistry, in food science, and how that was really being promoted as the next best thing. I, I was stunned, right? And I, and I just continue to try to share it with all of my families over the years, my neighbors, my friends, and now you. But this is what he writes. We are in a grip of a food crisis. Obesity has become a leading cause of preventable death only after smoking. For nearly half a century, we've been trying to pin the blame somewhere. Fats, carbs, sugar, wheat, high fructose corn syrup. And I say all of those pieces are part of the problem for sure. But he continues with, That search has all been in vain because the food problem that's killing us. It's not a nutrient problem, but I say on the side, it becomes a nutrient problem because of what he uncovered. So he continues with it's a behavioral problem and it's caused by the changing flavor of the food we eat. He found out that ever since the 1940s with the rise of industrial food production, we have been gradually leeching the taste out of the food that we grow. Simultaneously, we have taken great leaps forward in technology. And in the end, we've created a flavor industry worth billions annually, and that's with a B, in an attempt to put back the taste we've engineered out of the food. So we strip any food flavor naturally, and then Reinstate chemicals, additives, dyes. So he summarizes with, the result is a national cuisine that increasingly resembles the paragon of flavor manipulation. He looked at it as Doritos because that was one of the first flavors that the lab, the food scientists started to, to evaluate and perfect. And these These marketers and researchers came out of the smoking industry, right? Once we had to stop commercials with smoking, they just migrated over to processed foods. So he wraps up his summary by saying, as food, all food, becomes increasingly bland, We dress it up with calories and flavor chemicals to make it delicious again. We have actually rewired our palates and our brains. And the results are making us sick. slowly killing us. That's a huge summary of what's happened since the 40s actually. But in my lifetime for sure, you know, I grew up in the 70s and the 80s and I've seen the food industry change. It used to just be, oh let's go to the market and now what do we call it, the supermarket. And the Costco and Walmart mammoth, mammoth buildings with anything and everything. So how I look at what he uncovered and what a lot of other people have uncovered is that first our babies, our toddlers get addicted to the taste because of what the food scientists have put into this packaged food. Then, because of the lack of nutrients, That impacts their growth, their learning, their mood, self regulation, their overall well being, their availability. To learn and grow and attend and build relationships, but first they have to get them Addicted and it doesn't take much. You know that you can give your baby a Packaged well, it could be any kind of go gurt right or a protein bar And that's what they'll want another, and another, and another. So these natural, let me kind of share what happens when they look at natural flavor, right? They might extract a little bit, and then it undergoes significant processing in the lab. So for example, when they say vanilla flavoring, It's not vanilla in there that they might have a drop of vanilla extract and then they process it to the point where it becomes a chemical, right? And there's pure lack of transparency with the food industry because the food manufacturers are not required to disclose the specific chemicals or the additives that are used to create these. quote unquote flavor. If you turn the package over and it says, you know, vanilla flavor or coffee flavor or smoked flavor, anything with a flavor is from the lab. So like I said, it contains a little drip of the original extract, right? Vanilla. And then it's enhanced or replicated in the lab to get. our taste buds and our brain synapses to say, Ooh, I want more. Ooh, I want more. Another cookie, another cookie. Now, when we think about shopping on this periphery, cheese is a little bit different. And again, they had to play around with the language. So we can look at natural cheese versus Processed cheese. So natural cheese really means that it's minimally processed. Again, look at the package and it will say milk, cultures, rennet, and maybe salt, right? And down below, I will share a link with you to this wonderful place called Shelburne Farms up there in Vermont where I used to live. And I learned so much about cheesemaking, the pros and the cons, but they have a great educational program and you can go on the tours and school trips and, and all kinds of things as a 1400 acre diversified farm, right? And it literally was two miles from my house. They really demonstrate and I got to see up close and personal what's possible, right? And they how they make the cheese literally by hands or these these big vats that you can just watch the process, right? And we learned so much but processed cheese, so that's minimally processed and and it's natural. Right? It just has a few ingredients, but processed cheese is made by blending several different natural cheeses, adding water, emulsifiers, and other ingredients. Then together, they heat that up, that whole mixture, to a molten state, right? So it's all melted down, and then they turn it into a more solid state at room temperature. But there are a lot of additives to it. So, I think it's important, again, I just, I just wanted to give a snapshot of how the marketing system is manipulating language and placement and advertisement and we're going to talk about some of the hardcore strategies that they use to brainwash us. And I think it's important that we debunk the baby food industry. because it does influence us whether we like it or not that you know, you go to play dates or you go to your pediatrician and they're often pushing this stuff too because they're not well schooled in nutrition. They don't understand or have taken the time to understand. And I want to encourage you. Um, because it does take effort to change longstanding habits that are ingrained. Perhaps you ate similarly. But I, I, I look at each generation and it's getting harder and harder to move away from this highly processed food and into, Whole natural fruits and vegetables and meat, right? And I get it. It's very, very personal. I look at what's best for the babies, right? And, and the truth is you're not alone thinking that babies need special foods. Because, That's what's been marketed to us. That's what a lot of professionals, even our school based people say this. Uh, nutritionists will say this. But here, and you can do a deep dive because everything I found is just readily available online. Right? All of that. It doesn't come from science, not one bit. It just has come from marketing. It comes from profits that they keep making billions and billions of dollars on us. And that could be a whole nother Uh, episode, a whole, you know, plethora of rabbit holes that we could go under. But it's important. I think that as a new mom, as a new parent, as new grandparents, because grandparents ask me too, we have to understand that it's stacked up against us, you. Me, our children, and it does take conscious effort, tenacity, and a whole bunch of courage to step aside and make different choices. So let's just take a wee bit look under the hood of how this came to be. Uh, you know, and I learned this maybe over the last 10 years or so, but before refrigeration and you can imagine this right families fed babies, just soft versions of real food, they mashed it up and gave it to them. And it wasn't until refrigeration really came on board and. Canning improved. Then a whole bunch of companies saw the opportunity and it started, and I learned this a long time ago, but it started with Gerber, right? Gerber was the first baby food in a jar, and it happened in the late It was the 1920s. Dorothy Gerber, the wife of Daniel Gerber, and I remember this, but they owned a canning company. I think it was called Fremont Canning Company. And she was kind of inspired to see, Hey, can we create baby food? Because I'm kind of tired of straining food for my seven month old daughter. And the story goes, and you know, it's time consuming. It's difficult. You have this canning. Company over here that they can I think at the time some fruit and vegetables Primarily they were a stewed tomato company, but she suggested to her husband. Hey, can you try it? And see what happens. And in 1928, they developed five products, right? It was a beef based soup, some, uh, I think carrots, some spinach, and some prunes, right? Within six months, they were distributing nationwide. And the whole Gerber jar was born, literally. Bye! The 1950s additional brands came on board and you can see historically, and there are articles and books how aggressive marketing really pushed the whole formula companies, right? And to really influence our public perception and really led mothers to believe that formula And my mom was a part of it because her babies were all born in the 1950s and 1960s. But that the formula was superior to breastfeeding. And you know, in the 50s and 60s and 70s, they really convinced moms that making baby food at home was too much work. And that store bought jars were safer and more nutritious. And the messaging really implied that breastfeeding, that was outdated. It was inconvenient. It's something that only poor women did because they couldn't afford this fabulous formula. And so they really discouraged moms, parents to feed babies soft versions of real food, like we had done for generations, actually, since the beginning of time, right? They discouraged. Don't feed what the family's eating. Use this formula industry. And pediatricians started to back it. Advertisers started to push it. And they really positioned these products as more scientific and more nutritionally complete than breast milk or anything you could cook in your kitchen. You're just a housewife. These are scientists making this wonderful concoction, right? And so Baby food companies like Gerber really capitalized on the trend that started to promote, uh, the formulas, right? And they're saying, well, here's the next best step, right? You have these formulas. That's better than breast milk. And now you have jarred purees. That's better than anything that you can make in the kitchen. It's much more convenient. It's modern. You want to be modern and popular, right? And it's proper nutrition. You don't know what's going on in your kitchen. But here, this era in the 50s, the 60s and 70s, it really laid the foundation for the huge rise of ultra Pre packaged store processed baby foods and, and it's just continue to explode each and every decade. So companies convinced parents that store bought pre packaged options were better than whole foods. And I mean, I grew up in it too. The TV dinners and, you know, pre shake and bake and all of that kind of stuff. And it wasn't until the 1980s that the breastfeeding movement regained some momentum. And I was there. I read the articles, we talked about it, because the research were really, supporting the benefits from breast milk versus formula. Right? And then there are advocacy groups and organizations like La Leche League and all of that. And, and I remember being a little uncomfortable as You know, a new grad student or a new therapist talking about breastfeeding, but then the research really began to grow about how the whole sucking process on the, on the nipple, the human breast versus any bottle nipple, was strikingly different. So, We as speech language early child development specialists dove deeper and deeper, but still today there's a huge struggle, and if you look at the data, it 40%, 50 percent partial breastfeeding for a couple of months or a few more months, it really varies and there's a lot of mixed messages. But here at the end of the day, This is what I have found out that it's all made up the advertising, the marketing, the high profit is really pushing this process food from formulas to jar foods, to packaged foods, to pouches. So since the 1930s, actually, brands have convinced families across the board, and it's from lower socioeconomic to upper socioeconomic that Store bought baby food was not just convenient. It was actually safer than homemade food. That's what the, the, the manipulation that the brainwashing, if you will, really has boiled down to. Despite the fact that there's no real evidence. And so when we fast forward to today, so instead of jars, although they're still out there, right? We have these pouches and baby snack foods. And they're still pushed and sold that they're essential, right? Even though you and I, if we're really, really honest, we know babies as young as six months can and should eat whatever you and I eat. We just make some simple modifications to make sure that it's soft enough and not too spicy. But there are other cultures that use spicy foods, right? And get baby's palates really acclimated early on. But the same marketing tricks that they used in the 30s and the 50s, all of those tricks that they used to convince millions and millions of people, people that cigarettes were okay, just moved into the food industry. And now they've convinced us that all of those aisles in any grocery store. It's food. They continued to, like, bleed over into, teething crackers or special baby biscuits or cookies. It's better for their digestion. You know, they need it because they don't have teeth yet. And yet, God designed us with a really strong Jawbone and teeth just underneath the gums. And the more kids bite down on real food, whether it's, you know, a poached apple, or if they're closer to the first birthday, it could be a real apple, right? A raw, fresh apple or a carrot. Or gnaw on a, on a pork chop bone. Right. Then the more they gnaw on hard, resistant food. And we talked a lot about this last week in the, in the previous episode. Then the natural eruption of those teeth will come through the gum line. That's how God designed us to make it. That's what happened, you know, for generations. But what, what do the food industry? Push. Oh, baby's independence here. I can just take the top off of this pouch and give it to the baby. They can suck it down as baby independence. No, they need to move beyond the, the, the pouch, or I'm sorry, beyond the bottle, beyond the nipple. They need to learn how to chew, to masticate, to move the food in their mouth with their tongue. Cause those same motor planning. Organizational skills affect speech. And then they push, Oh, it's portable. Mom, you're so busy. You need to throw a couple of these in your pack and then they can eat on the run. No, eating should be at the table. It should be shared. We should fix it together, and eat it together, and clean up together. Yes, there'll be days that you're on the run, but it shouldn't be your standard. And then they say things like, Hey mom, look! He's eating quinoa, or kale, or prunes! But the truth is, it's just a little bit of quinoa with a lot of applesauce or smashed bananas because those are cheap and they're highly, highly sweet and palatable. And they just want more and more and more. It's really easy to literally suck down some apple juice or applesauce. And then they begin to tout, vitamins this and vitamins that. You'll see it on the packaging. But here's the truth. And I pulled out one very popular brand, it's called, I guess I can say it, Happy Baby Organics. And even the name, that's nice, right? Happy Baby Organics, right? Tugs at your heart, clean food. But, if you go to their website, and I'm just quoting what I read on their website, there was a Q& A, and one question was Why is it that sometimes I open, take off the top, and the first, you know, squeeze, say the inch, the first inch or so, it's dark. And so this was their response. Well, after the, quote, I quote this, right? After the pouch is filled with puree, it is exposed to heat for pasteurization. At that point, the puree in the spout is exposed to more heat, which can result in color change and or thickening of the product. So I read that and I thought, huh, that's interesting, pasteurization, right? They don't want any bugs or, well, then you'll just look up simply, what's the temperature of pasteurization? It requires 140 to 160 degrees. Well, when you heat anything up to those, those temperatures, it just blows up any vitamins, right? That vitamins are fragile. So the heat breaks down any vitamins. So when they're touting vitamin C, there's not vitamin C in this. There was on the original orange or apple. Or then you could go to another company that's called Once Upon a Farm. And I found this history, again, just a little digging, I'm just trying to share what I've learned so you don't have to do the legwork, right? So you can go straight to the source and figure out how do I feed my, my family, my children, my babies as best as I can. So with Once Upon a Farm, it is now co founded or co founded. with Jennifer Gardner, who is, you know, a very nice, um, beautiful mom and just so happens to be a movie star. But before she joined the company in 2017, it was only worth. Less than a million bucks now. It's worth over over a hundred million now what they do They don't do the heat process right at 150 degrees. They do what's called a cold press process for product safety And so, you know, perhaps they have a few more vitamins in them, but the key is it's still a thousand percent pureed. It's high sugar content, and it requires many, many prunes or apples or bananas to get it concentrated in that little packet. The key here is your babies Don't need special baby foods or special snacks. They're not necessary. When you start to introduce solids, I mean, that's what baby led weaning is, right? You're moving them from the breast or the bottle at six months of age and teaching them how to chew solid foods and you, they don't really need purees. It's designed, mom, to make you feel like you must buy these special products to feed your child. Um, and there's absolutely no evidence to support, to support that. So let me run through what I kind of generated a short list, six of them actually, of how the marketers work to really pull you in, twist your mother instincts and feel like you have to go down those middle aisles and get the special. baby and toddler and kid food, right? The first is really fear based marketing and they've pushed this since, you know, the thirties, right? That homemade food isn't safe. It's just too risky. Your innocent baby here at six or eight or 12 months that companies have convinced us as parents. And, you know, trust me. I went down that questionable hole too as a mom. And then I really pulled back because just by the grace of God, I had already spent 15 years in practice and saw what picky eaters. Looked like and how they, you know, was just so heavy on the family system. Right, but these companies have convinced us that homemade food is less nutrient dense or even possibly dangerous. Despite the fact that babies have thrived for centuries from the beginning of time eating real whole foods, that the consistency and the structure were palatable or, or motorically appropriate for them, right? Number two, it's all about convenience. So our convenience culture has really been pushed, you know, propagandized against us, right? You're too busy to cook, mom. Just buy this. They framed home cooking as too much work. While they glorify the ready to eat. And that's where the 50s and 60s and 70s certainly came. Right. They're glorifying the ready to eat foods as the only solution that modern parents would embrace. And then they've engineered this whole addiction. And we talked a little bit about this. But they, you know, prop, really push the idea that your baby loves these flavors. Well, of course they do. The processed baby foods are designed. They're extra sweet. They're super duper smooth. They're hyper palatable. It's just, you know, ease and flow. Gives me a good little dopamine hit. Training babies to reject real and whole foods because this commercialized food is so dang addictive. And then they push. Number four, which I looked at as like over complicating nutrition. And yes, it's over complicated because the world is noisy. The supermarket is overwhelming. The advertisements are overwhelming. Everything is out of whack, right? Your baby needs this fortified snack. And I remember in the early years of my practice, parents coming in and saying, You know, look, I You know, special K breakfast is fortified with iron or with this vitamin or that vitamin. I'm like, That's highly processed. There's, there's no goodness for their brain. So instead of promoting simple whole foods, companies push the formulas. Push the snacks that are enriched with vitamins. Push all these pouches. Ignoring the fact that real foods provide better nutrition. We talked about that in the last episode and I will share later with you, but I have a handout that will also outline that and then number five targeting parental guilt and we all have it as parents, right? We're always feeling guilty because you know, there's no perfect day. No perfect parent. No perfect anything, right? We're we can't really strive for perfection. We're just striving sometimes especially with toddlers as just getting through the day good enough, right? But what they, the marketers push on or pull at is if you really cared, you'd buy this organic baby food because that's what they deserve. They use emotional marketing to make parents, just like you and me, feel like buying their products is an act. Of love. Yeah, it's a quick sugar hit is what it is. And then the sixth and final marketing ploy that I found was they've hijacked all the labels. It's so incredibly confusing. Like, I gave you examples of what, flavor was added. All natural. Organic and nowadays it used to be organic was better, but now, anything down those aisles, half of them are labeled organic, but that doesn't mean that they are healthier or they might even say no sugar is added. Yeah, no cane sugar, but the clever labels tricks really get us believing that processed food is healthy. Because they, they talk about organic, they talk about the vitamins, they talk about, low gluten, all kinds of things. The tactics aren't about making your kids healthier, or the best version of themselves, or to improve their sleep, or to improve their attention, or their mood regulation, or to inspire biting and chewing and good swallowing so then the teeth erupt on time. They don't care about that. They are motivated to keep us dependent on packaged food. And I want to say something that this isn't new for me. I mean, I've been walking this path for the last 25, 30 years. And I remember in my 30s when I had, I was You know, playing around with triathlons, and I was racing bicycles, and I was having fun. Wasn't married, didn't have kids, had my practice. And I hired a trainer because I got injured and I needed, you know, to, um, do some recovery. And I asked him at that time, I said, what's the one thing, I thought I was eating pretty healthfully, right? What's the one thing that I could just remove that isn't helping me at all? And he said, bagels. And I thought, what? Like, you know, bagels are my staple every morning and he's like, no, that does nothing for you, even if you put good butter on it or nut butter or, or even make it into, put some salmon, no, that is just sugar. And so I stopped eating bagels, you know, I was barely 30. Now, it's not to say that I haven't ever had a bagel, Since then, very infrequently because I learned that white, highly processed bread just turns to sugar in my body. And so every five, 10 years, I just have learned more and more and more. And I'm not perfect by any means. It's a forever learning job because. of the market. like I said, it was organic this and organic them. Then all of a sudden you walk down those aisles and everything's organic now or gluten free or low carb. So the more that you and I learn. The more the marketers manipulate the language and the packaging and their food additives and making it confusing for us. And so, you know, I have this perspective where I can watch how the marketing schemes have become more and more elaborate. The wiser you and I become, and the bigger these supermarkets become. But here's the good news, right? I'm always pushing. The good news, we don't have to play their game, period. Feeding your baby, your toddler, all of your children, no matter what age they are, real food isn't hard. It's just been hidden by decades of marketing in the store, on the television, in the commercials. And that's why, like I mentioned a little bit ago, that I have created a free guide. I've just kind of put these main pieces together, because this is A lot of information. I get it, and I want to look at some simple steps that you all can make. One is batch cooking, right? That's, that's my main topic today, but you have to have the backstory because you will be up against a lot of like, Oh no, that's too much work. And please go and verify everything that I share here, right? The links down below what is in my little. guidebook. Once you get started looking at the truth behind the marketing ploy, the gimmicks, the propaganda, right? You'll, you'll see. And I hope that it'll begin to change the choices that you make, My hope, like always, is to expand your thinking. But to for you to do your own verification, you can take my word on it. It's always good to check. So let's take a look at what is batch cooking. What does that mean, right? I do think that it's becoming a little bit more common, right? You'll see it on TikTok and Instagram and YouTube, but there's still a lot of unknowns and maybe you've heard it under other names, right? Like meal prep or easy make ahead meals. I doubt that your home life, maybe, but not mine, there was any batch cooking going on. But I started it, and I've shared this with you all before, I started it because my husband traveled Monday through Friday, at least three weeks. Out of any month. And so, you know, I had a full time career. I had my daughter. She had dance classes. She had school events. I had, a regular life like any other, you know, mom, but we kind of joke that we're a single mom during the week. And, you know, I had a dear friend there. In Vermont, she was raising two boys and she was married to a pilot. So, you know, we did very similar, uh, routines, but it, it really helped. That my husband and I would cook and bat cook on Sunday. So then the rest of my week was fairly smooth and the whole idea is to simplify it and don't get overwhelmed. The goal of meal prepping or bat cooking is to stay flexible. To be realistic while always keeping, your meals, your food, toddler friendly, right? And if you can do this, it's not going to happen overnight. It's a process like everything we do. But it can be a game changer. It was in my whole household. And we still do it, because my husband still travels. And even though I love cooking, I don't want to cook every single night. The cooking part I love is the cleaning up, I can't stand, right? So consider these three things, because this is what we're up against when we're walking in the store and looking at some easy stuff, right? They're going to push on you the convenience and time saving, right? But I think if you have some fresh food that's already pre cooked, that you cooked, that you know exactly what's in it, in your refrigerator and in your freezer, That's easy, right? And you want to streamline the meal prep, especially if you're working, right? So you then can spend more time with your kids or with your partner or with yourself or your friends. Right. You don't want to spend time in the kitchen cooking and cleaning and prepping for the next day. Number two, which I cover a lot here, is the health consciousness, right? Whatever you can prepare on your own with single ingredient food, nutrient dense foods, it's going to be better than anything you buy. in a package or in a box or precooked, And you're more aware now that ultra processed food, right? UPFs are not doing anybody good. And so, but we do want to make sure that when you batch cook, when you meal prep, then it, the process is efficient because that's what we're looking for. Convenience. And health. And then number three, especially today in 2025, that is budget friendly cooking, right? With, with the rising in food costs, planning meals ahead and reducing any waste is a huge motivator. And I hate it. I've always hated good food, you know, gone bad in your fridge. And so you do have to organize it and label it and do all of that. But the misconception is that it's going to be boring. The misconception is that you're going to have a lot of repeat meals and some of that is true if it's done Right, you'll have enough variety and here's here's the key We talk a lot about the food industry, right? The food scientists that have created these packaged foods to get us addicted Well, once we start shifting, I mean if you eat a lot of pre packaged food, you are addicted to that That's just human nature. We all Do that. And I've, I've done that. Trust me, there are stories. But the point here is once we change that palette and we realize like, you know, stir fried broccoli with a little extra butter and a pinch of salt is absolutely divine. Or meatballs with just, you know, salt and pepper, a little sprinkle of oregano, some Parmesan cheese. That's delicious. So our palate will grow and mature once we get rid of the bland foods that have been processed with pretend flavors. So today, I want to plant the seeds, so to speak, right? Instead of cooking from scratch every single night, that's insane. Prepare once, like Sundays or Saturdays, whatever day works for you. And then you can eat multiple times, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. That's how I always worked it out, right? It will save time and money, and really will reduce the stress. So here are a couple of strategies, and you could Google this. There are a ton of people that have really rich, wonderful websites that donate all of their time and expertise to batching or meal prepping. Right. And I just want it to be a piece of your new parenting role as you introduce solids. And why? Because feeding your baby's brain and their gut will help them become better listeners and better talkers and better playground. Friends and better sleepers and all kinds of wonderful things. So the first thing is roast large portions of vegetables and proteins, and then you can mix and match throughout the week. And I always cook at least two different meats on the weekend, typically a beef and a, a chicken. Um, or sometimes, I'll have, some kind of pork chop or pork tenderloin, those kinds of things. And then you can freeze small portions for meals and then you always have it ready. And it took me a long time probably. And I remember actually googling, googling, like what happens if you freeze? Does it get mushy? Does it break down? And it doesn't. I always freeze them in glass jars, though. I don't use plastic, but that's a personal choice. We can talk about the pros and cons. The other thing are the appliances. And this is what really changed my world ten years ago. Right? I've always had a slow cooker. Right? We all have. And that is helpful. that's 8, 10, 12 hours. You have to be prepared and put it all together the night before or the morning of, right? And then instant pots came. I'm like, holy moly, really changed my world. And then A few years ago, I got my first air fryer. So all of these appliances really help prep nutrient densed meals with minimal, minimal effort. And you can Google any one of these. They're not expensive. Uh, we kind of upgraded our air fryer just this year and we got all stainless steel. Again. Start where you can. The whole idea is eating nutrient dense food. And we'll talk more specifically about what that means and different grades and all of that. But right now just get what's in your budget, plan ahead, play around with different simple flavors and see what you can do. And the whole idea is to then you have your meat, you have your vegetables and you can repurpose these leftovers into different meals that your baby and your toddler will love to have with you. Right? And you can make them together. You can have your basic, chicken thighs and some, vegetables and squash or something. And then, you know, you can have more chicken thighs the next night and break it up and roll it up and make it into a, a taco or, or a fajita or something to that effect. You can really create things with the pre cooked foods. And yeah. And you know exactly what's going on in your plate, and that's the key. Right, but it's about planning ahead prepping ahead, you know, so things like pulled chicken Roasted vegetables such as squash and onions you can roast apples and pears that goes great with squash Broccoli green beans and if you're your baby is still wanting them differently, right? You have your orange here and your green here. That's fine You give them a couple of pieces of each And, and really help them learn how to chew it and bite it and eat the same as you and they feel connected. Right? So the whole key is that babies and toddlers can eat straight from the family with very few modifications. And, and I've talked in previous episodes about baby led weaning and. Um, those really are the first foods that at six months and it should come from what you eat. And here's just some quick highlights, right? soft cooked vegetables, like I said, carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, tender proteins. Shredded chicken. I recommend and prefer the chicken thighs because they're juicier, they're tastier, they're also easier, um, to, to pull apart and the baby can chew on it. The chicken breasts tend to get pretty dry. I don't really eat chicken breasts anymore. I think I've just overdone it. but also flaked fish, slow cooked beef. The key is that any meat you can break apart with your index finger and your thumb, then it's at the right density for them to be able to manage and chew. That's part of the baby led weaning. model, right? Of course, healthy fats all for the brain, the heart, the gut, avocado slices, nut butter on a crispy toast. Again, I don't use a lot of, white flour toast, but there's a wide variety to choose from now. Quite often they'll be in the freezer section like Ezekiel bread. I like it because it's crunchier, it's denser, it's from sprouted grains, whole grains, you know, that's a personal choice, but you can also include quinoa. egg pasta, grain pasta, a whole lot of variety, mix and match them. Uh, you don't have to have a lot of sauces with the pasta, but a little butter, a little olive oil, sprinkle of salt. The key is offering a variety of textures that match your baby's oral motor skill. Development, right? And if they watch you eat it, they will imitate you, right? And like I said, and I think down below, I will have some different episodes where I covered baby lead weenie. And I'll talk about it again in the future for sure. But how do you introduce these solids? Eatings, do's and don'ts. There's a wealth of free content in, in the episodes. And I think I have them right here actually now I think about it. Um, avoid grazing all day is one episode. Another one is fussy babies and pacifiers. I think that's broken down into two episodes. Drooling and teething. How to teach your kids how to eat, right? Drooling and teething isn't always about, just a common developmental step. Excessive drooling is they need more chewing, right? And then also the episode on secrets to avoiding a picky eater. That's a big one, And as I said, I'll have the links down below and we'll continue to cover these. these topics. it has to be safe. It has to, you have to feel confident. and then your child will, will follow you, If, if you're going into it with, with confidence and, and knowledge and, and skill, then, they will follow you. And keep in mind that at six months, babies are typically developmentally ready. to begin solids. it's not about, you know, switching them from solids or from, from the bottle or the formula to solids, right? You're introducing real foods, textures, and flavors. It's just to augment what they're getting. 99 percent of their calories from the bottle or the breast, right? They do not need to start with purees. Purees, actually can delay development in chewing. And I've seen a ton of kids, that have fallen into that. And then we have to, you know, teach him how to chew at three, four or five and six, right? You can introduce, of course, thick, creamy Greek yogurt. Add, you know, the blueberries on the side or sliced apples or pears or whatever. Do not get flavored yogurt. By nine to twelve months, Babies are mastering finger foods, right? They can pick things up, they're self feeding, they're chewing a wider variety of foods, and they're really figuring this whole chew, chew, chew, chew, swallow. By 24 months of age, the vast majority of kids should have a mature, what we call, a rotary. Grind, chew, right? Be able to eat a variety of textures. There's minimal fussiness, right? If they've been exposed, they might pull back on some of their, uh, and only lean into their favorites. That's typical around two years of age. They're not becoming a picky eater and like, I'm gonna limit it to these three foods. They're just being a little bit more discerning. Up until that time there, they should be a lot more open to a variety of, of flavors and textures. And we talked about that, right? The flavor window that God gave us. so in previous episodes and in the episodes coming there's gonna be a lot of free content a lot of really Actionable tools that you all can use and, and that you can share with friends and family and grow on this journey together. Right? The other thing that I'm excited to really share with you are different ways that you could work with me directly. I'm building out small groups that we're going to start again in the spring. I'm also developing a questionnaire with consultations where I can sit down, at least through zoom, and focus on what are the next. Best first steps for you. Like where's your child today? And I'm always saying that. Where are you today? Analyze where they are and what are the next three things that you can put into action. I'm also developing a series of mini workshops to address specific challenges. It could cover drooling, sleeping, uh, how to handle meltdowns, how to get the first words. Uh, how to improve shared books, turn taking those very specific tools or developmental milestones that you might need some direct support in helping your child master, right? And so those mini workshops will be coming in later spring. to wrap this up, batch cooking doesn't mean spending your entire Sunday in the kitchen. It does mean that we can prepare staple foods in advance so then you can throw the meals together quickly during the week with the help of your little ones and have healthy nutritious food at your fingertips and everybody wins, right? The goal isn't perfection, it's consistency. Start small, gain momentum. A little planning goes a long way. And to avoid those processed kid foods that could become a lifelong crutch. So in the next episode, we'll go beyond what to feed and how to feed and focus more on all the benefits of meal times together as a family and to really use that as a powerful tool to connect and to build communication. Because meals, As I've said before, aren't just about nutrition, but that's where we start, right? They're about bonding. They're about language building. They're about lifelong healthy habits together as a family, whether you have one child or three child children, or you know, half a dozen. So you've got this. I'm here to guide you every step of the way. Thanks so much for spending your precious time with me and God bless each and every one of you and your beautiful children, and I'll see you next time.