Healthy...Happy...YUMMY!

Agatha Achindu: CEO “CYO” (Chief Yummy Officer) Yummy Spoonfuls

ys2008 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:40:56 +0000

By Kai

Entrepreneur Agatha Achindu has realized her piece of the American Dream. In 2006, she gave up a lucrative six-figure income career as a software manager to become even more successful as founder and CEO of Yummy Spoonfuls. She immigrated to the United States in the 1990’s. Yummy Spoonfuls was formed after she became pregnant and began to think seriously about American food.

Yummy Spoonfuls baby foods are free of preservatives, pesticides, growth hormones and artificial additives. In a test to find the best organic baby food Cookie Magazine named Yummy Spoonfuls as its “clear favorite.”

She, her husband and son reside in Marietta, GA.

(Interview with Flaimahmy August 16, 2009)

FM: You grew up in Cameroon, a country in west-central Africa. Tell us a bit about growing up there.

AA: What I remember as a child is so completely different from where I am today. The type of food that I grew up eating was more farm to table, very fresh organic foods from the farmers’ market straight to the table. The refrigerator would be for water, juice or any type of beverage. We didn’t have food that you would cook and keep in the refrigerator or freezer. Things like apples, papayas, pineapples were harvested from your garden directly to the table. That is my memory with my Mom making our bread. My Mom to this day, she’s 78 years old, still bakes hot bread for us.

FM: When did you become interested in Information Technology and was that unusual for a young lady from Cameroon?

AA: Actually it wasn’t because coming to America for us is for bigger opportunities. That’s what it is. I went to Maryland University. I wanted to do IT and that’s just what I did and then moved from D.C. to Atlanta; I think that was in 2005. I got a job with an IT firm here .

FM: How did you work your way up to earning a six-figure income in corporate America and how did you give that all up?

AA: How I worked my way is interesting. I first was working for a smaller company. I was brought in as a manager for quality assurance. That company was bought by another major company and then I was hired as a director by another company. I am such a passionate person when I work. I kept having those promotions. Leaving corporate America to do what I am doing today was a challenge somewhat because of all the money. But, on the other hand I was a mother. Things that didn’t used to matter before I had a child now mattered. I knew that it wasn’t just about my child but about every other child in the United States. It was a sacrifice. I asked my husband, “Are you ready for this? We have been used to a different life style. If I stop working to start doing this we might not ever go back again.” He said, “ It’s your passion. I’m going to support you to leave it.” That was it, with my business plan in hand, my passion and all our savings.

FM: That’s great.

FM: You have a philosophy, “Start Small Think Big.” That’s a great philosophy. Still, it must have been a bit scary when you and your husband cashed out your savings to venture out on your own. How does it feel to have such a supportive husband?

AA: I tell my friends all the time that he is the best thing that happened to me. He’s the best thing that ever happened since sliced bread. (Laughter). I think we all have a purpose in life and some of us are lucky that God will do it in such a way that He will put the right person there for you. I truly believe my husband is the right person for me because there is no way that I could have done this with anyone else.

FM: We often hear the word organic, we see organic foods at farmers’ markets; organic foods are being more often offered in our local supermarkets. What is organic and why should we prefer it over other foods?

AA: I know lately there has been so much talk about what is organic and what is not, nutrients and other things. You sometimes see 100% organic, sometimes organic, sometimes natural. Organic food stands for how that particular food, if it’s produce or if it’s livestock, how that particular food was raised. It’s farming without chemicals. There is a huge study that just went out about organic foods whether they have more nutrients or taste any better. I tell people all the time that between conventional and organic there are over three thousand different types of chemicals, pesticides or whatever you want to call them that are approved by the USDA to use in conventional farming. All those substances you will not find in organic farming or organic foods. For people who say, “You know what, I am going to do conventional, I do not want to do organic,” I would say for your kids the USDA publishes a list of foods that are highly concentrated with pesticides. They call them the dirty dozen. At the very least you should provide your kids with organic because the government is telling us what foods like spinach, apples, strawberries, cantaloupes, things like that have the highest amount of pesticides in them when tested.

FM: You had working mothers in mind when you created your food products. Tell us about the three stages.

AA: We have the Stage 1; we call it the Creamy Yummy. It’s just what the doctor prescribed. There is nothing else added. For example, the apple is nothing but apple. We have ten different items in the Stage 1. It is very convenient and we have enough variety. If you want the best for your kids you can really use our brand and take out any sense of guilt. We have broccoli, green beans, peas, papaya, carrots, sweet potatoes, pears, apples. All those are our Stage 1’s. When you have a baby and they first start taking solids your physician will tell you to give individual items so that if there is an allergic reaction you can easily tell what it is coming from. That’s what we did with all our Stage 1. We made it really easy. We didn’t add any cinnamon, nothing. The first foods can be as clean as anything else so you can easily feed your child. We have three different stages. All twenty-five of our meals are gluten free, dairy free, pesticide free. It’s just the cleanest foods that you can find in the market and it’s all organic.

Our Stage 2, for ages nine months to a year, we have eleven different items in that category from millet and blueberries to brown rice, banana blueberry to papaya, butternut squash and apple, carrots, sweet potatoes and broccoli.

My four and a half year old son takes the Stage 3 because it is not your mushed up food. This is for advanced eaters from maybe 12 to 15 months to about three years. We have rice medley which is made out of brown rice, carrots, peas, basil, cold-pressed olive oil, tomatoes. Then we have the lentils, adzuki beans, porridge which is sweet potato and adzuki beans in a tomato base. We also have the potato porridge. I grew up eating the sweet potato and adzuki beans and the potato porridge. It is a staple meal in my country for babies. Adzuki beans are high in protein and very light on the tummy. That is why we picked that.

FM: Americans tend to like the taste of sugar and salt. Is that natural for human beings or do we unknowingly pass that taste “desire” on to our kids?

AA: I actually feel we unknowingly pass it to our kids because my son was born here in the U.S. and he’s never had sugar. He’s four and a half. I’ve never added sugar into anything. He doesn’t know the difference. He loves it [Yummy Spoonfuls]. The thing is unknowingly we pass our habits onto our kids just like our parents did to us. It’s an education for us; it’s a challenge, but it’s something that we really have to rush to fix. Because if you are looking at a child with obesity and diabetes in the U.S. today, this is one sector that no matter how advanced we have gotten we’ve not been able to correct. We have advanced medical degrees; we have everything but we cannot correct this because at a very early age we start prepping our kids to eat all these things that are not right for them. I will give you an example. About two or three weeks ago they talked in an article about the cost of childhood obesity and related hospitalizations. It was 237.6 million in 2005, an increase from 125.9 million in 2001.

That is huge. We do workshops in hospitals, workshops with mothers just explaining to them some of the little changes that can be made to really help our kids. Say for example your baby is six months old and you give your baby peas and your baby didn’t want peas that day. There is no reason to add apple sauce to the peas. Your baby does not want peas because they are not sweet. It might be they don’t like the texture . They might be just like us, they weren’t in the mood to eat. Just because we have a sweet tooth we would think, “Oh well, because it doesn’t taste well, I’m going to add some salt, or because it doesn’t taste well, I’m going to add some sugar.” We are not helping our kids when we do that.

FM: Excellence and integrity are guiding principles in your life. How do you incorporate those into your busy life as a wife, mother and businesswoman?

AA: It’s funny because today was actually one of those days that as a mother everybody needed a piece of me, the business, my husband, my son, my friend called from California, my girlfriend called from D.C. It was just crisis all over. I joined a mom’s group; it’s called The Mompreneur. It’s all just women in business. About four months ago I put in something and I said, “How do I manage my time and not feel guilty about doing less and one lady said, “Well, just have your ‘me’ time.” I’ve taken that to the tee. I have everything scheduled. We have a date night, just my husband and I. I have a ‘me’ time which is just me because I’m running around, I’m doing for my business, I’m doing for my husband, everything is scheduled properly so that at the end of the day I sit down and don’t feel guilty. It was a huge problem in the beginning for me because work was always at home. It wasn’t like when I was in corporate America after eight or nine hours if someone flew in from out of town I could just sit down and relax. When I’m home I’m doing something with either work or with home so it became a challenge. I tried to sort through it. When I did the schedule, putting everything I have to do on the schedule, that helped me.

Trust me. I was running around like a chicken. People say all the time “Oooh, I can’t wait to own my own business.” It is not that easy; it’s not as fun as we think it is but it is a lot of work. And, if you cannot manage your time properly you will be buried because you’ll say, “Oh, my goodness, I should deal with my son, my husband,” wherever you are you’re feeling guilty that you are not doing enough for the other part. It was really a tough period for me but now I have everything scheduled. I mean just like today has been an interesting day because everybody just needed something.

FM: What has been your greatest sacrifice?

AA: I would say my greatest sacrifice was leaving corporate America. That was the greatest sacrifice. The reason I say that is because it wasn’t just for me. For my husband, it was a lot because we gave up so much. There is a lot of comfort that comes with making this type of money too. You have a couple in the house bringing in this type of money and you have been living this way for years and years and years. Then all of a sudden, I, because of my dream said, “Well, we are going to give up this..we can’t go to Paris…we can’t do this…we can’t do this.” That was the biggest sacrifice for me.

FM: Who do you admire most?

My mom and my husband. My mom is such a strong woman who has gone through everything humanly possible that anybody can go through and at the end of the day she smiles. There is no baggage. If you don’t know her, if you don’t know her history you wouldn’t even know that there was ever anything and to this day I tell my friends that “love, live, and play like nobody’s watching” is from my mother and she instilled in me the patience that I have today.

For my husband, I just admire him for just loving me the way he does. It’s hard to explain but the way he loves me makes me love myself more. That is the best way to put it. To show somebody that you are their number one priority is something that we read in books. I’m living it with him for years and years. I’ve known him forever. I’ve known my husband since I was nine years old and I’m forty-two.

FM: We consider you to be a Fly Mommy. Please tell us in your own words what makes you a Fly Mommy,

AA: Let’s see, what makes me a Fly Mommy? I am a wonderful wife, wonderful mother, hard working; I’m on the run 105% of the time with an active toddler and in my own little way I am trying to change the world one yummy spoonful at a time to take childhood obesity and diabetes out forever. I just want to let everybody know to feed your child with an intention to good health. That way you only give to your child what is nourishing to them, what their body needs. That to me is a Fly Mommy.

You can find out more about Yummy Spoonfuls at www.yummyspoonfuls.com.

“It Pays to be Dense – Building a Strong Immune System through Nutrient Dense Foods”

ys2008 — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:14:43 +0000

By Heather Tubbs
www.trulyhealthybaby.com

Keeping our children healthy and out of harm’s way is every parent’s priority. These days everywhere you turn there is often sensationalistic news about an upcoming flu and cold season. Fear and paranoia is everywhere, even Elmo is teaching kids the proper way to sneeze and cough, which, for you who are not privy to this, is into your elbow. While taking precautionary measures is important to avoid becoming ill, the foundation for a truly healthy child is to build a solid immune system from birth by nourishing your children with the highest quality and most nutrient-dense whole foods available.

What is Nutrient Dense Food? It is energy-dense food that has more nutrients per calories than conventional food. The difference in whether or not a food is nutrient dense is determined by how it is raised or grown, this is why it is important to “Know your farmer” and understand farming practices. Meat and dairy from animals that are grass-fed are significantly more nutrient dense than meat or dairy from conventional farms. Fruits and vegetables grown on mineralized or organically fertilized soils are significantly more nutrient dense than conventional produce.

Providing your child with whole, organic nutrient-dense food is the basis to building a healthy immune system. There are many well known nutrients that are fundamental elements for building a healthy body: Vitamin C is well known for its benefit in strengthening the immune system, while Vitamin D plays a role in the regulation of both the “infectious” immune system and the “inflammatory” immune system.(1) and therefore is vital for building children’s immune systems.

The fall season is here and there is wonderful fresh bounty available. Fall brings us potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, broccoli, carrots, green beans, apples and pears (this foods are readily and conveniently available from specialty/certified organic retailers such as Yummy Spoonfuls who guarantee the provenance of their baby food). When grown organically in nutrient-dense soil, these foods contribute enormously to a healthy immune system. Here’s but a few of the nutrient details on these nutritious foods:

Broccoli is a great source of glucosinolates, phytonutrients rich in sulfur that stimulate the natural antioxidant systems in your body.

Carrots are packed with beta carotene, a phytonutrient that increases your body’s production of T-cells and natural killer cells.

Organic turnips green pasta

ys2008 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:58:08 +0000

This took me roughly 45 minutes from start to finish and my 4 ½ years old loves it.

Ingredients
Pasta (1/2 box)
1 large organic tomato slicer
½ organic red onion
organic leaks
organic turnip green (about half cup- I always buy from the farmers market blanch and freeze so it is always handy when needed)
Left over organic grilled chicken
organic Cold press olive oil
Basil (from my garden)
dash of salt and black pepper to taste

Boil pasta (follower direction on the box)
Chop your tomato, onion, leaks and put in a sauté pan or pot (cook down- about 8 minutes)
In the meantime ( if your turnips is frozen defrost it)
Add 2 table spoon olive oil in to the tomato base, add chicken, drain pasta and add along with your greens, stir and serve. Fun, healthy and very easy to make.

From my kitchen
Have a healthy weekend.

Why are we fat

ys2008 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:50:22 +0000

If you put milk and sugar on sawdust it is going to taste good, our addiction to cheap food is costing us our health. It is also very sad that the society has been made to believe all the chemicals added to our food supply should be considered innocent until proven guilty I feed my family FOOD not the science project that food has become today. Food today is overly processed with stabilizers, sweeteners and preservatives so the food can literally outlive us. We should start taking a closer look at the labels before buying it. Demand more for your money. We only have one live. Cheap food at the end of the day is more expensive per life time cost. Like Nicole said, I eat everything under the sun so long as it is wholesome and organic and still the same size I was 20 years ago. I say to America lets start eating ‘FOOD’ and get of the settee and the fat will start dropping off.

Have a healthy weekend and don’t forget to look at your label-

Cheers

One healthy start with label smart

ys2008 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:43:16 +0000

As school starts again and we begin to get back into our routines, the topic of how to feed our children wholesome and healthy snacks is on many of our minds. If you learn what to look for in nutrition labels, it will help you make smart choices.

Though fruits and vegetables are important to include in your child’s diet, eating healthy means providing lots of different types of food throughout the day to get them all the nutrients they need. A balance of carbohydrates, fat, protein and fiber is important to ensure children maintain a stable blood sugar level and healthy energy. As we all know not all carbs, fat or protein are created equal thus it is imperative that we are providing them with that which is nutritive and nourishing.

Labels are an important way for producers to tell you about the characteristics of their products. Learn what to look for in food labels to help you provide a balanced and healthy diet for your child.

Whether buying produce, whole grain snacks, dairy or meats, when buying organic foods, look for the “USDA Organic” label. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) now has national standards for the use of the word “organic.” Only foods in the categories “100% organic” and “organic” may display the USDA Organic Seal. Other foods with varying levels of organic ingredients may be labeled as follows:

100% organic – All of the ingredients are organic (excludes water and salt). 
Organic- 95 or more of ingredients used are organic. 
Made with organic ingredients- 70% of the ingredients are organic. Can appear on the front of package, naming the specific ingredients. 
Contains organic ingredients- contains less than 70% organic ingredients.
“Natural”- this is a label that is not regulated and can mean anything. It is a marketing term and does not guarantee anything at all.

The USDA Organic label is not the only “organic” label you can trust. Many small farmers cannot become certified because costs are high, but if you frequent local farmers markets and get to know the farmers, you’ll learn that many of them use organic methods to raise their food.

There are plenty of sham labels out there that you should understand. Become familiar with what labels really mean to make Greener Choices for your family. This link from Consumer Reports explains the different things we see on labels, like “free range” and “no antibiotics”.

KNOW what to avoid

The label “Organic” alone does not ensure the quality of a product. Many snacks “containing organic ingredients” for example may also contain a lot of sugar, preservatives, or additives.

Here is a basic list of the “Top Ten Food Ingredients to Avoid”:

Foods with 10 ingredients or more. Wholesome foods tend to have very few ingredients because they only contain ingredients that are essential to making that product. For example, organic peanut butter should contain peanuts many list a lot of other unnecessary ingredients that serve as stabilizers, sweeteners and preservatives so the food can outlive your kids’ childhood. Bread should contain about 5 or 6 ingredients, HFCS(see below) should not be one of them.
High fructose corn syrup (HFCS)

Enriched and bleached flour (be careful because it may say “whole grain” or “wheat” on the package… it’s not necessarily 100% wheat flour)

Trans fats/hydrogenated vegetable oils
Artificial colorings
Saturated fats
High-sugars/refined sugars
High sodium (we should not consume more than 2 grams/2000mg of sodium per day)
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
Sodium nitrate

It is very scary to think of all the additives and chemicals that are added into our foods supply to increase product shelf life thus guarantees the bottom line of the product. It is a shame that our society has been made to believe that it is necessary; all these additives, colors, chemicals etc are actually decreasing our health.

Take charge of your family’s nutrition and health. Don’t let yourself be fooled by large words printed on labels that lead you to believe it’s a healthy choice. Take time to learn which labels really mean something and read all of the ingredients on the label (even those in fine print). When it comes to helping our little ones grow healthy and happy, it’s worth taking the time to do it right. After all… we only get one chance to get it right.

As seen on CNN, 11Alive etc

What parents are saying about us

ys2008 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:34:10 +0000

Greetings from Georgia Organics! Tanya shared some samples of your delicious baby food with me and I am happy to report that my 6-month old, Ellie Claire, enjoyed the peas yesterday as her very first introduction to solid food. And she LOVED them! I cannot tell you how enjoyable it was to watch her get so excited and ultimately covered in green peas.

I am extremely particular about the food my family eats and am a firm believer in supporting local, sustainable farmers. Giving Ellie your product for her first introduction to solid food made me feel proud to be giving her the best I could while supporting a local business owner. I am a big believer in what you are doing and the product. I will do my best to act as a buzz agent for you. Feel free to use any of this as a testimonial if you need that sort of thing. I am attaching some pictures for fun too.

Thanks again and GOOD LUCK! Thrilled to have an operation like yours in Atlanta.

Sincerely,

Jennifer L. Owens
Development Director
Georgia Organics

Yummyspoonfuls has been a Godsend!! The fact that this food is PURE, ORGANIC, and EASY is completely unheard of in today’s marketplace. Being a mother of three, to prepare meals like this would require a lot of time that I would rather be spending with my family. Yummyspoonfuls affords me the opportunity to provide extraordinary foods for my 9 month-old and not spend an inordinate amount of time preparing and storing it. The simplicity of the product allows for a great degree of creativity in food combinations. I am very pleased with this product and I wish it would have been around for my other children.

Maggie Tremols Hickory, NC

Commercial production of nutritious food is feasible. My quest for a good bread substitute for my family

ys2008 — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:42:52 +0000

We make our own bread at home. We do not have a bread maker and up until now we have loved being able to do it. We have taken pride in making our bread. It is delicious, our son loves it, and I love the look on his face as he watches the dough double in size. That is priceless. Unfortunately, for the past couple of months it has become more of a chore than the pleasure it used to be given that we have gotten extremely busy and not enough time on our hands.

Thus my search for a good organic bread that I can serve my family without any sense of guilt. I hit a couple of my favorite stores and was completely mortified by what was listed on the labels. Some of the breads had more than twenty ingredients listed. I was shocked and amazed seeing how I only use 5 ingredients including water to make my bread. These simple ingredients are the same 5 ingredients my mother used, her mother before her, and her mother before her. Our family’s simple bread recipe has been made the same for generations. So after visiting 6 different stores and finding that most of the breads I came across all had what seemed like a million extra, unnecessary ingredients, I began to think that it might be commercial bread just can’t be nutritious because I found the same bread all over the place.

After five days of searching I finally found a bread that I could feed my family, that was not only organic but had only six ingredients listed on the label, just one more ingredient than my mom’s homemade recipe. So I bought it.

The directions on the bread were simple. Eat or freeze immediately, that was it. We purchased a loaf and it tasted heavenly. It was moist, fluffy, a little coarse and chewy just like home made. So the next time you go to buy bread look at your label.

Below is a list of the ingredients on my whole wheat bread label

Organic whole wheat

Organic coarse rye

Salt

Honey

Yeast

Filtered water

As Dr. Maya Angelou says, “We do better when we know better”. We know there is healthy and nutritious commercial bread at an economical price. Therefore, the million dollar question is, what drives one company to make bread with only six ingredients and the other to make the same bread using more than twenty ingredients, most of them unnecessary. One might conclude that the company using all of the extra ingredients might be adding a lot of extra simply to extend the shelf life of their bread.

For those of us who bake we know you don’t need 20 ingredients most of which we can’t pronounce to make good bread.

I haven’t had to get up at 4 a.m. to mix dough in a while. My family has grown to love the commercial brand that I buy. When purchasing your own bread, make sure that you are only getting a product with essential ingredients and nothing extra. Remember, there are healthy, convenient, and delicious breads on the market. You have just got to remember to check the label on your next trip to your local grocer or farmer’s market.

Yummy Spoonfuls Organic Baby Food and CEO Agatha Achindu to be featured on CNN

ys2008 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:26:06 +0000

For Immediate Release 6/17/09

Contact:Terri-Nichelle Bradley
Cell: 770.335.5160
Phone: 678.395.3287

Atlanta, June 17, 2009: Atlanta based baby food company Yummy Spoonfuls and its CEO Agatha Achindu is scheduled to appear on CNN Friday, June 19, 2009. Achindu’s piece will air during the program CNN Newsroom with Tony Harris in a segment called “Survival of the Fittest”. The weekly segment which airs between 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. ET highlights small businesses and their owners who are not only surviving but also thriving during this economic recession.

Achindu is a native of the African nation of Cameroon who now calls Atlanta home. After relocating to the United States in 1991 Agatha completed her college education and carved out an extremely successful career in corporate America. Soon after giving birth to her son Jared-Zane in 2004, Agatha began creating homemade nutritious foods for her new baby. It was not long before her friends took notice. They started putting in small request, and then regular orders, and finally their friends started putting in orders. It was then that Achindu knew she was on to something, Yummy Spoonfuls was born.

In January 2009 Yummy Spoonfuls received top honors in a Coookie Magazine national reader’s poll. Six months later CNN has taken notice and has selected Achindu as an entrepreneur who is doing something right. “We are thrilled to have been asked to share our story with America.” said Achindu. “It is a very tough time to be a small business owner. However, I know that a huge part of our success is that we are fortunate to have such loyal and enthusiastic parents who not only never miss an opportunity to let us know how much they love Yummy Spoonfuls, they also never miss an opportunity to tell their local grocers to put the food on the shelves of the markets in their communities.”

Yummy Spoonfuls believes in being a responsible Eco-Citizen. Fresh fruits and vegetables are purchased from local farmers and suppliers to ensure high-quality taste and maximum nutrients. To date the company has over 24 diverse offerings in its Creamy Yummy, Mushy Yummy, and Chunky Yummy stages. In January 2009 Yummy Spoonfuls was rated #1 Baby Food: Best Taste, Best Overall, and received Five Stars in a Cookie magazine readers’ panel. Yummy Spoonfuls CEO Agatha Achindu has been featured in numerous publications and is frequently interviewed and quoted on the importance of educating moms on developing proper eating habits for their children.

And the Winner is…

ys2008 — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:06:08 +0000

For Immediate Release 5/28/09

Contact: Terri-Nichelle Bradley Phone: 678.395.3287
Cell: (77.335.5160
terri@Playgroundpr.com
www.yummyspoonfuls.com

Nearly 1,000 Alive Expo Attendees Enter Yummy Spoonfuls Eco-friendly Luxury Gift Basket Giveaway. And the Winner is…

Atlanta, May 28, 2009: Attendance was high at the Alive Expo May 16 & 17 at the Georgia World Congress Center. The energy was electric. And all the buzz was humming around the Yummy Spoonfuls both co-located in the Destiny Organics exhibition space. Nearly 1,000 samples of 5 different varieties of Yummy Spoonfuls baby food was given away, and almost as many show attendees eagerly entered the Yummy Spoonfuls luxury eco-friendly gift basket giveaway which was loaded with all the hottest items in green baby products. The winner was drawn, and Yummy Spoonfuls is pleased to announce Shona Johnson of Morrow, Georgia will be the receiver of the basket valued at over $500.00.

“The response was greater than I expected,” said Agatha Achindu, CEO of Yummy Spoonfuls. “There weren’t that many babies at the expo, but there were a lot of parents who were so excited to learn about our products. Once they tasted the food, they became believers. It is funny how people expect baby food to taste bad. A lot of people just couldn’t believe that our food was so good and was still completely natural and nutritious. Once they saw the companies that were participating in our luxury gift basket they were thrilled. All the companies involved have reputations for being the best in their product class, and the show attendees knew it.”

Ms. Johnson will be receiving the gift basket with products from EcoDiscoveries, Hotsling, Zola Goods, Sally B Yummies, Sweetsation Therapy, Mother Nature Belly, jennyandjeff, Goat’s Milk, The Food Game, and of course Yummy Spoonfuls.

“I am so excited,” said Ms. Johnson upon being notified that she had been selected out of the almost 1,000 entries. “I have a niece and a God-child whose moms will really love all of these wonderful products. I am so glad that I entered.”

Yummy Spoonfuls believes in being a responsible Eco-Citizen. Fresh fruits and vegetables are purchased from local farmers and suppliers to ensure high-quality taste and maximum nutrients. To date the company has over 24 diverse offerings in its Creamy Yummy, Mushy Yummy, and Chunky Yummy stages. In January 2009 Yummy Spoonfuls was rated #1 Baby Food: Best Taste, Best Overall, Five Stars in a Cookie magazine readers’ panel. Yummy Spoonfuls CEO Agatha Achindu has been featured in numerous publications and is frequently interviewed and quoted on the importance of educating moms on developing proper eating habits for their children.

Happy Earth Day

ys2008 — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:18:07 +0000

With so much fanfare going on about Earth Day I can’t help but reminisce about my child hood days. Growing up, Earth Day was every day; we were taught to give back to Mother Earth what she so graciously gives us on a daily basis. Everything came from the earth, so we knew we had to treat Mother Earth with some reverence. We had an innate ability in giving back to the earth without even thinking about it, it was an endless efficient circle of reusability. During my last visit home I watched a young boy take rinds from the food that the mother was preparing in the kitchen to feed the animals that were in the courtyard, and it hit me; gosh these healthy chickens, goats etc running around strive on nothing but the leftovers from the kitchen, the natural grass. Even their waste is naturally going back to the very earth as organic manure.

As Parents, we face many issues, however diet and health remains a fundamental issue for us that needs to be elevated on our list of priorities. After all, feeding our kids is the first, most basic thing we do to nourish their bodies and their minds. Recent research from world renowned Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia confirmed what many parents instinctively know – an organic diet is better for children. The study showed how pesticides used on conventional products show up in children’s blood. Although the long term effects of these pesticides are unknown, who want to take a chance with their child’s health?

Processed foods contain sugars, salt, additives, and preservatives in an effort to extend the shelf life of products. That’s great for the big food conglomerates but it is horrible of the consumers that purchase these products. Beyond the excess sodium, the massive amounts of high fructose corn syrup, and the dehydrating sodium that fills these foods, the chemical additives are unnecessary evils that serve our bodies no purpose. Why would you ever put anything into your body or your child’s body that doesn’t serve a positive purpose?

Earth Day also reminds us that when we embrace green living we are proactively doing our part to take care of the planet. There are so many people who are living testaments to this fact. Someone who immediately comes to mind is Laura Turner Seydel.

Last week Yummy Spoonfuls had the honor to participate in an Eco Trunk Show at the home of Seydel, Chairperson of the Captain Planet Foundation. Laura’s home – known as EcoManor. EcoManor (www.ecomanor.com) is the first Gold Certified LEED Home (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) in the Southeast. Serving as an educational tool, EcoManor has reached builders, architects, designers, landscapers, vendors, educators and homeowners to promote green living, conservation, and improved residential building practices.

Laura has been a long term advocate for the environment. She has founded, co-founded and holds various leadership roles in environmental organizations locally and nationally. She acts as Chairperson of the Captain Planet Foundation, an organization that focuses on educating children about the environment. “The Captain Planet Foundation has impacted over 625,000 youth around the world from a wide variety of socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.”

Being part of the Eco Trunk Show, touring EcoManor meeting Laura was an amazing way to kick off the upcoming Earth Day festivities! One thing we must always remember is that Earth Day is every day. No matter how small we think our contribution is, every small act counts.

Yummy Spoonfuls wants to share some ideas on how to kick off your Earth Day and start making some simple changes you and your family can slowly implement and continue throughout the year.

1. Learn more about the environment – Visit one of the many websites and read up on current issues. Planetgreen.com is a great place to begin. Decide which issues you are most concerned about; maybe you can join a local group to help protect the environment in your area.

2. Recycle – Start a recycle area in your garage, and get the kids to help with the project. It is simple; just get 3 large containers and label them accordingly. Your kids could create the artwork to label them.

3. Reuse – Invest in a couple of cloth bags to take with you shopping instead of using plastic bags

4. Make your plastic bottled water a reusable container

5. Switch to high efficiency light bulbs

6. Plant a tree to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions

7. Support local farms and food producers, start visiting your local farmers’ market for fresh, ripe veggies this summer or start your own garden. It is amazing what $10 in seeds can do for your family.

8. Get creative in the kitchen and plan a special Earth Day feast using local organic products.

And remember Every day is Earth Day. Anything you do to help our environment is a great thing to do on Earth Day and every day. Involve your kids in the process and don’t restrict yourself to just one day a year; put it into practice – every day!