Since Claire has become quite picky in how (and sometimes what she eats), I’ve been struggling to find foods that she can eat herself. She doesn’t have interest in utensils yet and she’s still mastering her pincer grasp. Finding the right mix of easy-to-grab, ready-to-eat foods, is a little bit of a challenge for me. As I browse the market and the produce section of my g-store, I’m always looking for foods her little gummy mouth can handle. Typically an expensive fruit (I just now discovered that avocados are a fruit – I’ve always thought they were vegetables though I’m not sure why), avocados were on sale at the g-store, so I picked one up and thought I’d give it another go with Claire.

Avocados are jam-packed with good fats, something every growing baby needs, and (a plus, especially at lunch time) you can serve them as is. I just opened the fruit; took a paring knife and cubed the fruit in its skin in my hand, being very careful not to cut through; and spooned out the ready made cubes of goodness (I think). Often at lunch I am crossing my fingers that Claire will eat what I give her and if it’s little cubes of something she usually does. She was no different with the avocado. It was like she never had seen it before an gobbled it up as best she could. Because they’re so expensive, I only give her one a week but one avocado is good for two servings for Claire. Now if only I could learn to like them as much as she does. I don’t think cutting them up into fun cubes will do it…

In an effort to feed Claire fresh foods, I’ve been conscious of where and what I buy. Fruit, at this time of year, has been a struggle. What do I do? I could buy the produce that has a busier passport than me or I could stick with the jarred baby food. Both options are less than ideal. Where do the baby food companies get their produce? I highly doubt that they have processing plants right at the source. So most likely, they’re shipping fruit from all over the world, then processing it, and then shipping it back all over the world in convenient little jars or plastic packs. Either way, neither option is fresh and both have left quite a footprint. What’s a mom to do?

I bought peaches from Chile. They were super expensive: just under $2/lb. I bought 3 or 4 and didn’t have to wait very long before they were ripe. And even then they were less than stellar peaches – certainly no Summer Jersey peach. But I made them into food cubes anyway, they’ve come so far already – I wouldn’t want them to have traveled in vain. However, they only yielded about 4 servings which made them very, very expensive. The only thing going for these world-weary peaches is that I have a general idea of what happened to them from whole food to baby food.

But I am not sure it’s worth it. I know, I know. There are so many reasons why giving Claire minimally processed foods is better for her to understand and love food. Jarred fruit is a mystery. It just appears in a perfect package that offers variety, is convenient, and is inexpensive. I know that, also, I should be buying locally (or at least continentally); but, at this time of year, that’s just not feasible when I need to give Claire a balanced diet.

And so (with a little – but not too much – guilt), I have been buying most of Claire’s fruit in plastic packs, with the general exception of apples, pears, and bananas (yes, I know these have a long journey, too). With not many options at the moment, I used cost and convenience to influence my decision. As summer approaches and Claire eats more and more finger foods, she’ll be introduced to real, local, whole fruits.