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By Susan Elise Campbell
Saratoga area mothers are getting fresh, natural baby food that is grown and prepared locally and sustainably, thanks to a company founded by a physician in the throes of the pandemic.
Dr. Jennifer Lefner is the dual board-certified neonatologist and pediatrician at Saratoga Hospital who started Seedlings to help solve two problems with one act of entrepreneurship.
For one, farmers were having to dump food despite increased demand for food assistance during the shutdown. The other was the apprehension and questions she knew working mothers would have about food transmission and safety.
“I live in farm country and having friends in the food industry, it was distressing to me,” said Lefner. “I thought, is there an outlet for the wasted food, and can I do something with it?”
While on maternity leave she had prepared baby food for her two children from her own kitchen. Lefner said, “It seems like a good idea but making consistently fresh, nutritious food is a lot of work.”
Quality baby food starts with quality ingredients, and Lefner is collaborating with 9 Miles East Farm LLC in Northumberland. It also has a restaurant in Saratoga, and delivers ready-to-eat meals to clients around Saratoga, Albany, and as far as Boston and parts of Connecticut.
Seedlings Baby Food is sold at the café at 64 Excelsior Ave. and can be delivered to any area where the farm’s meal service delivers.
Farms grow different produce state to state and have different growing seasons. This gives consumers a lot of variety, but Lefner said she is committed to supporting only local businesses with just-picked, not frozen, ingredients.
“Whatever they’re best at, whatever is in season, we will use it,” she said.
She starts with the meal plans the farm puts out “such as the soup or chia pudding of the week.” She models her baby flavors after those menus because “the ingredients are on hand.”
The flavors are not what’s seen on the typical grocery shelf.
“It may sound a little scary to a parent to expose their baby to watermelon gazpacho or brussels sprouts,” she said. “But there is no reason a baby can’t develop a taste for a variety of fruits and vegetables, fresh herbs and spices.”
But there is no salt, no added sugar and no preservatives, she said.
Dr. Lefner has been working with Cornell University Food Ventures Center, which operates under the School of Agriculture and Life Sciences, to bring her brand into the marketplace safely.
“The center makes sure new food businesses are upholding industry standards for processing and safety, from the temperature the food is heated to the type of sealing used,” she said. “We send them batches of food for evaluation and they report on its processing and verify it is safe.”
Seedlings Baby Food comes in recyclable glass containers and can be refrigerated for up to three days or frozen by the purchaser up to three months.
There are three phases of Seedlings meals as solid food is introduced into an infant’s diet. Stage 1 for age 4-6 months is single-ingredient baby food with a yogurt-like consistency.
“Doctors recommend adding one ingredient at a time to baby’s diet to see if there may be a reaction to that food,” Lefner said.
Stage 2 provides “combinations of ingredients with a spice or two,” such as sweet potato and cinnamon. The meals are thicker like creamy oatmeal, she said. Stage 3 is a layered meal in a bowl, such as baby minestrone over quinoa or Greek chicken with cumin-scented rice.
“The bowls have great flavors and are visually pleasing because fresh ingredients are so colorful,” she said.
Visit www.seedlingsbabyfood.com for more information.