Austin, Texas-based baby food company Serenity Kids has closed a $1.5 million funding round led by Wild Ventures, an early-stage venture fund of wellness influencers. The investment will support the operations, inventory, research and development, and extend the national presence for the only high-fat, low-sugar baby food on the market. Serenity Kids is a baby food company on a mission to provide quality nutrient-dense foods from the first bite, support regenerative agriculture and help enable small American family farms to succeed.   Wild Ventures’ founder and general partner John Durant will join the company’s advisory board. Additional investors in the round include Whole30 founder Melissa Hartwig Urban; Wellness Mama founder Katie Wells; Vani Hari the Food Babe; celebrity nutritionist Kelly LeVeque; renowned neurologist Dr. David Perlmutter; Thrive Market founders Nick Green, Gunnar Lovelace and Sasha Siddhartha; and more. Thrive Market Ventures, the in-house investment vehicle of online retailer Thrive Market, also backed the company.   The investment builds on an exceptional year for Serenity Kids, which  has only been to market since August 2018, yet recently launched nationwide into Whole Foods, doubled its team and brought eight SKUs to market, including the only pouched baby foods available with Grass Fed Beef and Wild Caught Alaskan Salmon. Grass Fed Bison & Organic Kabocha Squash and Spinach, as well as Pasture Raised Turkey with Organic Sweet Potato, Pumpkin & Squash will join the flavor lineup later this year, with the brand launching in nearly 80 Hy-Vee grocery stores in August.   Driven to combat chronic health conditions with lifestyle, Wild Ventures is highly selective in its investments, only partnering with companies with aligned values and mission. Serenity Kids is dedicated to changing the way kids eat, starting at infancy with the first bite. An ideal first food, the blends pack vital nutrients including protein, zinc, iron, B vitamins and healthy fats as recommended for infants by the USDA, into 3.5-oz. pouches. Designed to mimic the macronutrients of breastmilk, the line is available in unique and savory flavor profiles like Pastured Uncured Bacon with Organic Butternut Squash & Kale and Organic Butternut Squash & Spinach with Avocado Oil, with all recipes devoid of gluten, grain, dairy, corn, eggs or nuts.   “It’s shocking how many baby food companies essentially sell sugar smoothies,” said John Durant, founder and general partner of Wild Ventures. “I love that Serenity and Joe approached baby food with more humility: Mother Nature knows best. They modeled the macros to mimic breastmilk—the appropriate nutritional standard—and sourced the highest quality, nutrient-dense ingredients, without the added sugar. Our community loves the Serenity Kids mission and we’re going to shout it from the rooftops.”   Serenity Kids supports regenerative and ethical farming techniques by only sourcing American-grown organic vegetables and GAP-certified meat from small family farms in the U.S. Ingredients are free of any antibiotics, added hormones, pesticides, fillers and GMOs, and the brand extends its commitment to supporting ethical farming by giving a portion of its profits to the Farm to Consumer Legal Defense Fund. The pouches are also recyclable for free via a partnership with TerraCycle.   “We’re so pleased to have found a partner that fully believes and lives our mission,” said Serenity Kids CEO and co-founder Serenity Carr. “Support from Wild Ventures will allow us to make even more impact in improving how our babies eat, and ultimately help provide a healthier nutritional foundation for the kids and adults they will become.”   Shelf-stable for 18-months and designed for infants over 6 months old, all recipes are pediatrician recommended with nutritional formulations created under the guidance of Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, Ph.D. and founder of The Paleo Mom. Ballantyne also sits on the brand’s advisory board, which also includes wellness and food industry leaders Taylor Collins, CEO of EPIC Provisions; Sam Elick, CEO of BrainJuice; and Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution.   Currently available in more than 700 retail stores including Whole Foods, Lassen’s, Mom’s Organic Market, King’s, DeCicco & Sons and online via Amazon, Thrive Market and One Stop Paleo Shop, Serenity Kids aims to eventually be everywhere baby food is sold.   Serenity Kids was created from couple Serenity and Joe’s desire for healthier food for their baby, Della. They created the savory meal blends with the essential nutrients that babies need to grow their brains and bodies. Filling a void among baby foods, the blends are the only high-fat low-sugar pouch option on the market, built to match the macronutrient contents of breastmilk. Ratios of protein, fat and carbohydrates are matched to the USDA’s recommendations for infants’ first foods.

We liked this week   Flowers showered the statue of the Madonna Della Strada as she was gently lowered on a table so marchers in the Southington Italian-American Festival’s Sunday morning procession could crowd around to pin money to her and pray. After a Mass the procession went through downtown Southington on the final morning of the three-day festival.   After two years on the market, St. Mary Church and school in Meriden have been sold to a local Pentecostal church, while the rectory went to a separate buyer in late May. The Pentecostal Church of God I.M. of Meriden bought the church at 55 Church St. and the school at 97 Grove St. for $275,000 from the Our Lady Queen of Angels parish. Dockside Construction Services bought the rectory for $85,000.   Hiking in 90-degree heat and occasional pouring rain, Chris Ulbrich, CEO of Ulbrich Stainless Steel and Special Metals Inc., hiked a portion of the Appalachian Trail for 25 days to raise money for the Wallingford Emergency Shelter. The “Ulbrich Trek to End Homelessness” campaign set a goal to raise $20,000 and Ulbrich agreed to add $10,000.   A state law imposing a 10-cent charge for plastic bags at supermarket checkouts starting Thursday, for environmental reasons, has prompted two chains to eliminate those bags well ahead of a June 2021 deadline. Stop & Shop and Big Y customers will no longer receive plastic bags at checkout but will have the opportunity to use paper bags or reusable totes instead.   A Southington tax relief committee this week recommended adding a tax deferment program for the elderly, as well as increasing the income limits for another program already in place. If approved by town leaders, the program will provide $250 in tax deferments to homeowners who are disabled or at least 65 years old. The taxes deferred are due to the town when the property is transferred.   An area foundation has donated over $10,000 toward the replacement and refurbishment of four signs located at Cheshire’s Bartlem Park. The town recently accepted a donation of $10,500 from the John G. Martin Foundation to replace the Bartlem Park and Cheshire Community Pool, Parks and Recreation, and Yellow House signs, as well as to repaint the Medal of Honor Plaza sign.   Rogers Orchards in Southington have opened for their 210th season, offering visitors fresh produce like peaches, tomatoes and corn. “All things are looking good here and we’re excited to have another harvest,” co-president Peter Rogers said. Rogers said this summer’s heat and humidity have been good for the crops.   Gov. Ned Lamont has enlisted two top advisers to take a closer look at the management of two quasi-public agencies, the Connecticut Lottery and the Connecticut Port Authority, and determine whether changes are needed. Lamont  said Tuesday he has become increasingly concerned about reports of leadership strife at the lottery. The port authority’s executive director has also been placed on paid administrative leave from the organization.   Gathering loads of toothbrushes, toothpaste tubes, floss containers and packaging earned Derynoski School in Southington a new playground as part of a recycling company’s national contest run by TerraCycle, a recycling company in New Jersey. The school took second place in the Northeast region contest and won a playground made of recycled materials, worth $25,000.   The Midstate Chamber of Commerce and the Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce recently signed a memorandum of understanding to develop an alliance. The partnership is not a merger, but an effort to maintain the local chambers by retaining their boards, presidents and staff while fostering cooperation, said Rosanne Ford, interim president of the Midstate Chamber of Commerce.   A new interagency task force will soon begin work on a plan to minimize the impact of a group of potentially dangerous industrial compounds — PFAS, known as “forever chemicals” — on Connecticut residents. The panel will be led by the commissioners of the departments of Energy and Environmental Protection and Public Health.   Kick For A Cause’s 15th annual women’s soccer tournament started last weekend in Wallingford. The two-day event features teams from Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York. This year’s event saw 18 teams, each with 15 players. All proceeds go to Meriden-Wallingford Chrysalis, an organization that provides domestic violence services to those in need.

Focus on the little wins. I spent so much time focused on the big wins that I missed the little ones. I didn’t realize how few of the big wins would come to fruition. Now I fill the success jar with the little wins and let the big ones be the bonus on top.

As a part of my series about the women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Nicoya Hecht, co-founder of RISING SPRINGS, a natural mineral supplement (NMS) water, comprised of 100% geothermal spring water from the purest source in Idaho’s Sawtooth National Forest. Rising Springs is the steward of this incredible source, and in addition to being committed to making the purest, unfiltered water on the planet accessible to those who seek it, Nicoya also ensures that the Rising Springs SPC (Social Purpose Corporation) respects the environment. She has built a close-knit team whose sole purpose is to protect and responsibly share Rising Springs in its most pure form, and bring an awareness to the importance of pure drinking water, minimal packaging and environmental preservation. Thank you so much for doing this with us! What is your “backstory”? I was born in Costa Rica to quintessential hippie parents — and named for the Nicoya Peninsula. My first years were spent on a 45 foot trimaran sailing the seas and I took my first steps in the Galapagos Islands. I was raised in Maui surrounded by the beauty of Hawaii. I was a tall, gangly, shy, self-conscience adolescent who hid my insecurities behind the mask of a bubbly, outgoing teenager. It’s taken me a while to find balance between those two extremes. In my 20s, I had my two incredible sons and became a homebirth midwife. In my 30s, I co-founded an eco-boutique with my sister-in-law and joined the Waterkeeper Alliance movement. And now in my 40’s, I have co-founded Rising Springs with my brother-in-law, and husband, who is Rising Springs’ CEO. I am passionate about water, and both awed by its complexity and dumbfounded by the lack of education and differentiation in the marketplace. I am acutely aware of the value of water and feel the need to protect it. Can you share your top three “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Meditation, gratitude and sleep! Incorporate a gratitude practice: For the first half of my life, I focused on what wasn’t working in my life. In an attempt to be real and combat that fake bubbly mask I had worn through adolescence, I emphasized the negatives and paid little attention to the positives. I also believed that if I talked about the good in my life, bad would soon follow- a little like knocking on wood. It was startling when I realized how much these thoughts were increasing the negativity in and around me. I believe one’s emotional state affects their health as much as, or more than, what they put in their body. Through continual practice, I am changing the pattern, spending time each day appreciating the world, people, things, and experiences, and focusing on the positive. At first I had to make a point of finding and naming my gratitude and it felt somewhat contrived and inauthentic. However, gratitude has now become part of my internal world and I notice it bubbles up naturally. Today I feel grateful for a good nights sleep, the sunshine, a quiet house to write in, a facetime chat with my son and an exceptional cup of tea. Recognizing and expressing gratitude feels good, I can feel it throughout my body, and affects those around me. It’s contagious. Get quality sleep: So many of us are dealing with sleep issues- from not being able to fall asleep to waking in the middle of the night or not getting enough of the right kind of sleep. Sleep deprivation affects various parts of our lives, from mood and energy levels to clarity of mind. Getting a good night’s sleep can take forethought and attention, but it’s totally worth it! It’s important to follow your personal rhythm. In my family, my nickname is Bed Time, and I’m often teased for being the first one ready to turn in. Many tools can support healthy sleep. I often take a bath before bed. Good pillows are a must, and snacking after dinner is a no go for sure. Meditate: I’d really like to have a consistent meditation practice but have been challenged to incorporate one into my life, I won’t share my list of excuses with you- even though it would probably make for a good laugh. Practically every person I respect in the health and wellness movement considers meditation to be one of the most important tools to support our wellbeing. I believe meditation practices are further undermined by our culture’s addiction to technology and the constant external stimulation we experience. We as a society have forgotten how to be silent and still, and I think some people feel uncomfortable without constant input. Currently my meditation practice consists of not picking up my phone in the in-between moments like at the stop light, or while in line at the grocery store. Instead I take a few deep breaths and try to quiet my mind. I know, I have a long way to go- I’m working on it! Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? The path to co-founding Rising Springs is the most interesting thing that has happened in my career so far. My husband, Grey and I had just built a home in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica and become empty nesters. We were planning on living abroad part-time and traveling a lot. I had few commitments and my only focus was on non-profit work with our family foundation. My husband had work in both Costa Rica and the states, so could work from home and travel when needed. Think: yoga, meditation, romantic trips to exotic places, juice cleanses and spontaneous visits to see our boys…you get the picture. So how did I go from that lovely story to having a startup that requires most of my attention, leaves little space for self-care and requires the multi-tasking of raising toddlers? Frankly it was the water’s fault. And I wouldn’t have it any other way. When my extended family purchased the Spring and the land around it, we were excited to become stewards of the source. We were aware of the value and rarity of a single source spring. The water had previously been bottled under the name Trinity and we knew there was a latent consumer group who wanted to be reconnected to the spring source. My husband and I talked a lot about the water and its benefits. We asked ourselves if the water was worthy of being shipped and if it made sense to launch a new company. We also wondered if we could incorporate what we had learned in the nonprofit world into a for-profit company (and by we I meant he). I have often been fortunate to be involved in the creative side of my husbands ventures without having to be “officially” a part of them. When Grey asked me to work with him to launch Rising Springs, my initial response was to say no. First, I questioned if it was a good idea to work with my husband- the person I’d known since I was 12, been married to for 20 years, and who I spent 90% of my time with already. Wouldn’t working together put unnecessary stress on our relationship (that’s a different story)? Second, as previously mentioned, I had few commitments and intended to implement a long list of self-care practices — why would I screw that up? Third, I had very little experience in business and none in marketing. The learning curve was daunting. But every time I said “No!”, my husband kept asking, I could hear the water calling me to it and to the project. I ignored it for awhile but it persisted and so I started showing up at the office dressed for the job with zero idea of what to do. It was challenging and I googled EVERYTHING. But what blossomed was the realization that I am passionate about water, excited to learn more, and have a desire to be part of a larger movement. I also developed newly-found confidence in not only my abilities but in myself. I’m thankful to my husband for continuing to ask, support and encourage me! When things get challenging, I turn to the water to show me where it wants to flow. Passion for water brought me into the company, and I trust it to show me how to move forward.  

  Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that? I can’t think of one big mistake I’ve made. Instead, I’ve made a series of smaller mistakes that ultimately led me to become better at my job. I repeated some mistakes over and over until I finally learned those particular lesson but there are many mistakes I still notice and some I have yet to recognize. The one I repeat most is trying to impress people who I respect in order to feel worthy or of value. But ironically, when I’m trying to impress someone, I have left my true self, and therefore the interaction is inauthentic and hinders genuine connection. I found myself in this situation recently at a wellness retreat weekend sponsored by Rising Springs. I needed/wanted a particular person I admire to validate me as a person and business woman. As I kept noticing that neediness in me arise, I would take a few deep breaths and have a sweet little chat with the part of me that was seeking validation. Then I would find something around me to be grateful for. The energy would dissipate and I could return to what I was doing. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world? We have helped to start important conversations about water- particularly the importance of paying attention to the water we drink to the same degree we focus on the food we eat. Our bodies are 70% water. We encourage people to know where their water comes from. Water is the great dissolver — it is the product of everything it has ever flowed through — so it is important to know what has happened to it along its journey to your body. The source really matters. People should be able to easily identify where their water comes from, what’s in it and how it’s handled or treated on its journey. We hope that the conversation will also help people focus more on protecting natural fresh water supplies. It’s an urgent issue. Once a spring is contaminated, the damage is done. By studying to be a water sommelier at the Fine Water Academy, I am deepening my understanding of and relationship to water. I am on a mission to help shift the conversation in the United States from ‘water is a commodity that can be processed to be made drinkable’ to ‘water naturally pure and unprocessed is an essential key to wellness’. None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that? Sharon Egan was the marketing director for Trinity, the company that previously owned and bottled at the source, and we were lucky enough to hire her when we started Rising Springs. She holds institutional knowledge about the source, the water that rises, and the industry. She has been a gracious and patient mentor to me and other members of our team. Sharon has put in many years of hard work and she is helping me short-cut a lot of those lessons by taking time to help me understand. That said the greatest gift she has given me is her encouragement and belief in my abilities. I’m not really one to put myself out there until I feel very confident, which all to often means never. Time after time after time she encourages, supports and praises me for the work I do. Recently, I did a spur of the moment podcast at the Paleo FX expo in Austin. I was able to go for it with no prep because of all the support and training from Sharon. When she listened to it she sent me this text- “truly — I cried. thank you for doing such a wonderful job”. I have needed that kind of support in my corner and I am truly blessed that I can depend on her to be there for me. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be? Gratitude Everyday — many health/wellness providers and followers speak to and incorporate gratitude in their lives, but if the general population joined in the daily gratitude practices, I believe it would create positive change on a huge scale- swinging the pendulum from fear to love. What are your “3 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why? Don’t get attached to the moment, it will change. Launching a startup is a bit like riding a roller coaster everyday- so many ups and downs and loop-de-loops. I had to learn not to get too excited or too disappointed because things shift on an hourly basis. Don’t worry- just Google it! I was intimidated by everything I didn’t know about both water and business in general, and I’m not talking about nuanced business strategies. I’m talking about how to use collaboration software as a management tool, what the hell a COG was, and that OOO wasn’t a typo. Luckily, Siri knows 99% of what I don’t. Focus on the little wins. I spent so much time focused on the big wins that I missed the little ones. I didn’t realize how few of the big wins would come to fruition. Now I fill the success jar with the little wins and let the big ones be the bonus on top. Do you have a “girl-crush” in this industry? If you could take one person to brunch, who would it be? (Let another “woman in wellness” know that you respect her as a teacher and guide! ) There are so many incredible ‘women in wellness’ that I would love to have an afternoon chat with. At this moment in time I would take Esther Perel to lunch and bring my husband along! She is a pioneer when it comes to the landscape of relationships today, and Grey adores her. I have read her books Mating in Captivity and The State of Affairs, and have been fortunate to hear her speak a few times. I gained numerous insights into myself and my marriage that have helped me uncover some unrealistic expectations I didn’t know I had and shifted the way I viewed my marriage, for the better. My husband and I married and had children at a relatively young age and have now been married for 22 years. In this day and age, our long marriage is unusual and we therefore don’t have much of a peer group in the same situation. I have read a lot of books and gone to a ton of workshops gathering tools for navigating my marriage. Esther’s work has been infinitely valuable in that journey. I am proud of my husband’s and my relationship- the tough times we have worked through and the incredible gifts we have received from each other. I know there are still so many ways to learn and grow separately and with each other. I would love to chat with Esther about it, she has been married for a long time so has lived the journey I’m on, plus she is super funny and I love her accent. Sustainability, veganism, mental health and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why? Sustainability and mental health are both important to me. But if I had to choose one, it would have to be sustainability. If we don’t start to make significant changes in our behavior and policies, our very survival is at stake, regardless of our mental health. I became a vegetarian at the age of 20. It was a personal decision and I didn’t judge others for their dietary choices. However, now I believe people need to consider how their diet affects the environment and make changes accordingly. We all need to participate in shifting to a more sustainable model. It’s challenging to change patterns. I feel strongly that we are responsible for not only the items we buy but the packaging it comes in. That plastic at the top of a tincture bottle I buy is my responsibility. So I invested in terracycle recycling boxes- I can put any plastic item in it and it will be upcycled. I am paying for an alternative to the landfill. It’s not the answer but a step in the right direction. But every time I take out the trash, I find plastic bits that me and my family members have thrown away because we are still learning to shift our patterns. My next step is to look at offsetting my carbon footprint. I drive an electric car but am on a plane often, which I know contributes to carbon emissions. I’m not ready to give up travel but I want to offset the pollution I am participating in creating. What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media? Instagram is the best place to engage with us on social media. We need to up our social media game, which basically means we need to hire a dedicated social media manager. I want to work with an individual rather than a company- We’ll be accepting applications in 2020!

In keeping with the society-wide movement toward environmental sustainability, consumers are demanding less packaging. A new study indicates, however, that this trend won’t translate into less spending on packaging in the coming year. Of 250 CPG brand owners polled, 75 percent reported that they plan on spending more on packaging over the next year, according to a study conducted by L.E.K. Consulting. These numbers demonstrate a notable increase from 65 percent in 2018 and 40 percent in 2017. While 85 percent of respondents said that they had been working toward changing packaging materials to make them more recyclable, there were other significant trends in the packaging landscape discussed in the study which all require investment in innovation. CPG companies have made moves into easier-to-open packaging (57 percent), single-serve packaging (51 percent) and packaging with different formats, printing and textures to match the new, premium products that they contain. The general public has become more aware of the problems of excessive packaging in recent years for a numerous reasons, one being the tremendous volume of boxes and packaging waste generated by shopping via e-commerce. Amazon.com, in an attempt to curtail some of this, has instituted rules for its sellers requiring streamlined packaging and is imposing punishment in the form of fines for those who fail to use it, reports Mashable. These restrictions are not solely for reasons of sustainability, though, as bulky packaging from vendors also leads to additional shipping weight for Amazon if it is holding the inventory, driving up costs for the e-tail giant. At least one startup has even attempted to close the gap by creating reusable versions of packaging for major CPG brands that can be left on the front porch and picked up for re-use. Loop, a “circular” e-commerce platform created by startup TerraCycle, entered into partnerships with Walmart and Kroger earlier this year for pilots in four cities. CPG companies are in some instances pioneering different versions of packaging for products sold direct-to-consumer. Proctor & Gamble, for example, released a lighter, sturdier box of Tide specifically to be purchased and delivered from Amazon.com.  

NEWBURYPORT — Two local high school students and two senior community members were honored for their volunteer efforts at the annual Generations of Giving ceremony Wednesday.   About 25 people, some of whom were former Generations of Giving honorees, gathered at the Senior Community Center for the ceremony, which is held during each year’s Yankee Homecoming celebration and recognizes local residents young and old who have made a difference by donating their time and energy.   This year’s senior volunteer winners were Bob Peters and Don Beaulieu, who were honored alongside youth winners Kylie Lorenzo and Anna Cameron.   Peters, 85, has spent a decade packing and delivering meals each weekday for the area’s hungry residents as part of Newburyport’s Meals on Wheels program. On the weekends, Peters and his friends also help feed the area’s hungry residents, house its homeless and perform minor repairs for people in need.   During the ceremony, Peters shared some wise words from his grandmother, who encouraged him to help those around him from a young age.   “I can remember my grandmother saying to me when I was so young, I could barely walk. She said, ‘If you can do something for somebody, do it and don’t even think about it, and it comes back to you a hundredfold,’” Peters said.   Beaulieu served as a Salisbury selectman for three terms, and volunteered on the Warrant Advisory Committee and the Triton School District Subcommittee. He volunteered to record Salisbury town committee meetings and also works for Northern Essex Elder Transport, taking local seniors to medical appointments in Boston.   Cameron, a Newburyport High School junior, has volunteered at the city’s Recycling Center for several years and runs the “Free Corner,” which keeps usable items out of the city’s waste stream and gives them to new owners. She manages the TerraCycle collections and has helped with Toward Zero Waste Newburyport projects, including volunteering at the Repair Cafe.   Cameron was unable to attend the ceremony, but her mother, Susanne Cameron, spoke on her behalf. She praised her daughter’s dedication to volunteering and informed guests that Anna planned to donate her cash prize to charity.   “She is a tenacious volunteer,” Susanne Cameron said. “When most kids her age are sleeping on Saturday morning, she is at the Recycling Center in the snow, rain, cold and heat. ... She really believes in the spirit of volunteerism.”   Lorenzo, a senior at Triton Regional High School, has logged 120 volunteer hours at Anna Jaques Hospital’s patient information desk and in the patient transport department over the last three summers.   Lorenzo is a member of the Triton Community Service Club, through which she has volunteered for PTA meetings, the Salvation Army, elementary school events, road races and other events. When Lorenzo returns to school in the fall, she will be vice president of the student council.   At the ceremony, Lorenzo thanked her family, who she said “always encouraged me to give back.”   Richie Eaton, a former chair of Yankee Homecoming, also addressed the crowd Wednesday, shining a light on the volunteer spirit that he said drives Yankee Homecoming.   “Without the volunteers, you wouldn’t have Yankee Homecoming,” Eaton said. “Without volunteers, we’d be nothing. It’s so important to all of us.”   Staff writer Jack Shea can be reached via email at jshea@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3154. Follow him on Twitter @iamjackshea.

On a recent Saturday morning, I answered my antsy 3-year-old’s request for a snack by digging into my bag and finding – to my relief – a pouch of applesauce. I snapped off the cap and handed it over, and he was content for the last few minutes of his sister’s violin class. Perhaps apple slices would have been more ideal, but I was glad to have the pouch on hand.   Since the introduction of baby food pouches about 10 years ago, they’ve claimed more of the market each year. Technavio, a market research firm, estimated in 2018 that global revenue from baby food pouches grew tenfold between 2010 and 2017 — from $16 million to $160.8 million. In 2017, the market research firm Mintel surveyed 1,000 households in the United States with young children and found that about half of kids 3 and under eat purees from pouches, and of these, 58 percent have one or more pouches per day.   As a parent and college nutrition instructor, my guess is that pouches are popular because they’re convenient, shelf-stable and usually more nutritious than other packaged snacks. While they’re mostly fruit and vegetable purees, they can include more interesting ingredients like chia seeds, chickpeas, millet, avocado and yogurt.   “They were great when my daughter was about 2 and so hungry at 5:30 when I picked her up from day care. It prevented many dinner-prep meltdowns,” said Melissa Marks, a biology professor in Salem, Ore. “I didn’t love the eco-unfriendly nature of them,” said Marks, “but they got this scientist mom through the final pre-tenure year.” While the pouches are not recyclable through municipal services, they can be mailed to TerraCycle at a cost of at least $65 per shipment, except for a few brands that have set up free mail-in programs with the recycling company. Pouch caps are collected in some locations by Preserve, which manufactures goods like toothbrushes and razors from recycled plastic.   The pediatric feeding experts I spoke with said that there’s nothing wrong with giving your kids pouches from time to time, but they’re worried that some families might be becoming too reliant on them. The pouches’ entry into the baby food market is so recent that there isn’t yet published research on their impact, but they are enough of a departure from traditional baby foods that they raise several theoretical concerns, including delaying motor development, diluting nutritional quality, and increasing picky eating and cavities in young kids.   One potential problem is that pouches may oversimplify the eating process, leaving fewer opportunities for babies to practice the oral and fine motor skills they need to use utensils and to eat more textured foods. For example, babies can suck from a pouch using similar mouth and tongue movements as when they breastfeed or drink from a bottle, said Jenny McGlothlin, M.S., a speech-language pathologist at the University of Texas at Dallas and coauthor of “Helping Your Child With Extreme Picky Eating.” It’s better for babies to eat purees with a spoon, she said, so they can practice closing their lips over the utensil and moving food back in their mouths to swallow, and then advance to food with more texture as soon as they’re ready.   Pouched baby foods are marketed for babies as young as 4 months, and since they’re easy for babies to suck down, this might encourage parents to add too much pureed food to their babies’ diets too early. “As semi-liquids that could fill up the baby, they are not good nutritional substitutes for breastmilk or formula in early life,” said Dr. Steven Abrams, M.D., chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Nutrition. The A.A.P. advises parents to start offering solids to babies when they’re interested and developmentally ready to sit up and eat from a spoon, usually around 6 months.   Anecdotally, some professionals say they’re observing delays in motor development among kids overly dependent on the pouches. Ruth McGivern, M.A., a pediatric speech-language pathologist in Philadelphia, said that she and her colleagues had noticed that some of their toddler clients were learning to self-feed with a spoon later than usual, and that she was “pretty sure reliance on the pouches is part of the reason.” On its own, taking longer to learn to use a spoon wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, she said, but she worries that these toddlers are missing out on an important stage of food exploration.   “Without the opportunity to smear food all over their faces, and lick it off with their tongues, and wave the spoon around while they play with the food in their other hand, young toddlers tend to lose their curiosity about food and become more and more dependent on either the pouches or their parent spoon-feeding them,” said McGivern.   Research suggests that kids use all their senses to learn about food. Having the opportunity to see, smell and play with food can increase a toddler’s acceptance of new foods, according to studies published in the journal Appetite, and pouches don’t allow for that full sensory experience. Maryann Jacobsen, M.S, R.D., a coauthor of “Fearless Feeding,” recommended advancing from purees – like those in pouches – to more textured foods between 6 and 10 months so that babies can learn to chew and feed themselves finger foods.   Babies are most open to new tastes during a “golden window of opportunity” between 6 and 18 months, said McGlothlin. It’s a perfect time to get used to the bitterness of green vegetables, which can require repeated exposures. “If we don’t offer a variety of foods and experiences, then we’re setting ourselves up for pickiness later,” she said.   If vegetables are introduced to kids only in pouch form, their taste is probably masked. “When you’re mixing it with other flavors, there’s no guarantee that they’re able to taste it in the way that they need to in order to learn to like that flavor over time,” said Kameron Moding, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in pediatric nutrition at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, whose research has shown that most packaged baby and toddler vegetable products, including pouches, are blended with fruits or sweet vegetables.   Those sweet ingredients also mean the pouches are high in sugar. A study published this July in the journal Nutrients analyzed 703 pureed baby and toddler food products and found that pouched purees were often higher in sugar than baby food in other packages, like jars or plastic tubs. For example, among fruit and vegetable blend products, pouches had a median of 11 grams of sugar per serving, compared with 5 grams of sugar per serving in products with other packaging because the pouches both came in larger serving sizes and were more concentrated in sugar. Among the pouched blends, 58 percent had added sugar beyond that naturally present in fruits and vegetables, compared with 33 percent of the purees in other packaging.   “The higher the sugar content, the higher the risk of tooth decay,” said Dr. Joe Castellanos, D.D.S., immediate past president of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. He recommends using pouches only in moderation, along with a good tooth brushing routine.   Despite these concerns, there’s nothing wrong with the occasional pouch, Jacobsen said. “It’s fine to use these,” she said. “It’s just when we overuse them and we rely on them too much, I think that’s when it becomes problematic.”   The experts I spoke with said that it’s impossible to give hard and fast rules on how many pouches is too many. Some kids who eat several pouches per day are still comfortable eating many other foods. However, if your kid is fussy when they can’t have a pouch; or if they refuse to eat more textured foods, or if they don’t want to use utensils or touch food with their hands, it’s a problem, McGlothlin said. A pediatric feeding specialist can do an evaluation to identify sensory or oral motor issues that may be contributing and help make a plan to broaden the child’s diet.   Although she’s concerned about overuse of pouches, McGlothlin, who’s also a mother of three, said that it’s not helpful to judge parents about how they feed their kids. “We’re all kind of just trying to do the best we can on a daily basis,” she said.   Pouches may be especially helpful for parents with disabilities, or for those who have little time for food prep and who might find that pouches are the most realistic way of getting fruits and veggies into their kids’ lunchboxes.   The same can be true for children with special needs. Katie Herzog, a mother in Novi, Mich., has a 4-year-old daughter who has significant feeding problems that require therapy. “Even as we add solid foods to her diet, the pouches are important to give her jaw a break,” Herzog said. Her daughter also has celiac disease, an autoimmune condition in which the body mounts an attack response against the small intestine after eating gluten, she said, so pouches can be given to her on the go without having to worry about wheat contamination.   For my part, I see parenting as both a short game and a long game. My long game that Saturday morning was to make a fragrant lentil and veggie curry that would simmer in the slow cooker all afternoon. I wasn’t sure if my son would eat much of it, but at least he would smell it, taste a bit of it, and watch his sister and parents enjoy it. But my short game? It might involve a pouch every now and then.

  LOS ANGELES: Leading toy and consumer products manufacturer ZURU Inc, announced today the Bunch O Balloons Recycling Program powered by a long-term strategic alliance with the innovative recycling giant TerraCycle.   The partnership encourages consumers to think 'green' and recycle 100% of their used balloon plastics and packaging. Beginning September 1st 2019 all ZURU Bunch O Balloons products in the USA, Canada, U.K., Australia and New Zealand will be fully recyclable. Consumers will be able to ship or drop off used Bunch O Balloons packaging, balloon pieces and fast-fill stems - at TerraCycle recycling stations, where they will then be processed and recycled into new materials. Taking steps to make our products more sustainable is a top initiative especially when it comes to left-over balloon latex and packaging from our Bunch O Balloon brands, said Anna Mowbray, COO & Founder, ZURU. Through our partnership with TerraCycle, we're providing consumers a simple way to recycle material, reduce the amount of landfill plastic around the world and produce recycled materials. TerraCycle and ZURU will make it easy for consumers to collect all their ZURU Bunch O Balloons materials after use, pack into any available box, print off their shipping label after signing up and then simply ship out or drop off to be recycled. We're thrilled to partner with ZURU on their Balloon Recycling Program, said Global spokesperson Tom Szaky, TerraCycle CEO. Together, we are working to encourage consumers to take action to reuse and recycle waste instead of incinerating or landfilling it. This moves waste from a linear system to a circular one, allowing it to keep cycling in our global economy. The multi-market TerraCycle program, is one part of ZURU's 10-year sustainability program to rethink how they design new and existing products, reduce usage of plastics in items while still delivering a top quality experience and how they encourage recycling at all touchpoints. For example the company consciously built sustainable practices into ZURU Bunch O Balloons Self-Sealing Party Balloons, the latest addition to the category-leading Bunch O Balloons brand, ensuring the fast-fill stems make all party balloons reusable. Bunch O Balloons Party allows consumers to fill, tie and string 40 party balloons in 40 seconds. There is no more blowing, no more tying and no need to add ribbon or string. Simply attach the balloon stems to the Electric Party Pump and press go. Additionally, Bunch O Balloons Party can also be filled with helium. ZURU also encourages safe use of party balloons and advises consumers not to release balloons, especially helium, into the atmosphere.

The receptacles will collect butts to be shipped for free to Terracycle, a company that helps connect hard-to-recycle waste with recycling programs funded by brands, manufacturers and retailers around the world. The cigarette waste will be melted into hard plastic that can be remolded into new products, like industrial plastic pallets and benches, while the ash and tobacco are separated and composted, according to the company’s website.

The receptacles will collect butts to be shipped for free to Terracycle, a company that helps connect hard-to-recycle waste with recycling programs funded by brands, manufacturers and retailers around the world. The cigarette waste will be melted into hard plastic that can be remolded into new products, like industrial plastic pallets and benches, while the ash and tobacco are separated and composted, according to the company’s website.

It’s challenging to change patterns. I feel strongly that we are responsible for not only the items we buy but the packaging it comes in. That plastic at the top of a tincture bottle I buy is my responsibility. So I invested in TerraCycle recycling boxes- I can put any plastic item in it and it will be upcycled. I am paying for an alternative to the landfill. It’s not the answer but a step in the right direction. But every time I take out the trash, I find plastic bits that me and my family members have thrown away because we are still learning to shift our patterns. My next step is to look at offsetting my carbon footprint. I drive an electric car but am on a plane often, which I know contributes to carbon emissions. I’m not ready to give up travel but I want to offset the pollution I am participating in creating.