World Baby Foods let future gourmets sample new tastes and cultures

How would you like to spend 6 to 8 months of your life on a diet consisting solely of pureed fruits and vegetables?

Well, you already have, but you were just a baby and chances are, no one was adding cardamom, coconut cream, edamame or other flavorful touches to liven things up.

Wee ones graduating to solid food can now say goodbye to creamed spinach and hello to a smorgasbord of world cuisine such as Tokyo Tum Tum, Baby Dal, Sweetie Tahiti, or Que Pasa Calabasa, courtesy of Dr. Susanna's World Baby Foods.

From its humble beginnings in 2007 at the West Seattle Farmers Market to Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh, World Baby Foods has come a long way, literally a spoonful at a time.

Local founders Susanna Block and Jonathan Scheffer, both local physicians, have long shared interests in world cultures and health (they've practiced in Asia, Africa, and Latin America). Block, a pediatrician, and Scheffer, a family doctor, decided to take their love of culture and cookery and find a way to promote healthy eating and broader understanding of different cultures.

Another motivator was Block's professional desire to see better choices for infant nutrition and healthy eating habits.

"If you want your baby to grow up to be an adventurous and healthy eater, than they'll need a healthy, well-developed palate. We wanted to offer something with superior nutrition with the purpose of focusing on infant taste development. We spend so much time on sensory stimulation that we haven't ever focused on developing their palates. In our culture, baby food has traditionally been bland. As kids grow up, they make food choices that are part of their palate memory. If you feed your child soda pop and Cheetos that's what they'll know, and that's what they'll eat."

Block and Scheffer started the line by trying it out on the children of friends, moving on to sampling and selling at the farmers market. Block also made the most of her peers at Swedish Hospital, using the nurses and doctors with children as a focus group.

With no baby in sight, I obviously needed to do my own sampling. Starting with Lullaby Thai, I've concluded there must be some happy kids out there if this is what's for dinner.

If I were a baby, I would never throw my spoon on the floor again. Instead of tasteless yuck or drippy goo, I got a well-balanced, soothing mélange of Thai delight -- cardamom, banana, apples, white rice and turmeric.

Moving on to Baby Borscht, I've never been a fan of the soup, but one finger-dip and then another revealed a zippy top note of dill rounded out with sweet, earthy beets you can actually taste, along with apples, carrots, spinach and potato. I liked it so much I ate the whole jar.

All of their ingredients are organic, with some items such as produce coming from local farmers. Plus, no salt, sugar, sweeteners, artificial colors or flavors.

"We do as much sourcing from local farmers as possible, like apples from Merritt Apples grown right here in Skagit Valley, and Stahlbush Farms," says Block.

In addition to ordering online and from Amazon Fresh, you'll find World Baby Foods at stores throughout the Seattle metropolitan area, including Metropolitan Market and Whole Foods.

Copyright © The Seattle Times Company