Bailing Out Babies

With the country in the midst of an economic crisis, and big business looking to the government for a bail-out, the American public is left to wonder, "What about us?" And as the co-founder of a small business that prides itself on social responsibility, I've been wondering, "What can we do to help out?"

Now, we would definitely welcome someone bailing us out, too, but since no one is pounding down our door to hand us a pile of cash, it seems only right that we should step up and do something to ease everyone else's pain. So we decided to launch the Tastybaby Great American Stimulus Package and give away a lot of baby food for free!

During the past 15 months that we've been in business, my company has given away plenty of product, mostly through food banks, which distribute much-needed supplies to families in need. It is sobering to realize how many people in our own communities are unable to provide healthy (or any) food for their children, and it's incredibly gratifying to be able to help out. This time, we decided to give our food directly to families, and we're handing out free cases of Tastybaby (a $40 value) to any family who signs up and comes to one of our four "Baby Food Bail-Out Tour" stops in Southern California on February 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th. Now we're planning to set up Baby Food Bail-Outs in other parts of the country, too.

Tastybaby came about when my business partner, Shannan Swanson and I decided to help fill a gap in the market-place: the only baby food available in stores was in jars, and neither of us felt warm and fuzzy about feeding our own kids highly-processed foods every day. (Even if they're organic, jarred foods are highly processed and full of stabilizers and preservatives so they "keep" for years!) The more research we did, the more we became "moms on a mission," with a goal to inspire American families to start babies and children with healthy nutrition from day one (whether with our own product or not!) in an effort to stem the rise of such juvenile health risks as Diabetes & Childhood Obesity, which is now ranked as an "epidemic" by the National Institutes of Health.

We're hoping that we'll inspire other companies to follow our lead and start paying it forward. The time has come for everyone - even those without a "mission" or a corporate mandate to "give back" - to step up. It's up to all of us. After all, we're only people who can truly going bail ourselves out.

Comments

[murph3131]

Good for you! I am an extremely picky eater and what I do eat is very unhealthy. I think if I was fed proper food as a child, I wouldn't be this way today.
http://donthavekids.wordpress.com/

[DrCharlesMartin]

Thank you for jumping in and taking action to make a difference in the diabetes epidemic. Unfortunately, we see the fallout from elevated blood sugar in our practices every day. Let's hope your good nutritional start will inspire lifelong healthy eating to help prevent chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes. We write extensively about related issues at http://dentistryfordiabetics.com/blog.

- Charles Martin, DDS
Founder, Dentistry For Diabetics

[CR46]

I think this is one thing so often overlooked when donating to food shelves, baby food. Thank you for what your company is doing and thanks for the reminder not to forget the babies , baby food will be on the top of my list on my next drop off trip to the local food shelf.

[PatA]

What a fantastic thing to do! In this day and age when adults are pushed to the limit to achieve, it is good that your charity starts with babies. I am proud of you and happy that we live in a country where your work has enabled you to be so generous!

[Liane Weintraub - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you for the positive feedback ... it's something we're very proud of. I've never thought that "business" and "giving back" had to be mutually exclusive & during times like these, it really makes a difference. Even though we thought we'd have a lot of people interested in our Baby Bail-Out, we weren't prepared for the magnitude of the response -- people turned out in droves! So, we're going to extend the program, by popular demand. On Thursday, February 26th, we'll be doing our Bail-Out at A Mother's Haven in Encino, California & soon we'll add dates in other parts of the country!