Farm to table baby food

Once Upon a Farm | Clean Baby Food & Kids' Snacks

Organic snacks and meals for every occasion. Trusted by parents, loved by little ones.

SHOP NOW

Subscribe & Save

Here's How It Works

Choose from our endless variety and switch it up before every delivery!

Pick Your Plan

Customize Your Box

Get Goodness Delivered

Get Started

Always Organic

Whole Ingredients

Nutrient-Rich

Farm-to-Fridge

Freshly Frozen

No Added Sugar

Dairy Free

No Preservatives

No GMO's

Nothing Artificial

Always Organic

Whole Ingredients

Cold-Pressed

Nutrient-Rich

Farm-to-Fridge

No Added Sugar

Dairy Free

No Preservatives

No GMO's

Nothing Artificial

Learn to Taste

Expand their palate with new flavors, textures, and combos

Learn to Grab

Practice fine motor skills (playing with food encouraged!)

Learn to Feel Full

Help your little one listen to their body’s hunger cues

First Clean Label Baby Food & Kids Snack Brand

LEARN MORE

We Don't Just Follow Standards, We Set Them

LEARN MORE

"Best Kids Food Brand 2021!"

"Stepped-Up Nutrition for Babies!"

“With Once Upon a Farm, we know our kids are getting real food packed with nutrients!”

The Once Upon a Farm Standards

The O'Farm Standards Means Something We have high standards, and...

Meet the First Baby Food to be First 1,000 Day Promise Certified

We’ve always held ourselves to incredibly high standards, but...

Now at Whole Foods: Once Upon a Farm Organic Baby Food

Whole Foods shoppers—we’ve got good news for you! You...

A Better Story Starts Here

We’ve made it our mission to make doing better—and eating better—easy by offering delicious and nutritious snacks and meals for babies to big kids.

Meet Our Co-Founders

Our O'Farmers in Charge

O’Farmer John Foraker:

He runs the farm and is a champion of mission and culture.

O'Farmer Jennifer Garner:

She guides the Farm vision and overall brand while making sure we give back to the community.

O’Farmer Ari Raz:

He manages our farm and sells its delicious produce to loving families.

O’Farmer Cassandra Curtis:

She is dedicated to the farm kitchen where she develops recipes as a Certified Holistic Nutrition Expert to ensure kids get the nutrition they need in the recipes they love.

Farmer Jen's Family Farm

We’re growing some of our organic fruits and vegetables on the century-old family farm of our Co-Founder, Jennifer Garner.

Learn More

The O'Farm Standards

✔️ We take sourcing seriously.
✔️ We believe clean is more than heavy metal testing.
✔️ We intentionally craft every recipe with your little one in mind.
✔️ We know the importance of first bites.
✔️ We will provide A Million Meals to kids in need.
✔️ We aspire to drive improvements daily in childhood nutrition.

LEARN MORE

First Clean Label Baby Food & Kids Snack Brand

LEARN MORE

Organic, Cold-Pressed Blends for Babies to Big Kids

GET STARTED

We made a commitment to be more than just a kid nutrition brand . We’re passionate people always looking to do things in a better way, and strive to be a purpose-led company that nurtures our children, each other and the earth to pass along a healthier and happier world for the next generation.

Save the Children

We’re proud to partner with Save the Children, a non-profit helping kids grow up healthy, educated and safe in the U. S. and around the world. Our company has set a goal that by the end of 2024 we will help provide a million nutritious meals to children across rural America. Follow along as we keep you updated on our journey!

LEARN MORE

Nurturing Our Children

In 2019, we launched the first refrigerated baby food approved by the WIC™ (Women Infants & Children) program.

Nurturing Each Other

As a B Corp, we use our business as a force for good and meet the highest standards of overall social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

Nurturing the Earth

All Once Upon a Farm products are made with renewable energy, and our renewable energy purchases are third-party certified by Green-e.

Here's How It Works

Subscribe & Save

Choose from our endless variety and switch it up before every delivery!

Pick Your Plan

Customize Your Box

Get Goodness Delivered

Get Started

Benefits of organic baby food - Articles about baby food from pediatricians and MAMAKO experts

Components of food products are building blocks for all organs and tissues of the human body, so the state of health is determined by the quality, digestibility, biological and energy value of food. It creates the prerequisites for the proper development of the body and its functioning in the future.

Specialists, scientists, physicians associate the increase in the incidence of children over the past century with changes in diet. From the first years of life, a child's body is extremely susceptible to various undesirable and harmful components, such as toxins, allergens, which are often food additives of chemical origin.

The popularity of natural and organic products has exploded in the last decade as more consumers recognize their health benefits. The supply is formed by demand, therefore, food products appear on the market every year, which are characterized by a high degree of safety, attractive consumer properties, the presence of well-digestible proteins and micronutrients, minerals and vitamins that are important for the formation of a healthy body.

It is a balanced and healthy diet based on optimally selected food products that will provide children with full development, good physical shape and mood, and the formation of rational eating habits.

Baby food is generally characterized by high nutritional value and good taste, safety, balanced composition. But the variety of terms on the label, such as "natural", "ecological", "farm", "organic", indicating the beneficial properties of the content, often confuse consumers, and in some cases are contradictory and misleading.

What is the difference between these definitions, what do they mean, what are the characteristics of food products? What are the benefits of additional quality criteria, such as being labeled "organic"?

natural products are products that consist of natural, natural ingredients and do not contain chemical additives or impurities. At the same time, the term “natural product” can be interpreted in a completely different way, since the presence of this phrase on the package does not guarantee the absence of chemical additives in its contents: the manufacturer is not obliged to track the sources of raw materials, materials, and the technological process for preparing such products.

Farm products are grown and produced on privately owned farms and in most cases non-industrial. The term "farm products" has gained a lot of popularity in recent years: it began to be often placed on labels. But sometimes the use of the "farm product" status is speculative, as the packaging doesn't say how the ingredients were produced. Due to the fact that there are no legislative acts on the quality of farm products, it is possible that they can be produced using herbicides, chemical fertilizers, growth hormones, and so on.

The composition of organic products excludes the presence of additives of artificial origin, such as preservatives, dyes, flavors, flavor enhancers, as well as the use of genetically modified organisms. The raw materials used in the production of organic food are grown without the use of pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, antibiotics, hormones, growth regulators. It is believed that the consequence of compliance with such conditions is the absence of chemical additives in organic raw materials. This gives the products an improved taste, a more pronounced aroma, and ensures their complete chemical composition.

The dominant difference that distinguishes organic products is the strict requirements for the quality of their ingredients, production technology, as well as the conditions under which the raw materials for their production were obtained:

organic products are produced in environmentally friendly regions, natural conditions, away from megacities, highways, industrial areas. Ecological agriculture helps to preserve the environment and provide future generations with a healthy and comfortable life;
only genetically modified and untreated seeds are used in the cultivation of cereals, legumes, vegetables, fruits and other organic products. Plants grow naturally. Chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, hormones, growth stimulants are not used in organic agriculture;
finished organic products do not contain flavors, dyes, emulsifiers, stabilizers, preservatives and other additives of artificial origin;
in order to confirm the status of "organic", the food product is subjected to mandatory regulatory and systematic quality control "from grain to counter". Quality control is carried out by authorized state services - accredited certification bodies, as well as laboratories of the manufacturer itself;

A food product that has successfully passed the entire quality control cycle, and this is confirmed by certification bodies, receives the appropriate certificate, and a special “organic” mark is applied to its packaging: this distinguishes it from other products.

Therefore, a specific mark and label for organic products is used in relation to the production process and products, confirming that they have been produced and processed in an environmentally friendly way, and that all principles of organic production have been respected “from farm to consumer table”. The sign and the label are elements that confirm the quality of the production process, and not just the product itself.

Therefore, certified organic products are products that are produced, processed, packaged in strict compliance with specifications or government standards and then certified as "organic". The definition means that the product is produced with the exception of toxic effects on the environment, does not contain agrochemicals, pesticides, in its production did not use genetically modified seeds or products, hormones, chemicals, it is free from transgenic organisms and so on.

Organic products can be obtained on your own farm, that is, by self-breeding animals, growing vegetables, fruits, grain crops, which is accompanied by soil quality control and excludes the use of chemical fertilizers, hormones to accelerate the growth of plants and animals and protect them from diseases. Compliance with all the necessary conditions is a rather complicated process.

The second way to produce organic food is to buy organic raw materials.

As a result of fulfilling all the listed requirements and production conditions, organic products do not contain traces of pesticides, chemical additives, mycotoxins and other things, which makes it possible to limit the impact of such substances on the body of children. Infants are more susceptible than adults to the possible negative effects of various undesirable components.

Organic products are distinguished by their taste and higher nutritional value: on average, they contain 20-50% more vitamins, minerals, and biologically active substances compared to products produced using traditional technologies.

For example, organic baby cereals have advantages over conventional ones: a more balanced amino acid composition, a higher content of vitamins and minerals than with traditional methods of growing grain crops, which means that the composition and taste of organic cereals are much better and richer . At the same time, the range of organic cereals harmoniously complements the always available conventional baby food cereals, which are characterized by excellent taste, high nutritional value and safety due to strict requirements for baby food in the world and Russia, careful selection of raw materials and materials, strict technical and chemical control of technological production process.

Thus, organic and traditional baby food is a unique case when “healthy” does not mean “tasteless”, and the properties “healthy” and “tasty” harmoniously combine, complement and balance each other.

* Breast milk is the best food for babies. WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of a child's life and continued breastfeeding after complementary foods are introduced until the age of 2 years. Before introducing new products into the baby's diet, you should consult with a specialist. The material is for informational purposes and cannot replace the advice of a healthcare professional. For feeding children from birth.

trends in baby food packaging

Baby food is an essential product - it comes in special packaging that meets many requirements: the safety of the product and its taste, detailed information about the composition and possible allergic reactions. When developing the design and functionality of packaging, it is important to take into account the interests of the target audience - these are parents and children from the age of one who can already express their reactions and attitudes towards the product. Nikolay Artamonov, founder and creative director of Otlichnosti, considered several approaches to category design.

Snacks

Minimalist bright and light packages with salivary design can be considered a classic approach. Communication is aimed at basic instincts - "Your child will be very tasty." Unusual flavor combinations also stimulate the desire to try the product.

Suitable for consumers of all ages, Applesauce Adventures Organic Applesauce comes in three flavors: Spicy Apple, Straight from the Tree, and Sweet as Apple Pie. Applesauce is packaged in a squeezable bag, which allows you to eat it right away or squeeze it into a separate container.

The Applesauce Adventures

Cherub Food jars are packed with a focus on aesthetics, with each plump glass jar featuring a minimalist label featuring a cartoon mouth with a tongue.

Cherub Food, Me + James Studio

With their simple, modern look, Cherub Food jars are eye-catching and show that only the most essential ingredients are used in the formula. Designed by Me + James Studio.

Cherub Food

Healthy products for anxious audiences

Parents are the most anxious target audience. The most important indicator for them is the usefulness of the products that they give to their babies.

Windows and fully transparent packaging detailing the ingredients and how they are processed are used by baby food designers to convey the brand's core values.

UK-based startup Keep It Real Baby makes nutritious, clean, organic baby food that is as close to homemade as possible. The Love Mondays packaging design is inspired by the core values of the brand: be honest, stay playful, stay inclusive, and keep inspiring.

Inspired by children's books, the designers hand-created textures and paper-cut illustrations that perfectly fit the idea of fair and fun food.

Horizon is a tribute to farm to fork with the highest quality ingredients. All this is balanced with a very clean and modern branding and color coding to make it stand out on the shelf as much as possible.

Functional bonuses

When the product itself is already useful and tasty, the functional advantages of packaging of a particular brand come into play. Convenient doypacks for feeding outside the home, mini-spoons, tight lids in case the child has not finished eating, as well as kitchen “gadgets” for making mashed potatoes on your own.

Little Spoon first introduced itself to parents as a healthy baby food brand that produces baby food formulas for different ages that prioritize freshness. With subscription and delivery options, parents choose the meal plan that best suits their schedule and their child's needs, as well as fresh, organic baby food once every two weeks.

Little Spoon

The brand has also taken care to include a small ergonomic spoon in each package, as the company believes it is important for children to learn to eat on their own and develop healthy eating habits from an early age.

Baby Garden Glaciers freezer trays from Cardboard Helicopter Product Design allow parents to save time and waste when preparing food.

Baby Garden Glaciers, Cardboard Helicopter Product Design

Each tray comes with six separate baby food containers that parents can store their baby food in advance. On the lids of these capsules, you can make inscriptions with markers - to comply with the shelf life.

Baby food manufacturer Plum Organics solved the problem of feeding children on the road - for this, the company turned to the IDEO agency.

Plum Organics, IDEO

The designers have developed transparent containers - a resealable lid makes it easy for parents to store food between feedings, and the container has a feature that allows them to keep track of the day they opened the package to make sure they don't throw away the unspoiled food food.

The new pack is easy and safe to stack and has a recess in the lid for parents to place a spoon, making feeding neat and hygienic.

Plum Organics, IDEO

Creative for kids and their moms

Today's parents are yesterday's millennials. In addition to the benefits, taste, environmental friendliness and functionality of the packaging, they appreciate the creative approach in design, which is unusual for the category.

The Latin Baby is a Florida-based brand that caters to the needs and preferences of millennial parents. Unlike classic brands that have been on the market for more than a year, the company uses superfood ingredients and decorative packaging.

The Latin Baby

The Latin Baby is designed with young Hispanic customers in mind. The brand can reach out to consumers using ingredients such as calabash, which are traditionally used in Latin American cuisine. The brand also eschews sugar and sweet fruits and opts for zesty spices instead.

Constructors

Startup Raised Real offers a subscription to baby food and a machine for making it. All food is organic and the menu is curated by one of the co-founders, who holds a PhD in nutrition and is a Registered Dietitian.

Raised Real / Behance

This is a pre-portioned meal that does not come pre-mixed.