Heather Stouffer

What inspired you to start Mom Made?

My son Emory was the inspiration for me in starting Mom Made. When I was researching what kinds of solid foods to feed him at 6 months of age, I was reading and reading, and I really wanted to make all of his food homemade. I don't eat jarred food, so I didn't want to introduce him to jarred foods. I was brought up eating fresh, healthy, quality foods and that's really just part of who we are and what we make for ourselves all the time. Our goal in bringing up Emory with food was that we could take him to the ethnic restaurants that we love and he was well mannered at the table and enjoyed food just as much as we do.

So you were one of those super moms who made all of your kid's baby food. How did you have time for that?

There I was working full-time and making all of Emorys food for him on the weekends—and that's a lot of work. I would puree on a Sunday afternoon and make lots of ice cube trays of purees for him to eat all week long. When he was going over to his grandparents house or I was taking him to his daycare, I really wanted something that was easy. And I wish I could have said, 'Mom, Emory's coming over can you go out and purchase some Mom Made?' rather than saying, 'Mom, Emory is coming over can you cook and puree some sweet potatoes?' I found other parents like me really wanting a fresh option to feed their children. Packaged food for children is over-processed and has a lot of junk in it—added preservatives and so on. Parents are more and more educated these days about what they are feeding their kids.

Why did you decide to use Mom Made rather than say, all natural ingredients?

I chose to take the route of organic because that's what we eat. It's a choice that each person has to make for themselves. We purchase organic produce and products whenever they're available and I wanted to make it available to other parents as well. Especially with children, there's a particular concern in keeping them from pesticides and fertilizers.

Was it difficult to get the USDA's seal of organic certification?

The organic certification process is quite daunting and rightfully so. Having the USDA seal on a product is something the consumer wants to know that you went through a really rigorous process to get. When most people think of a organic food, they think, 'Oh, as long as the ingredients are organic, then the product must be organic,' but the product is just one piece of the puzzle. The rest is pest control, sanitation, making sure the facility is not fumigated and that everything you're doing surrounding the product is eco-friendly.

Making homemade food for your son was a lot of work, what made you want to make food for even more kids?

From my baby to two million babies! Cooking is a big part of my family—my brother is a professional chef. The leap into making food for my son to making food for so many babies was a big leap to take, but as soon as I had the idea, it was in my bones and would not leave me alone.

Did you always eat organic food?

I really made the transition to organics when I was pregnant. I was buying organic produce before then, but I really made the mental commitment once I started thinking how every little piece of food that was going into my body was also going to my baby. That's really when we made the complete transition to organics.

So in addition to eating organic food, do you have any other green habits?

I'm not driving a hybrid yet. But my mother has one of the old beta hybrids—we call it the Flintstones' car. We buy eco-friendly cleaning products and we recycle religiously, and do so as a business as well. I even buy organic lipstick because I know that a large percentage of the lipstick you put on your lips goes into your mouth.

What's your eco-sin?

Disposable diapers. Maybe with our second child we'll go a different route, but for now we're purchasing non-organic disposable diapers—it's so much cheaper, and they do go through so many diapers.