Local mom makes healthy food her
business
By Erika Neldner
On
a mission to find nutritious food for her son, Agatha
Achindu, of Woodstock, created a United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) certified organic baby food business.
Yummy Spoonfuls was created after Achindu started trying to
find healthy baby food for her son, only to realize that
things on the market are filled with preservatives and
chemicals and lacked the staple nutrients growing bodies
need.She said she used to live under the umbrella that she
shouldn’t have to worry about other people’s children.
But after delivering a healthy boy, she changed her
mind.
For years, she was making baby food for her friends
and church members.
“It didn’t matter to me,” she said. “I loved to do
it.”
So many people were coming to her that, in 2006, Yummy
Spoonfuls was born. Achindu uses only USDA certified organic
produce in Yummy Spoonfuls meals. She makes sure the foods
she uses were not grown using chemicals and pesticides.
Because the Georgia red clay isn’t very accommodating
to growing food, she chooses to buy her food from local
markets and produce distributors—all of which must be USDA
organic certified.
She shops with Destiny Produce in Forest Park, the
DeKalb Farmer’s Market, and some local growers who have the
USDA organic certification.
Achindu cooks on certain days of the week, but nothing
is stockpiled.
“If you walk up to me today and say, ‘I want a case of
this,’ I won’t have it to give to you,” she said. “We ship
it fresh. We cook it when it is ordered.”
Everything is prepared at Yummy Spoonfuls’
Marietta-based commercial kitchen.
There are three stages of products parents can get
from Yummy Spoonfuls.
Stage one—Creamy Yummy—is for infants ages 4 months to
6 months. They are single item ingredients pureed to a
creamy texture for a baby who is starting to be weaned. At
this age, the main source of baby’s nutrients still comes
from breast milk or formula.
At this stage, infants are being trained to eat and
get used to the change from sucking to eating from a spoon.
In Stage 2, or Mushy Yummy, the foods “play with the
senses,” and is geared toward babies 9 months to 12 months
old. The texture is a little bit lumpy to encourage chewing.
The servings are a mixture of tasty ingredients like
butternut squash and apple or a vegetable medley.
Stage 3 is for the avid eater, ages 12 months and
older. The portion sizes are larger and meals are chunky,
come in a variety of selections and help prepare toddlers
for regular meals.
Most portion sizes range from 4 oz. to 6 oz. and come
shipped 12 at a time. The 48 oz. box costs $24 if it is
bought directly from Yummy Spoonfuls. But they can be
purchased from stores as well.
Combinations came be made from the selections, which
for Creamy Yummy include sweet potatoes, apples, papaya,
peas, carrots, butternut squash, broccoli and others.
Achindu said it’s the parent’s responsibility to
properly train children to eat nutritiously.
“We have to believe we can train our kids,” she said,
adding if parents feed children healthy meals, they’ll grow
up learning to make healthy food choices later. “My goal in
life is to help every parent to have control on how their
family eats.”
Achindu also will teach parents how to cook healthy
meals for their children. She conducts seminars for free if
she’s asked to do so.
In February, she will be conducting a seminar with
North Fulton Regional Hospital’s pregnancy class. That is
expected to be held Feb. 26.
Arielle Henley, of Canton, recently attended one of
Achindu’s seminars and had high regards for Achindu and what
she taught.
“A friend invited me, and I always try to attend
events that have to do with children, and it was free,”
Henley said. “We learned how to make popcorn and popsicles
and to read food labels to help us make better food choices.
It was a fun interactive workshop that (taught) about our
kids’ health.”
Henley is the mother of a 16-month-old boy named
Joshua.
Eating healthy isn’t something new to Achindu. She
grew up in Cameroon, Africa, where her parents are from.
They grew their own food or purchased it from a local
market.
“In Cameroon, we did,” she said of growing their own
food. “It’s a different concept. A lot of people are
farmers. Even if you don’t make you farm, you go to the
markets every day and buy fresh produce.”
She later moved to Nova Scotia and purchased fresh
produce from the local market.
For more information about Yummy Spoonfuls or to
order, go to www.yummyspoonfuls.com or call (678) 464-3103. |