In case you missed it, Jennifer Garner has been going above and beyond to make fresh, nutritious, organic foods available to parents and their children via her organic baby food company, Once Upon a Farm. Sold in the refrigerated section, Once Upon A Farm’s products include pureed blends in a variety of flavors, like prunes, sweet potato, pears, mango and more, and in a variety of packaging, from bowls to squeeze packs — all at a reasonable price. And now Once Upon a Farm is available to a whole new demographic of people: WIC-eligible families.
Garner announced the news on March 5 via a blog post on the Once Upon a Farm website, writing that the baby food line has been WIC-approved in two states, Florida and West Virginia, “feeding nearly 125,000 babies born into poverty,” she writes.
“It’s been a crazy learning process and a nutty road, and we still have 48 states to go!” she continues. “But it’s a huge step and something that makes me very happy and proud.”
WIC is a federally funded, state-run special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children. Eligible people include low-income women, infants and children up to the age of 5 who are at nutrition risk.
“When a good part of our country lives below the poverty line and access to healthy and fresh foods isn’t an option, that is where we need to focus our energy,” Garner writes.
Garner and co-founders Cassandra Curtis, Ari Raz and John Foraker, former CEO of General Mills-owned Annie’s who joined the Once Upon a Farm team in 2017, founded the baby food company in 2015. In 2017, it was reported by TechCrunch that the company reportedly generated less than $1 million in annual sales. The products were sold through its website, as well as at 8,500 stores, including Wegmans, Kroger’s, Walmart and Whole Foods Market stores, according to FoodNavigator-USA in October 2018.
FoodNavigator-USA also reported that Once Upon a Farm received $20m in funding, which Foraker said will allow the company to drive growth, marketing and innovation.
“This latest round of funding allows us to continue to help busy parents give their children the most nutritious foods possible and make life a little bit easier for families across the country,” Garner told the publication.
Garner is clearly committed to her current mission: serve parents and children in rural poverty and ensure children everywhere are fed.
“The last decade … has taught me a few fundamental truths: Every mother loves her baby just as much as I love mine. No matter her background or circumstances — all mothers look at their newborn child and make a quiet promise: I’m going to do everything in my power to do right by you,” she writes on her website.
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