There are many good, even organic, options in the stores; however, the products have to be pasteurized and made shelf stable. The pasteurization and shelf stability process involves cooking the jarred food at extremely high temperatures to kill bacteria for longer storage, at the same time taking out many of the food's vitamins, nutrients and taste. Harvest to Highchair produce is cooked by steaming or roasting for the most flavor, pureed and hot filled into sterilized jars for delivery or flash frozen. The inherent nutritional value and taste of the produce is retained and there is less handling of the puree once ready for packaging.

Each Big or Little Appetite subscription includes fourteen 2- or 4-ounce jars per week of a wide assortment of vegetable and fruit purees. Your order of jars will arrive in an bag for you to dropped your empty jars for us to pick up the following week. We like to sterilize and reuse our jars for smaller environmental impact. Or, they can be recycled in your recycle bins.

All Harvest to Highchair baby food is produced in a South Carolina DHEC approved kitchen at Maddex Mercantile. With over 60 hours of training in hazard analysis and critical control point management, we are a certified food safety manager with over 10 years of experience in food and beverage.

Please let us know if your child has a specific food allergy and that will not be included in your jar assortment or any mixture you receive. However, please note that we prepare Harvest to Highchair foods in a kitchen where other foods are prepared so there are some allergens present. We are EXTREMELY careful to maintain the highest standards of sanitation between preparation of other foods and baby food.

Not all of Harvest to Highchair is organic. If there is produce available to us that is organic and requested, we will use organic. However, we work in a kitchen that is not certified organic so we are unable to be fully organic. The water we use for production is purified bottled water.

Each jar of Harvest to Highchair will have a born on date on the label. All Harvest to Highchair jarred food must be used or frozen within seven (7) days of this date. Each package of Harvest to Highchair fresh to frozen packs will also have a born on date on the tamper resistant seal. All Harvest to Highchair fresh to frozen food should be kept frozen and used within four (4) months of the born on date. Our Little Bites should be refrigerated and used within five (5) days of delivery.

The pouches are portable and user-friendly. However, only the caps are made of #2 recyclable plastic and are typically too small to be accepted at most recycling facilities. The pouch itself is multilayered plastic and foil and therefore, non-recyclable. In addition, pouches don't allow for your little ones to further develop the crucial oral motor skills and social interaction of being fed with a spoon.

Babies are born with both a sucking reflex and an extrusion reflex. The sucking reflex is beneficial for suckling a breast or bottle and when it comes to feeding this is what they’ll use for their first few months of life. An extrusion reflex is when babies will push any food placed on their tongue out the front of their mouth. Between the ages of 4 and 6 months, most babies are developmentally ready to get their first taste of solid foods. It is at this point in development, babies begin to lose the extrusion reflex.

Most children will start out eating about 1 to 2 ounces of puree per meal. Begin with our single purees to start solids. We have a great calendar to help you navigate the initial process of starting solids and promote palatetraining. As your little one begins to develop a more robust palate and show interest in new flavors, you should step up to our combos and blends for more diversity and the introduction of herbs and spices. If you have opted into a subscription, you can upgrade to larger jars at anytime. We can prorate the difference for the remainder of your subscription.

Harvest to Highchair jars will be delivered within one day of production to your home. There is no minimum purchase for delivery in the immediate Charleston area. We do ship outside Charleston but there is a fee which is calculated on a case-by-case basis. Shipping fees depend on your geographic location. We ship on dry ice and 2 day air to maintain the integrity of our food. Overnight shipping is available, please inquire for cost.

All sales are final. However, if you are moving outside of the delivery area, you can cancel the remaining weeks of a subscription with a refund the remaining weeks on a prorated basis, or we can change to a fresh to frozen subscription for the remainder of your subscription. Proof of new address must be provided for cancellation to be finalized. It is our priority that your food arrive fresh and delicious. If there is a problem with your order, please don't hesitate to reach out and we will do our best to rectify the problem.

It’s clear how disconnected we’ve all become from our food and how many steps it takes to get from the ground to our plate, which also means we’ve forgotten about how important our farmers are to the supply chain. In the Charleston area, we’re lucky to have local resources allowing us to develop a stronger relationship with our farmers and the food that thrives in our region.

Yes! While you may not necessarily feel the desire to eat the higher volume of food that you would if you were nursing, all of the changes to your body remain true. You still deserve nurturing and care as your body recovers from pregnancy and labor. Your postpartum nutrient intake and subsequent recovery is just as important as anybody else.

No! Your body is set up to prioritize sending the highest quality nutrients directly to your baby regardless of what you eat. That means that your body will automatically give the best nutrients to your baby and sacrifice the nutrients that YOU get. In other words, if the food you’re eating is mostly processed and low in nutrients, your baby will still get nutrition in your milk. The one that’s most affected by poor quality food is YOU! The focus often shifts from the pregnant person to the baby shockingly fast once they arrive, and in many ways for good reason – what a ball of love! But isn’t it time we started talking about what all this focus is doing to the moms + parents? Specifically, if you’re nursing (and even if you’re not nursing) and you’re not eating a diet rich in high quality ingredients with easily available vitamins and minerals either due to choice or lack of access, your best nutrients are going straight to baby. Our nutrient stores are already significantly lower than our norm immediately after pregnancy. Nursing and adjusting to the physical and emotional changes of postpartum can create long-term depletion which has far-reaching impacts on our health. There is enough evidence to suggest that eating high quality, real, nutritious can positively impact the nutrient content of your breast milk, so why not seek out the best options for both you AND your baby? Note: nobody is perfect. Do not use these messages to guilt or shame yourself for the days you didn’t prioritize high quality nutrients. Add the good stuff where you can, and move forward.

Postpartum mood disorders are multifaceted, caused by a number of issues, many of which we have no control over. Evidence suggests that eating high-quality foods and nutrients in the postpartum period is highly supportive of our emotional and physical recovery including hormonal regulation, which can affect our moods. Nutrition is just one piece of the puzzle, and cannot resolve a number of other issues that today’s mothers and parents face. Postpartum depression and associated disorders are highly stigmatized and need to be discussed out in the open - please seek out support and additional information at Postpartum Support Charleston if you’re local, and Postpartum Support International if you’re not (your doula and/or care provider may have more specific recommendations). If you’re local to the Charleston area, check out Jessie Evans of Charleston Integrative Counseling - she looks at lab tests to explore nutritional deficiencies that may be contributing to perinatal mental health challenges and provides mental health counseling as well. If you’re not local to the Charleston area, consider working with your provider to get bloodwork done so you have a clearer picture of what may be contributing to feelings of depletion.

Not every adult body processes dairy well, so you have to listen to your body and make the choice that’s right for you. For those of us that do process dairy efficiently, Lowcountry Creamery treats their cows right, and their pasteurization process is less invasive than the standard. They do not homogenize their milk which can make it even easier on our digestive system to process. Animal products are tremendously supportive for healing the postpartum body and have been a staple in postpartum nourishment around the world for centuries, so if you know that your body responds well to dairy, go for it! If you experience any inflammation after dairy, or you’re noticing increased fussiness in your breastfed baby after you consume dairy, speak with your pediatrician and consider our pecan milk alternative.

We're happy you’ve found a dietary path that’s right for you. While animal products are high in fat, protein, amino acids that your body uses to make collagen, which is really important to rebuild in the postpartum period...we have many alternatives that can meet your dietary needs. Please ask about what we can offer you!

Due to the nature of our products, we do not currently offer returns. Please read the ingredients carefully and know your allergies so that you know what to look for with your herbal products. Test a small patch of skin with a product and wait 24 hours. If an allergic reaction occurs, discontinue use immediately. Please contact us with concerns or questions prior to ordering. If you find yourself unhappy with a product, please reach out and we will do our best to make it right. If any product arrives broken or otherwise damaged, let us know within a day of receipt and we will do what we can to replace it.