I live in the baby food capital of the world. I bet you
didn’t even know such a place existed. It does. Not too far from where I live
right now, the Gerber family whipped up their very first batch of baby food,
and a dynasty was born.
When they first got started, the Gerber family made a deal
with the local farming community. In exchange for the produce needed to make
the baby food, the family gave the farmers shares of the company. This turned
into a very lucrative deal for everyone.
The Gerber Baby Food Company can trace its roots all the way
back to 1901. In those days it was called the Fremont Canning Company. In the
late ‘20’s the company shifted its focus to baby food.
There is a National Baby Food Festival (though it might be
formally called Gerber Days, I can’t remember) It’s pretty much like every
other small town festival. Main Street gets shut down, some games and carnival
rides come in, and there are a couple of concerts. Several years ago when country
singer Mark Wills performed at the festival, he also took part in the baby food
eating contest.
The entire town always smells like whatever type of food
Gerber happens to be cooking. During harvest time the combination of baby food
and corn dust is quite homey.
It’s common knowledge that some of the baby foods (the
desert flavors) Gerber produces make an excellent grown up snack. I’m fond of
the Dutch apple and blueberry buckle.
