An Interview with Serenity Carr, Co-Founder & CEO of Serenity Kids
Serenity Kids is the only high fat, low sugar baby food made to mimic the nutrients of breast milk using ethically sourced meats and organic vegetables. Serenity & Joe Carr started Serenity Kids because they want their baby girl, Della, to grow up healthy and strong. When they began looking for baby foods, they were outraged by how much sugar and how little nutrition was available, so they made their own!
1. Why did you create Serenity Kids?
My husband, Joe, and I started Serenity Kids for our now toddler, Della! Like a lot of kids, I was fed tons of sugar, grains, and dairy. As a result, I was constantly sick, cried all the time, had trouble sleeping, and developed severe stomach problems. These issues didn’t go away until I was in my 30’s and cut out sugar and processed foods and instead started eating quality meats, vegetables, and healthy fats. It’s mind-blowing to think about how drastic the shift was to my mood, my energy, my sleep patterns, and overall health.
When Joe and I began family planning, all we found in the market were products full of sugary fruits that lacked good meat and fats. I put on my investigative hat and discovered that the USDA guidelines recommended that babies receive 30g of fat per day for proper brain and body development, but nothing on the market matched those needs. Because of this, we decided to create our own and make it accessible for everyone.
Our 2-year old, Della, sleeps through the night, is pretty much always happy, hardly ever gets sick, and has healthy, consistent stools. We believe this is largely because of how we feed her. We’re energized to be on this mission of making children healthier by offering nutrient-dense foods that taste great and are convenient for parents.
2. What makes Serenity Kids different from other Baby Food/Little Kid Food products?
Serenity Kids is the only high fat, low sugar baby food made to mimic the nutrients of breast milk using ethically sourced meats and organic vegetables. We care not just about what you feed your baby, but how that food impacts the world. Our meats come from animals raised on pastures of small American family farms that practice regenerative techniques that improve the soil, reduce runoff, and sequester carbon. These animals live in a way most similar to how they would have lived in the wild, and are never given GMO feed, antibiotics, added hormones, or pesticides.
Further, our products all taste savory because babies are developing their palate preferences that will determine how they eat later in life. Getting babies to enjoy savory flavors at a young age helps reduce their risk of obesity. We want to set them up for success by using ingredients that are naturally low in sugar and high in easily digestible protein. We add fats like organic avocado oil and olive oil to improve their brain development and vitamin absorption.
3. What made you interested in seeking Clean Label Project certification? What does Clean Label Project certification mean to you?
Having an organic label doesn’t necessarily mean the product is clean. We wanted to go the extra mile and to free parents from worrying about the cleanliness of their child’s food.
We know soil has become increasingly contaminated in the last century and that these contaminants make it into much of the U.S. food supply, even when grown organically. We are hyper-aware and selective of our sourcing in order to provide better quality baby foods for those sensitive little bodies. We source ingredients from trusted farms who conduct testing on their soil and harvests, and we carefully vet our suppliers to ensure the cleanest possible ingredients. We perform our own third-party testing of all ingredients and final products at established laboratories.
Our Clean Label Project Purity Award certification independently verified what we already knew – that our foods are among the cleanest on the market. We are proud to partner with Clean Label Project to ensure the ongoing purity of our products and support their mission to help clean up the American food supply.
4. Where can consumers find your products?
You can find us nationwide at Whole Foods Market or Sprouts, or by checking out the store locator on our website for a retailer closest to you. We are also available for purchase online, on Amazon, or Thrive Market. We are excited to offer 15% off for Clean Label Project readers, as well.
5. Here we are in the middle of the second wave of a pandemic. What tips do you have for busy parents when it comes to keeping kids busy that may or may not be heading back to school this year?
It’s hard! It really is. Earlier this summer, I shared my best tips on how to work from home with kids but here are a few other tips that I have developed since then.
- Buy noise-canceling headphones. No joke. Yes, it’s a financial investment, but for parents who are sensitive to sound, it’s a small price to pay for a little more sanity.
- Find ways to say yes to your kids. If you left your kids alone in the house with no rules, they’d entertain themselves by taking apart the toaster or building an obstacle course or trying out a new recipe. Finding creative ways to say yes to some formerly off-limits activities might help occupy them.
- Set up safe outside areas where they can play unattended. This can work even for small children under one for short periods of time. Check out Janet Landsbury’s work on independent play for more ideas.
- Give yourself grace. If your kitchen is dirty, remind yourself that we’re in the middle of a pandemic in uncharted territory and no one is really coming to visit anyway!
- Remember that your kids are kids first. If they need to run around outside to let out some energy, let them. If they get dirty, let them play with the hose in the kiddie pool.
- Don’t be afraid to speak up. Find a schedule that works for you and talk to your manager about how you can make it work. This may not be something that everyone is able to do; however, if you are able to find some flexibility, ask for it.
- Follow content creators like @learn_outside_the_box or @making_fun_memories that share ways to keep your little one educated, stimulated, and busy!
- Follow us on Instagram! We’ll be sharing a few more of our homeschool parenting tips and hacks this month.
6. What’s next for Serenity Kids?
We’re constantly growing as a company and incredibly excited to release a few more product lines and extensions in the next few months. Our new lines will provide more nutrition to a wider age range of little ones. We’re also building out our team and expanding our resources as we move towards becoming a major baby and toddler food brand.
