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Her youngest child is now 8, so it's been some time since she's had to mash up bananas. But Fowler, owner services coordinator for the store, still recommends to parents that they make their own food for little ones. The reason? It's easy.

"I think many people overcomplicate the process of feeding children," Fowler said. "I don't necessarily consider myself an expert, but that's only because feeding little ones from food you've made yourself is incredibly easy.

"And when you make your own baby food, you know exactly what went into it. You can eliminate all doubts and fears of contamination by making your own," she added.

Fowler owned a baby food grinder, but found she never used it because it was one more thing to wash. Instead, she boiled or steamed fruits and vegetables until they were soft enough for her little ones to eat safely. Other foods, she simply mashed with a fork or diced into small pieces. She also stored food she made in the freezer for use at a later time.

"A great bit of advice I got was to use ice cube trays to store the homemade baby food. I would pre-cook and mash up veggies or fruit and just fill ice cube trays," she said. "You can take out and heat up just what you need at each meal."

Fowler also says a good idea is to get in the habit of feeding babies using the same foods that are being fixed for the rest of the family, saving both time and money.

"My children never finished an entire jar of baby food, so it usually got thrown away. Even when the glass jars get recycled, it would simply be more environmentally friendly to skip that step altogether and just feed the baby what the rest of the family is eating," she said.

Marylou Stone, a licensed dietician with the Frederick County Health Department, says that making baby food for an infant can be quite budget-friendly. Like Fowler, Stone encourages parents to feed babies the same foods fixed for the entire family.

She stresses to "not add sugar, salt or seasonings to the food fixed for the baby." Instead, pull a portion out for the little one and then go about seasoning for the rest of the family.

In regards to buying only organic fruits and vegetables for infants, Stone sites the problem of cost, since organic foods generally are more expensive than conventional ones. And both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration state that organic food is not nutritionally superior to conventional food in any respect.

Stone therefore suggests buying produce and foods grown locally and in season.

"The faster a food gets from the farm to the consumer, the higher the vitamin and mineral content is," she said. "So the bottom line is this: buy in season, use local farmers markets, grow your own produce and avoid buying imported produce."

Many parents still feel there are benefits in buying organic for their families. Zoe Brittain, education and outreach coordinator for The Common Market, says "you can find reputable sources on both sides" of the debate over whether organic foods have a higher nutritional value. For her, though, the main benefit to feeding little ones organic foods is the reduced exposure to pesticides, since the organic label refers to food produced without using chemical fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics or pesticides.

"Pesticide toxicity guidelines are generally based on average weight of adults, so the same amount in little bodies has a bigger impact. Many additives, not at all limited to pesticides, are hormone disruptors and can affect normal development," Brittain said.

If a family does decide to start buying organic, Brittain suggests a few ways to do so while still watching the family budget.

"Start with a piece or two of your favorite fruits or vegetables or the things that your family consumes the most of," she said. "Replace just your milk with organic, or even rBGH-free milk."

She also suggests looking for sales, buying in bulk, and using the Web site Help Guide (www.helpguide.org) for advice on shopping organic.

Karen Silver, 31, of Walkersville, feeds her 14-month-old son in a simple way. Although she never made her own baby food, she's become well read on the effects of additives and chemicals in foods and what that might do to a child's development. After her son became sick at the age of 11 weeks with Respiratory Syncytial Virus, an illness that infects breathing passages, Silver says she tries "to be conscientious about what I'm feeding him because I want his immune system strong."

Silver shops at farmers markets, where she asks questions about how things are grown. She also often buys organic produce and avoids foods with hydrogenated oils and processed syrups, opting rather for products that are made with basic ingredients. Her rule of thumb now for buying food for her son is easy, she says.

"If I can't pronounce it, I don't buy it."