True to its name, Paris Rollins started Picky Eaterz in 2016 as a way to encourage kids to eat healthy. Initially, she focused on catering health-conscious school lunches before expanding to baby food and products for pregnant mothers, with a little help from UMSL’s DEI Accelerator along the way.
Her journey started with the oldest of her four children, who, as a fan of chips, candy, fries and more, was hesitant to believe that vegetables could taste good.
“Everywhere you go, that’s what’s on the kid menus,” Rollins says. “So I decided I was going to give her something healthier. When I tried it, I failed. She said everything was nasty. That then took me down a journey for a few years where I had to figure out techniques to get her to want to eat healthier, eat better.”
One of these techniques was simply repetition. Rollins would try to give her daughter the same vegetable sometimes 15 different times before she gave up on it. Another technique was sneaking vegetables into meals that her daughter already loved. For example, Rollins would purée spinach and mix it in with meat for a hamburger. Her daughter never knew the difference. Rollins also tried to make meals healthier by baking items such as chicken nuggets or tenders instead of frying them. To make it fun, she cut her sandwiches into creative shapes, like a dinosaur or a butterfly.
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“It allows children to have an imagination and look at the food as fun,” Rollins says. “It speaks the kid’s language and encourages them to eat their food.”
Soon, many other mothers started asking her for help with their own children’s diets. Rollins started catering school lunches, and Picky Eaterz was born. She then began catering for daycares and schools in the Clayton and Ladue areas.
When Rollins’ second child came around, she was more than prepared to start the healthy-eating train early. She started experimenting with making her own baby food. By the time Rollins had her third child, she had making baby food down pat and was introducing vegetable-centered flavors to her children at a very young age.
“Developing that palate as early as six or seven months old matters – you have to catch them early,” Rollins says. “I realized [my younger two children] didn’t end up like my first daughter. They were adventurous eaters.”
Soon, other mothers were asking her to make baby food for their children, so Rollins added it to her business model. Rollins makes her baby food from only fresh ingredients, so the jars are good for five days in the fridge and up to three months in the freezer. This is in stark contrast to baby food you can buy off the shelf, which can sometimes last for two to three years, according to Rollins.
When Rollins became pregnant with her fourth child, she began researching how consuming food in the third trimester impacts infants. She came across a study that she became “completely obsessed with” – so much that she ended up collaborating with the doctors who created the study. During the study, the researchers gave mothers in their third trimester juice made from beets, carrots and kale. The mothers would then drink these juices again before nursing their babies once they were born.
“The ones that were introduced to those flavors in the womb and while nursing enjoy the same baby foods and love the flavors,” Rollins says. “The babies who were not introduced to those flavors in the womb and while nursing kind of frowned and didn’t enjoy it as much. The study proved that the flavors of what you eat are transferring. So if you’re eating a lot of sweets and junk, that’s programming the baby to want those flavors.”
Learning this information inspired Rollins to launch juices for pregnant mothers, which will be available at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market and the Brentwood Farmers' Market this summer. Picky Eaterz will also be offering lactation crackers flavored with garlic and herbs that Rollins says will help improve breastfeeding.
And it seems Picky Eaterz is just getting started. The business was recently chosen to be part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Accelerator, powered by UMSL. Through this program, UMSL gave Picky Eaterz $50,000 toward helping the business thrive. Rollins was given access to a mentor, an intern to help with the workload and networking opportunities to help her business succeed.
“I just really want to see if I can really make an impact on children looking forward to eating a more balanced diet so we can be a little healthier,” Rollins says. “That’s all because I know that feeling of watching someone in their 50s and 60s be so sick. Being much healthier makes a big difference on if your mom or whoever will see your grandkids in another 30 years. That type of stuff really matters to me. If I can help the next generation, I feel accomplished.”
Picky Eaterz, pickyeaterzstl.com