QUOTE : LONG AGO, BEFORE there were baby food manufacturers or even spoons, babies ate what their parents ate. Not the nuts and tough meats, of course, but whatever family foods they could handle. Most likely no one had the time or interest to feed a baby who wasn’t already reaching for someone else’s food. Long ago, of course, all babies were breastfed. During the first half of the twentieth century, there was a dramatic shift away from breastfeeding. Mothers were given a recipe for making “formula” for their babies, but let’s face it, those formulas were pretty crude. Babies sometimes showed signs of malnutrition after just a few weeks, and doctors realized they needed to provide some supplements.