Wednesday Open Line


It’s time to pass the mixed carrots, or maybe the pear zucchini corn. Fremont, Michigan is celebrating the 25th annual National Baby Food Festival, which begins today and ends Saturday. The town of 4,000 is home to the Gerber Baby Food Company, and is welcoming thousands of visitors to enjoy entertainment as well as baby food eating contests by adults and a baby crawl race. Today in the U.S., there are around 3.9 million babies being cradled or held in parents’ laps for their feedings. Nationwide, there are 745 companies engaged in wholesale trading of baby foods, which add $1.3 billion annually to their bottom lines. Retail sales of baby food exceed $1.5 billion per year. You can find more facts about America’s people, places and economy, from the American Community Survey, at <www.census.gov>.