Speaker 1: Next Question with Katie Curic is a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Katie Couric Media. Hi everyone, I'm Katie
Speaker 1: Curic and welcome to Next Question, where we try to
Speaker 1: understand the complicated world we're living in and the crazy
Speaker 1: things that are happening by asking questions and by listening
Speaker 1: to people who really know what they're talking about. At times,
Speaker 1: it may lead to some pretty uncomfortable conversations, but stick
Speaker 1: with me, everyone, Let's all learn together. Born in Texas
Speaker 1: and raised in West Virginia, Jennifer Garner radiates girl next
Speaker 1: Door charm. If the girl next door to you happens
Speaker 1: to be a gorgeous A list movie star, She's played
Speaker 1: a CIA agent. I'll be there in two minutes. A
Speaker 1: thirteen year old trapped in a thirty year old body.
Speaker 1: Yesterday was my thirteenth birthday, and then today I woke
Speaker 1: up and I'm this and a doctor in search of
Speaker 1: a cure for AIDS. The purpose of this study is
Speaker 1: to determine if as T is helping people colony me. No,
Speaker 1: there ain't no helping me. It doesn't be no we
Speaker 1: to stop trying. She's wrapped up four Emmy nominations as
Speaker 1: well as a Golden Globe, and she's also an ambassador
Speaker 1: for Save the Children. Now she's playing the role of entrepreneur.
Speaker 1: She's co founded Once Upon a Farm, which serves up organic,
Speaker 1: healthy baby food. Meanwhile, she's serving up meals of her
Speaker 1: own on her pretend cooking show on Instagram. This piece
Speaker 1: of tappius trying to mess with my head. Clearly she's
Speaker 1: got a lot on her plate. So my next question is,
Speaker 1: could Jennifer Garner be as nice as she seems. I
Speaker 1: recently met up with her in Boston to find out.
Speaker 1: So let's talk about your kids for a moment, because
Speaker 1: I really admire how you protect your kids, and I
Speaker 1: think that's hard for people who are in the public eye.
Speaker 1: So you have three great kids, Violet, Sarafina and Samuel,
Speaker 1: their and seven, and I know that maintaining their privacy
Speaker 1: is really important, especially in this era of social media
Speaker 1: gen where people are plastering their kids all over the place.
Speaker 1: So to see, it's fun to see, and I know
Speaker 1: it's out of love, but I actually think about this
Speaker 1: whole idea of sharantine, you know, is that something that
Speaker 1: is ultimately going to be really healthy for a way
Speaker 1: a child sees himself for herself. I'm curious why you
Speaker 1: made that decision. It kills me because of course I
Speaker 1: want to share them. I'm I'm so proud of them,
Speaker 1: and I think they're really funny and cute. The real
Speaker 1: thing is that there is no judgment in what other
Speaker 1: people do. It is such a personal choice, and there's
Speaker 1: no saying who's right and who's wrong. I certainly don't
Speaker 1: don't stand on any kind of high horse um, but
Speaker 1: my kids, we really were hunted for, you know, for
Speaker 1: for so long, and it's I am not a way
Speaker 1: person who put myself out in public and then said
Speaker 1: why are you taking pictures of me? But it was
Speaker 1: so out of control and it it really marked my
Speaker 1: children's experience out in the world and who it's shaped
Speaker 1: two they became in certain ways. It was such a
Speaker 1: problem that in two thousand thirteen, Jennifer appeared before the
Speaker 1: California Legislature. I don't want a gang of shouting, arguing,
Speaker 1: law breaking photographers who camp out everywhere we are all day,
Speaker 1: every day to continue traumatizing my kids. Thank you for
Speaker 1: the opportunity to testify today. Sorry, I'd be happy to
Speaker 1: answer any questions. I fought very very hard. Um halle
Speaker 1: Berry was the leader, but I fought, you know, as
Speaker 1: her soldier testified, testified, and we hosted gatherings at our
Speaker 1: house for law enforcement to hear about the new law.
Speaker 1: And my daughter, who was five or six at the time,
Speaker 1: stood up and gave a speech she had written about
Speaker 1: the experience of being a child confronted with these huge cameras.
Speaker 1: And so it just feels hypocritical to me to have
Speaker 1: done that and been, you know, put myself out there
Speaker 1: in that way and then turn around and use my
Speaker 1: own children for my gain. Well, to hear your little
Speaker 1: girl's speech at five or six in front of a
Speaker 1: whole crowd, that must have been it was her first
Speaker 1: time speaking in front of anyone, and it was something
Speaker 1: that she There are a few kids who have that
Speaker 1: kind of authority about what it's like to have huge
Speaker 1: men with huge cameras running at your face all the time,
Speaker 1: and she was she was very articulate about it. And
Speaker 1: you all had success because the law was passed in
Speaker 1: two thousand thirteen. Tell me what that law says and
Speaker 1: if it's in fact change things. The law says that
Speaker 1: paparazzi cannot lie and wait outside your home outside of
Speaker 1: a school, you know. I would get to the pediatrician's
Speaker 1: office and be running in with a sick child in
Speaker 1: my arms, and they'd be blocking my entrance and I'd say,
Speaker 1: please guys, let me through, Please let me. I never
Speaker 1: had fewer than six cars running red lights behind me
Speaker 1: doing anything to be with me. And on weekends it
Speaker 1: would be menacing money. It was. It's such a bummer.
Speaker 1: It's like a bummer even to talk about, because you'd
Speaker 1: us feel like why give it attention? But it did help,
Speaker 1: and it helped quite a bit. There's still a few
Speaker 1: at school, and someday I they when they least expected,
Speaker 1: I'm going to have him arrested. They really congregate at church,
Speaker 1: which is a security issue for us, and that is
Speaker 1: something that I have trouble with. But they know they're
Speaker 1: going to get a shot. They know the shot will
Speaker 1: sell at church every Sunday. And it was the barrier
Speaker 1: for me taking my children to church for so long.
Speaker 1: I just didn't want to. I didn't want to put
Speaker 1: us all through it. And then I just had a
Speaker 1: conversation with myself and decided to just go for it.
Speaker 1: And it is what I thought it would be. But
Speaker 1: they marched through. They really love their church, so it's okay. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, nothing I don't think prepares you for raising
Speaker 1: your kids in this environment, and especially because you had
Speaker 1: such a different upbringing. I know, you were born in Houston,
Speaker 1: you moved to West Virginia when you were three years old,
Speaker 1: to Charleston. Your dad was a chemical engineer. Your mom
Speaker 1: was a homemaker who later became an English teacher. My
Speaker 1: getting all this right? Okay? Good? And I think the
Speaker 1: way you were raised, and we talked about it a
Speaker 1: little bit earlier today, was so anathetical to the environment
Speaker 1: that you kind of are in, and that the way
Speaker 1: you could potentially be sucked into raising your kids. If
Speaker 1: this is making any sense, I laughed. You said you
Speaker 1: were raised almost Amish, And what did you mean by that?
Speaker 1: I mean that might not have zippers. I know, we
Speaker 1: could have zippers and buttons, that that we were allowed,
Speaker 1: not just straight pins. But we couldn't purm our hair.
Speaker 1: My ears aren't pierced. We couldn't wear makeup or you know,
Speaker 1: have neo polish on. That's just my dad. He just
Speaker 1: wanted us to be very simple girls. There was no
Speaker 1: emphasis in my house on looks. It was who you were.
Speaker 1: It was practiced your piano and do your homework and
Speaker 1: go to ballet class and go to college. Go to college.
Speaker 1: We all knew we were going to go to college,
Speaker 1: which is a big deal since my parents they were
Speaker 1: the first of their entire families to go. And you're
Speaker 1: the middle sister, you have any the middle child neurosis
Speaker 1: that sometimes happen, and little children don't have neurosis, Katie,
Speaker 1: because then you're the youngest. Let me let me point
Speaker 1: out that middle children are the most well adjusted. Contrary
Speaker 1: to my history, the we we are the peacemakers, were
Speaker 1: flexible and we do and this is true as well.
Speaker 1: Want attention. I have one sister who's a c p
Speaker 1: A and one who is in marketing, and I'm the
Speaker 1: one who's like, yucky, yucky, yucky, look at me. That's unusual,
Speaker 1: isn't it for the middle child. I think the middle
Speaker 1: usually once feels like they've kind of got left out
Speaker 1: because their sandwich between the oldest and the youngest a
Speaker 1: little bit. Yeah, that's so funny. Are you close to
Speaker 1: your sister's very close to both of them. I've spoken
Speaker 1: to both of them in the last twenty four hours.
Speaker 1: And I know that Nicole, your manager, who I had
Speaker 1: so much fun talking to recently at a dinner, I
Speaker 1: think not only kind of protecting your kids from outside forces,
Speaker 1: but you also have to protect your kids from stuff
Speaker 1: that's written about you and them and they're dad. You
Speaker 1: just don't read anything. She said. Oh, I am so
Speaker 1: serious about it. You know, when you just realize that
Speaker 1: something is making you so unhappy. And anything that I
Speaker 1: saw in print about myself my family at all was
Speaker 1: just it mattered to me too much. And you don't
Speaker 1: have control over it. There's nothing you can do. And
Speaker 1: I just made a decision. I am never going to
Speaker 1: see my name in print if I can help it.
Speaker 1: Other than like, if it's the New York Times, if
Speaker 1: you want to talk about Once upon a Farm, I'm in.
Speaker 1: But this morning, when I saw my name in the
Speaker 1: Your wake Up Call, I was thrilled. But otherwise I
Speaker 1: don't look at a lot of sites. I used to
Speaker 1: love Huffington Post, CNN. They have a celebrity part of
Speaker 1: them and I just can't see it. And what about
Speaker 1: your kids? You know, it's funny because my daughters get
Speaker 1: anxious about social media. One in particular, she has sort
Speaker 1: of a phobia about it. Do you worry about the
Speaker 1: prevalence of social media and how ubiquitous it is and
Speaker 1: your kids like not wanting too, but somehow seeing stuff
Speaker 1: for even the role is playing in the lives of
Speaker 1: children everywhere without even having parents who are well known.
Speaker 1: I worry about all kids having to deal with this
Speaker 1: new pressure. My daughters at an all girls school, and
Speaker 1: it's such a huge problem. And she'll occasionally talk to
Speaker 1: me about getting Instagram and I can see why because
Speaker 1: I'm on there and it's something kind of fun that
Speaker 1: I do, and I am I am modeling the opposite
Speaker 1: of what I want for her to do. How I
Speaker 1: is that in parenting? And I just say, when you
Speaker 1: can show me studies that say that teenage girls are
Speaker 1: happier using Instagram than not, then we can have the conversation.
Speaker 1: But everything you look at I don't see anything positive
Speaker 1: for you out there. You can look at mine when
Speaker 1: you want to. We can go over it together, but
Speaker 1: I just don't see it. Tell me a little bit
Speaker 1: about your use of Instagram. My name is jenn I'm
Speaker 1: We're having it for time, Compisa, because I think you're
Speaker 1: so great at it and everything is very authentic and
Speaker 1: fun and your pretend cooking show and sort of the
Speaker 1: things you share. Some of this personally, pardon me, it's
Speaker 1: been brought to my intention that does the cilantro. Not personally,
Speaker 1: I do feel like, actually, I know you now is
Speaker 1: about you. I know it is in a way. It's
Speaker 1: so nice. It is. It makes you feel more connected.
Speaker 1: It does. I joined Instagram because of Once upon a Farm.
Speaker 1: It was very much part of the deal and I
Speaker 1: did it kicking and screaming. But that's how much I
Speaker 1: wanted to be involved with this company. And when I
Speaker 1: did it, you know, there are all these companies in
Speaker 1: l A that will come in and do your social
Speaker 1: media for you, and I just said, I can't do that.
Speaker 1: I can't introduce something like that. So I have had
Speaker 1: the same woman working with me from that mode this
Speaker 1: morning for six mo what started as my assistant six
Speaker 1: and a half years ago, and I just kind of
Speaker 1: are different things that her friends have gotten married at
Speaker 1: my house and I've said you're the wedding planner or
Speaker 1: you know, kind of whatever I tossed her way. She's amazing.
Speaker 1: So MO was a natural to curate on a first
Speaker 1: Instagram feed. So she was a film major at Northwestern
Speaker 1: and I said, you are doing this with me, and
Speaker 1: we're going to do it. I said, I have to
Speaker 1: be able to do this my way. I can't like
Speaker 1: post three things a day plus story plus this plus it.
Speaker 1: I just can't do it. So I just put out
Speaker 1: there what felt right for me, and that's what I
Speaker 1: keep doing. And sometimes we'll go a week and put
Speaker 1: up one or you know, we don't announce it. We
Speaker 1: just do it. I took a digital detox for a
Speaker 1: week and I stayed off social media just because I
Speaker 1: felt like mischievous thank you, But I sort of felt
Speaker 1: like it was an added pressure in a way. I mean,
Speaker 1: I love it, but I also feel like, oh gosh,
Speaker 1: I better do something. So it's kind of a mixed bag,
Speaker 1: isn't it. It is definitely an added pressure. There is
Speaker 1: no doubt about that. It is a job, especially the
Speaker 1: way we approach it. We kind of we go for
Speaker 1: it and produce things and and do it. I'm with
Speaker 1: Mo all the time anyway, and we're so close. People
Speaker 1: think we're sisters all the time, which is a huge
Speaker 1: compliment to me. But she's always got her phone on.
Speaker 1: You know she films me doing dumb things, and then
Speaker 1: she's such a great editor that she turns it into something.
Speaker 1: We're going to take a quick break here, but when
Speaker 1: we come back, we'll hear more from Jennifer about building
Speaker 1: a business from the ground up, her love of food,
Speaker 1: and our mutual celebrity crush. As a longtime ambassador for
Speaker 1: Save the Children, Jennifer Garner is a fierce advocate for
Speaker 1: kids in some of America's most underserved communities. Two years ago,
Speaker 1: she decided to approach the issue of childhood hunger from
Speaker 1: a different angle, joining the board of a small, mission
Speaker 1: driven startup aimed at making high quality, organic baby food
Speaker 1: affordable for all families. I asked her about what it's
Speaker 1: like to immerse herself in the world of business. I
Speaker 1: just think what you're doing is such an interesting new
Speaker 1: chapter for you. You're learning about business and how to
Speaker 1: run a company, and so you're getting a whole new
Speaker 1: skill set, which must be both daunting but also really gratifying.
Speaker 1: So gratifying. I'm sure you have felt this way. I'm
Speaker 1: sure I see you doing it now where you think, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is what I know how to do, sort of ish,
Speaker 1: can I expand on that what more can I ask
Speaker 1: of myself but still be me? I couldn't have a
Speaker 1: better mentor and buddy to do it with. But I
Speaker 1: do sit in meetings and write down everything and circle
Speaker 1: the things I don't know, and some are just basic
Speaker 1: business terms. I really never took a business class. People
Speaker 1: kept talking about the r O. I I didn't know
Speaker 1: what it was amidst return on investment and I did
Speaker 1: not know net versus gross. And I still get confused
Speaker 1: if I don't if I have to think about it,
Speaker 1: because I never learned it organically. I've learned it in
Speaker 1: the process of this. But I think it's so important,
Speaker 1: especially for women, to understand business better, because I do
Speaker 1: think it holds us back. But I know I never
Speaker 1: felt very confident in my business acumen or knowledge, and
Speaker 1: I think if I had a better foundation, it would
Speaker 1: have helped me in a myriad of ways professionally. So
Speaker 1: I think some basic business things are really important, especially
Speaker 1: for girls. I think they seem to be afraid of
Speaker 1: it a little. The other side of that is that
Speaker 1: I think that we can't be afraid to be beginners
Speaker 1: at any stage in your life. And I try to
Speaker 1: always have something that I'm a beginner on, like I
Speaker 1: started tennis lessons for the first time in my life
Speaker 1: last week, or I learned to ski when I was forty,
Speaker 1: or you know, and so you you've got a fight
Speaker 1: for being a beginner and not let yourself be embarrassed.
Speaker 1: And I just am wholeheartedly a novice and thrilled about it.
Speaker 1: I love that. I'm going to put that, like on
Speaker 1: a bumper sticker on a I like that. And when
Speaker 1: it comes to developing the products, gen, I think it
Speaker 1: must be really fun. Actually, because you love to cook.
Speaker 1: You have your pretend cooking show on Instagram, which I
Speaker 1: loved watch. You can tell you get real joy out
Speaker 1: of cooking and being in the kitchen and preparing things
Speaker 1: for your kids. I think you didn't you make bagels
Speaker 1: not too long ago. Who would like the first bagel?
Speaker 1: I like to take on occasionally a big project like bagels.
Speaker 1: My little sister made croissant. How do you say so recently?
Speaker 1: And I said, I don't think I can do that.
Speaker 1: I bet you could. I'd like to just say, I
Speaker 1: wonder if I could. You know, John cans tomatoes and
Speaker 1: I was just talking to him in the car this
Speaker 1: morning and saying Okay, I'm ready to do this. Tell
Speaker 1: me exactly what to do, and this weekend I'm going
Speaker 1: to go home and can tomatoes. For sure. John is
Speaker 1: John Forker, the CEO of their company, Once Upon a Farm.
Speaker 1: You'll meet him a little bit later. And so as
Speaker 1: part of that, I guess you get to try foods,
Speaker 1: suggest foods, and are the networks banging on your door
Speaker 1: to do a real cooking show and not just to
Speaker 1: pretend cooking show? I can't imagine you haven't been approached.
Speaker 1: Come on, I mean, you know in a garden are
Speaker 1: common crash. It is an homage to Aina and to
Speaker 1: Barefoot Contesta and the comfort that I get and how
Speaker 1: much I've learned about cooking from her, and and from
Speaker 1: Martha Stewart before her, and from this whole genre. But
Speaker 1: I don't know enough to fill an hour or how.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I think it would be great. And Aina,
Speaker 1: I mean she is pretty amazing, isn't she amazing? Talk
Speaker 1: about somebody who knows business? She is so smart that woman.
Speaker 1: Has she given you any tips on this business? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think I had a similar conversation that that you
Speaker 1: were talking about with her about how to hire people.
Speaker 1: I loved that you brought that up Inna says high
Speaker 1: or happy, because you can teach someone how to about
Speaker 1: about cheese, but you can't teach them how to be happy.
Speaker 1: And there there is something about that, you know. If
Speaker 1: you want to have a teammate, be a teammate, you
Speaker 1: kind of have to be in it with everyone. I
Speaker 1: think people get their energy from people around them, and
Speaker 1: you want positivity and people to feel like they can do.
Speaker 1: And nothing's worse than having a like around you and
Speaker 1: an energy sucker or vampire, like they said the worst.
Speaker 1: There's so many women who are doing cool entrepreneurial things.
Speaker 1: Do you ever talk to like Gwyneth Paltrow or Jessica
Speaker 1: all the about business? They're not really so impressed by them.
Speaker 1: I'm a little intimidated by them, to be honest. But
Speaker 1: but I would talk to them if I were sitting
Speaker 1: in the room with them, of course, and be so
Speaker 1: fascinated by their journey and why they made the decisions
Speaker 1: they've made, and where they see themselves going and how
Speaker 1: they see it all kind of working out. But if
Speaker 1: I'm really going to talk innovation, I am talking with
Speaker 1: John Forker. We talk a lot about everyone in the
Speaker 1: organic industry is trying to find the next new high
Speaker 1: end product or the next new like ingredient that no
Speaker 1: one's thought of before. And we're trying to innovate instead
Speaker 1: of up to the tip of the pyramid, down and
Speaker 1: out so that it's available for everyone. And I think
Speaker 1: we're trying to push our colleagues to do the same.
Speaker 1: Purpose driven companies are now kind of everywhere, And I
Speaker 1: guess my only cautionary note, not that I'm an expert
Speaker 1: on any of this, is that when companies are inauthentic
Speaker 1: and they're kind of doing it for their image instead
Speaker 1: of for their real heart, right, you know, any good
Speaker 1: that you do is still good, even if it is
Speaker 1: for the picture on Instagram. I really do believe if
Speaker 1: you've done good, you've done good. It's helped someone great.
Speaker 1: But if you want people to respond to it, it
Speaker 1: sure helps if you mean what you say. It can
Speaker 1: be easy to have a pretty cynical outlook on celebrity
Speaker 1: driven brands, but after spending just a few minutes with Jennifer,
Speaker 1: it was clear that she isn't just doing this for
Speaker 1: the Graham. She and the rest of her Once upon
Speaker 1: a Farm colleague seem to really care deeply about their work,
Speaker 1: and it shows especially in their efforts to make sure
Speaker 1: that their food is available to people who rely on
Speaker 1: government assistance. We'll have more on that right after this.
Speaker 1: Once Upon a Farm is rethinking nutrition for kids, and
Speaker 1: rethinking it in a way that if eighteen thousand stores
Speaker 1: carries fresh pet food, and yet the baby food that
Speaker 1: you buy is older than the baby that you're feeding
Speaker 1: it too, there is something wrong with the way we
Speaker 1: have grown to accept what we're feeding our children. So
Speaker 1: we are putting out their farm fresh full of nutrition,
Speaker 1: full of bright, vibrant flavors and colors, and food for
Speaker 1: babies in the refrigerated section. I wanted to hear more
Speaker 1: about the company, so I asked John Forker, the CEO
Speaker 1: of Once Upon a Farm, what attracted him to this venture.
Speaker 1: You were the CEO of Annie's, which was one of
Speaker 1: the front runners or the leaders in this space. Why
Speaker 1: did you say, you know, this is so exciting, I'm
Speaker 1: going to quit my old job and start something totally new.
Speaker 1: My old job was a lot easier than this. Um
Speaker 1: there's the personal challenge of like trying to do something
Speaker 1: big again and seeing a big need that Jen just
Speaker 1: alluded to that there's an opportunity to do just a
Speaker 1: lot better for babies and to partner with a really
Speaker 1: small team of really passionate people and see how much
Speaker 1: change we could drive and not just for rich kids
Speaker 1: in Beverly Hills or San Francisco or New York, but
Speaker 1: for all kids. And that was just too big of
Speaker 1: an opportunity to pass up. That is such a key
Speaker 1: phrase when it comes to your company, all kids, and Jen,
Speaker 1: that came from your work was saved the children. I
Speaker 1: know you were exposed to really deplorable situations for a
Speaker 1: lot of kids in this country, and you thought, this
Speaker 1: isn't right, this isn't fair. Tell us did you have
Speaker 1: an AHA moment about this? It's more of a combination
Speaker 1: of small AHAs. There there's the aha of everywhere that
Speaker 1: I've gone in the country for save the children, and
Speaker 1: I've gone back again and again and again in the
Speaker 1: eleven years I've worked for them, whether it's Connault Nation
Speaker 1: at the very tip top of Washington State, or South Carolina, Mississippi,
Speaker 1: West Virginia, Kentucky, or all over California or d C
Speaker 1: or Vermont, or I've criss crossed the country visiting the
Speaker 1: poorest areas in the rural parts of those states, and
Speaker 1: I have just seen the similarities and the differences, and
Speaker 1: the way that we fundraise over the last eleven years
Speaker 1: has changed so that we're pushing and looking for businesses
Speaker 1: to lead in a way that we didn't used to. Um.
Speaker 1: We used to rely even eleven years ago, much more
Speaker 1: on government, and we still do. We're a public private partnership,
Speaker 1: but business has to lead. So then you eventually feel
Speaker 1: like we'll shoot, then I better be a business. So,
Speaker 1: in addition to our work was saved the children, Gen decided,
Speaker 1: I'm tired of asking other people for money. I better
Speaker 1: get in there myself and make a change that I
Speaker 1: want to see. Talk about how you're making your affordable,
Speaker 1: which obviously is the cornerstone. Jen, your mom grew up
Speaker 1: on a rural farm in Oklahoma, and now the family
Speaker 1: farm is actually providing some of the produce for the
Speaker 1: food that you're making, which is a great full circle,
Speaker 1: but it is very challenging in terms of accessibility to
Speaker 1: let underserved families have access to this food and make
Speaker 1: it so they can afford it. Can you give us
Speaker 1: the cliff notes John about the process you have to
Speaker 1: go through. The cliff notes is there's a federal program
Speaker 1: that's menasured by the states called the Women, Infant Children
Speaker 1: Health Program, and it allows underserved communities and families to
Speaker 1: get access to fresh foods and vegetables and baby food
Speaker 1: and other things. And so we decided very early on,
Speaker 1: in fact day one, that we decided to do this together,
Speaker 1: that we were going to make fresh baby food available
Speaker 1: under the WIT program in every state we possibly could.
Speaker 1: I talked to a few people about that idea who
Speaker 1: have been the food industry with me for a long time,
Speaker 1: and they said, you're insane, Like that's not going to happen.
Speaker 1: We had to completely re genero supply chain. We had
Speaker 1: to think about where things are made, where the vegetables
Speaker 1: and fruits are coming from. Because of proximity to the stores.
Speaker 1: In any package food, a lot of the cost is
Speaker 1: not actually the food itself, it's everything else. It's the transportation,
Speaker 1: it's the packaging. So we redesigned with the same great
Speaker 1: ingredients to develop a line of products that we could
Speaker 1: get to a price point and with the right nutritionals
Speaker 1: that are required by the federal program to allow us
Speaker 1: to be WICK eligible, and so we are WIK eligible
Speaker 1: on our core line of these two pack bowls, and
Speaker 1: we're now getting those approved in every state that we
Speaker 1: can for access to those populations. But it's been quite
Speaker 1: a process. And you're approved in six states six states now, right,
Speaker 1: And how long do you think it will take John
Speaker 1: before you guys can be sold in every state in
Speaker 1: the country. I would like it to be tomorrow, but
Speaker 1: I think there's fifteen or sixteen states now that allow
Speaker 1: organic baby food in their WICK program. We're in about
Speaker 1: six now, I think will be in twelve or so
Speaker 1: by this time next year. What are some of your
Speaker 1: favorite products that you all have done. I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from both of you because right now I'm super
Speaker 1: hungry and I just want to hear about some that
Speaker 1: you really like. Green kale and apple was one of
Speaker 1: our core baby food flavors. It sounds crazy, but like
Speaker 1: I snack on it. It's green kale apples. It's amazing,
Speaker 1: Like really, that's one of my favorites. They all in pouches.
Speaker 1: Most of our line right now is in pouches, but
Speaker 1: we're coming into other product formats too, and as Jen mentioned,
Speaker 1: we're starting to age out we want to be a
Speaker 1: brand that's babies first, foods all the web two about
Speaker 1: age twelve, So really like a kid nutrition brand, solving
Speaker 1: the lunchbox problem. Helping parents do that. It's very hard
Speaker 1: to do, and to build a brand like that across
Speaker 1: multiple categories is really hard work. And fresh baby food
Speaker 1: didn't exist, and it should have existed years and years ago.
Speaker 1: So I think of Baby Boom. Do you remember that movie?
Speaker 1: When I hear about the company, I always think about
Speaker 1: like I'm just driving around in my station wagon filled
Speaker 1: with you know, Mama Bear blueberry. Yeah. I mentioned this
Speaker 1: in the Our Bigger Conversation, but I want to mention
Speaker 1: it here too. Is there was a woman who wrote
Speaker 1: to you on Instagram As an adult, I enjoyed a
Speaker 1: few of these in my post chemo misery when eating
Speaker 1: was tough. It was a great way to get fruits
Speaker 1: and veggies allowed and my immuno suppressed diet. Thank you.
Speaker 1: So it's wonderful when you see something you're doing helping
Speaker 1: people that you never imagined it would be helping. Right well,
Speaker 1: moms whose children have diabetes or who have celiac or
Speaker 1: different allergies, I hear from them a lot It's just
Speaker 1: nice to feel like you're helping. And is this sort
Speaker 1: of your sole focus when you think about your life
Speaker 1: five ten years from now. I hate the words vision board,
Speaker 1: but everyone seems to use that. Now, what do you
Speaker 1: see before you? Happy kids? I just want happy kids
Speaker 1: my own selfishly, that's the first thing I see. If
Speaker 1: my kids are happy, then I'm okay. But other than that,
Speaker 1: my gosh, I see lunch boxes being filled with fresh,
Speaker 1: nutritious choices that delight children and that you know, and
Speaker 1: that helped create more jobs for sustainable, regenerative agriculture and
Speaker 1: great farmers, and I see that going hand in hand.
Speaker 1: I probably work as much for safe as I do
Speaker 1: on anything else, and so I can't not see in
Speaker 1: the future and see, you know, some policy changes that
Speaker 1: focus more on poor kids in our country and more
Speaker 1: on birth to five. Well, I not only adore you,
Speaker 1: I really appreciate everything you do and respect what you're
Speaker 1: doing out in the world, and so happy to be
Speaker 1: able to have this conversation. Jen Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: My time with Jennifer and John was coming to a close,
Speaker 1: but as you heard, I was really hungry, and they
Speaker 1: happen to bring a few of their products with them. Okay,
Speaker 1: what do I do? I smush it around before we go.
Speaker 1: I want to try. I'm trying to be a very
Speaker 1: very quite contrary, although I'm very excited about Jen and
Speaker 1: the Giant Squash, which is coming soon to a store
Speaker 1: near you. You guys, how many stores are you available in?
Speaker 1: Ten thou ten thousand stores? And then the Giant squash.
Speaker 1: It's just squash that has been grown on my tiny
Speaker 1: family farm in Oklahoma, so you got to get it online,
Speaker 1: and you guys cheers. I'm having Mama Bear Birds apple,
Speaker 1: sweet potato, blueberry water, coconut milk, all organic and only
Speaker 1: ninety calories fifty. Thank you, Katie, Thank you, Jim, Thank
Speaker 1: you John. This sound is someone sucking out of a
Speaker 1: pouch on. I know, this is what? What is that
Speaker 1: weird thing that m A s A s mr Oh
Speaker 1: I write that is so weird. I hate it. This
Speaker 1: is me drinking a smoothie. Let's listen to the smoothie.
Speaker 1: M I don't get it. That's the weirdest thing ever.
Speaker 1: Totally using it. I really really like Jennifer Garner now
Speaker 1: I just call her Jen or j G. I thought
Speaker 1: she was warm and funny. And authentic, but I also
Speaker 1: found her to be really thoughtful and smart. She clearly
Speaker 1: cares deeply about her work. Was saved the children, and
Speaker 1: I was so impressed by how much time she spent
Speaker 1: traveling around the country to see and understand rural poverty
Speaker 1: up close. I'd love to do a documentary with her
Speaker 1: on the subject one of these days, because it's still
Speaker 1: so in the shadows. Clearly, Jen's parents did a great
Speaker 1: job raising her. So congratulations Mr and Mrs Garner. If
Speaker 1: you're listening and Jen, thank you and everyone. Jennifer Garner
Speaker 1: is as nice as she seems. Thanks so much for listening, everyone,
Speaker 1: and until we meet again, make sure to follow me
Speaker 1: on Instagram. I'm at Katie Curic and sign up for
Speaker 1: my daily newsletter. It's called wake Up Call, and you
Speaker 1: can do that by going to Katie currek dot com.
Speaker 1: Next Question with Katie Curic is a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio and Katie Couric Media. The executive producers are
Speaker 1: Katie Kuric, Lauren Bright Pacheco, Julie Douglas, and Tyler Klang.
Speaker 1: Our show producers are Bethan Macalooso and Courtney Litz. The
Speaker 1: supervising producer is Dylan Fagan. Associate producers are Emily Pinto
Speaker 1: and Derek Clemens. Editing is by Dylan Fagan, Derek Clements,
Speaker 1: and Lowell Brollante. Our researcher is Barbara Keene. For more
Speaker 1: information on today's episode, go to Katie kurrek dot com
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