Awakened Convos: Victoria L. Clark Chats Organic Baby Food Business, Zions Eden

By Leslie Ramirez / January 27, 2021 / WELLNESS / 0 Comments

In recent years we have heard of how toxic the baby food in our stores are. This is one of the main reasons why many mothers have opted in to making their baby food themselves.

Zion’s Eden is baby food company that provides customers with the highest quality of wholesome, plant-based baby and toddler foods without harsh additives and preservatives. Their products are 100% environmentally conscious, made simply from farm-grown ingredients, and include recipes that are Zion tested and approved for babies and beyond!

I had the pleasure of chatting it up with Ms. Victoria Clark.

H.O.R.: Hey guys, this is House of Ramirez and we are out here, you already know. We are out here in the community and we are very attuned to what is going on. 2020 has been a very interesting year. With me today, I have my sister Victoria.

Victoria, can you go ahead and let us know where you are from?

Victoria L. Clark: I am from Camden N.J., born and raised. I am still here. I have lived in many parts of New Jersey, but Camden is my favorite because that is where I am from.

H.O.R.: Hey guys, this is House of Ramirez and we are out here, you already know. We are out here in the community and we are very attuned to what is going on. 2020 has been a very interesting year. With me today, I have my sister Victoria.

Victoria, can you go ahead and let us know where you are from?

Victoria L. Clark: I am from Camden N.J., born and raised. I am still here. I have lived in many parts of New Jersey, but Camden is my favorite because that is where I am from.

H.O.R.: Alright sis, that is beautiful. We have brothers and sisters everywhere and I am just glad that you took the time to be here with me today so that we can go head and discuss the great things that you are working on. I was recently up north, and I got to admit, I love it and the people are amazing and I am just excited to have you on my show, so thank you.

Victoria L. Clark: Thank you for having me, honestly, it’s an honor and I appreciate it so much.

H.O.R.: So go ahead and let us know, what you are into and what projects you have going on right now?

Victoria L. Clark: I am doing a lot, truth be told. I had a baby a year ago, September 25 is when I had my son, Zion. During that process I was super interested in learning about what he ate once it was time for him to start eating solid food. As a raw vegan, it was important for me to know what was being put into his body. Being vegan for the past 4 years was the best decision that I have ever made. Once I started to see the baby foods that they had available, I was like nooooo! Let me go ahead and make my own baby food. It got so good, he thrived, and he is in the 90% tile for all of his milestones, and then I said, let me make this into a “thing” because once quarantine started, I had a good friend that was a nurse, and I sent her some baby food, just to help her out because it was just so much for them. She loved it and suggested that I start a business.

So, I launched my baby food business. I am also a grad student at Rutgers University and I also a full-time employee at Rutgers, I have Zion and I am planning my wedding for June 2021. So I have a lot going on right now, but it is all blessings!

H.O.R.: Yassss! I just want to give big, big kudos to you. You are planning for a wedding, congratulations! You have your baby, Zion…double congratulations!! You have started your own business, triple congratulations!!! The fact that you actually got your business, a baby who is thriving, and you are a beautiful wife to be, that just gives us so much fuel to find out what other levels we can reach as a woman. It is simply amazing what we can do as women. I just want to say as a mother of 3, it is very important that we know exactly what we ingest and what we are feeding to our children.

Right now, they do not really care about what they are putting out there. Not too long ago, the USDA (United Stated Department of Agriculture) approved the use of chicken that has tumors or puss, and as long as those portions are cut away the remainder can still be used. So, they do not care about us and I think that it is very important that we pay attention to what we are ingesting for not only our sakes but for the sake of our babies as well.

Victoria L. Clark: Definitely, and you know that is something that I noticed as well, especially because Camden, New Jersey is an urban area. So, fast food restaurants like McDonald’s is all over the place but organic food is few and far between as well as costly. I wanted to bridge that gap so that you do not have to have to make the most money in order to eat healthy. Even when you go into restaurants, they do not have options available for babies. I would like to be that go to person and they do not have someone who looks like us who is preparing our baby’s food. That was super important for me as well so my fiancé and I we just went all in with everything because we wanted to be the best and so we have USDA organic certified ingredients which was extremely important and there are a lot of companies that do not do that because it is so expensive.

But we are feeding the leaders of tomorrow so for us, it was important to us that not only that we make baby food but that it is also organic and that we are preserving it the right way. This is an organic, flash frozen baby food business, which is vital because there are no such businesses out there, there are no Black owned baby food business either.

H.O.R.: That is what got me! You are a game changer right now. You are the only Black owned baby food business right now and it is thriving! That is amazing and the fact that you are doing this with your husband to be and not just for your own baby, but you are looking out for all Black and Brown babies, in fact all babies. You are doing for the next generation and that is the significance in doing something that brings about change. You cannot just think about yourself or your small circle of friends, you have to think bigger than that and you are feeding tomorrow’s leaders and that’s what’s up! It’s a game changer!

Victoria L. Clark: Our favorite thing about this is that 50 cents from every cube is being donated to shelters for babies. My family and I go and help out at so many different shelters and they do not have any food for babies, you will see mothers chewing up food and then feeding it to their babies. So for us, I wanted to make it my business to actually have a cause for babies to eat good food and everyone should have access to that.

So, not only is 50 cents from every cube donated to shelters and places like that in need, but we also have a donation center where you can donate directly and at the end of every month, we buy a bunch of baby food and it goes straight to different shelters and orphanages and churches and any other place where babies are in need. Our future goal is to be able to feed babies every single day. We are just starting out and this is the best that we can do right now but it is very exciting!

H.O.R.: The fact that you have that goal to give back when there are a lot of people that are focused on their product and their brand, their advertising, their profits…not everyone but a lot of big corporations are focused on their profits. The fact that you are growing and giving back to the children, they need us…they need families that actually care, especially having products that they can actually use, that is BIG!

Victoria L. Clark: We are so excited. Our biggest goal right now as I mentioned earlier is to be able to feed babies on a daily basis, we do not have the budget at this time because we have put it into getting a commercial kitchen and we are just making sure that things are perfect because being a Black owned company, they are definitely looking for things that they could attack us on. So we wanted to come out already being a big brand, walking it and talking it and being very confident in our product.

I also took a Child Nutrition and Cooking course at Stanford University, so I am now certified.

H.O.R.: Hold up, hold up Victoria…we are not about to just blow past that, that is big and that is dedication! Talk more about that.

Victoria L. Clark: Once I decided that I wanted to do a baby food business, I wanted to make sure that I was crossing all my T’s and dotting all my I’s because my baby’s name is a part of the company, he is the face of the company. Anything that I am putting out there with my baby’s name on it, I want to make sure that it is the best. I went ahead and did some research and during the quarantine, once Covid-19 happened, so many universities offered free courses basically for free, so I thought that I would get certified in the area that I wanted to grow in, and I truly feel that this is the purpose that God has instilled in me because it does not feel like a job.

Stanford University offered a course for 50% off and I said, I’m going ivy league. I devoted my entire summer to getting my certificate in nutrition just because I am making sure that I am creating whole plant-based meals where it is not just protein or a fruit and vegetable but a complete meal. I wanted to use this opportunity as I am speaking with you to talk about our Stage 4 which we launched this past November which are complete baby gravy meals. So, it is baby gravy, and it is a complete meal that you can put over pasta or over mash potatoes or if you eat meat…you can put it over meat. It is just a different type of Stage 4 meal. Usually, you go to baby companies and they have the finger foods…etc., but we love our baby food purees cubes and we just wanted to see what we could do, and Zion is our professional baby food tester.

He’s a 4t, he is a plant-based baby, and he is such a big baby so for him to be the face of the company, he is definitely well feed (they both laugh as H.O.R. confirms belief in this).

H.O.R.: I believe it, and I think that it is beautiful that you are able to see that it is so safe for you to use a product, not just on any baby but with your own baby, and that your baby is actually flourishing. That says a lot about your brand and you and your husband. You are actually putting in that thought, dedication and love into something that not only your child will be able to use but other babies can use as well.

Going back to your comment about your baby being a healthy baby, well fed…is a testament to the fact that your baby likes the food, so that is a great thing. He is the perfect example that you can eat plant-based food even at a young age and you can still be very healthy and chunky at the same time (some laughter).

Victoria L. Clark: It is such a blessing. My doctor was very concerned because he said that plant-based babies do not get enough protein…etc., but his momma has been a raw vegan, and this is the best that I have ever felt in my life. I ran track in college, I was on scholarship for Rutgers University, and I was anemic, so I had to take iron pills…it was just so many things.

H.O.R.: Me too shawty (raising her hand).

Victoria L. Clark: I was also vitamin D deficient as well. So, you know as a runner that is a little scary because you need your bones. Once I became a raw vegan, my doctor was like you should have done this years ago because this is the healthiest you have ever been, my skin flourished…my hair and everything. I want my baby to have that same luxury and I feel like it is a luxury because it is hard to be a raw vegan, so to see him thriving and being above his milestones, he is our “professional taste tester” that is what we call him and soon we will have other “professional baby tester ambassadors” that we would like to invite in.

H.O.R.: That is so adorable…so cute. We need that because our children need a push in the right direction. As you mentioned earlier, there are people out there who are a bit hesitant like your doctor was, not knowing if the baby would be receptive to it or how well it was going to work out. I think that as parents it is up to us to introduce our children to the best option that they can have and based on how they react to it, then it is our job and our decision to make the best effort to figuring out what works best for our children.

I think that this is an important time where we start seeing that…and I am not knocking doctors, I am not a doctor but what I would like for people to get from this is first, that we are going to go ahead and try your cubes and your food. Second, the more that we have children, the more that we will need to learn to pay attention to our gut feeling, our instincts. As parents we are able to determine what is best for children and what is not. Not everything that is in black and white is the best thing because every baby reacts differently to different things. I just want to thank you for having a product that is suitable for babies in the most healthy way possible.

Victoria L. Clark: Definitely and my sister could attest to this, my niece does not eat fruits (she may eat some) but she does not like vegetables at all and one of the things that I do is to hide all of Zion’s vegetables, he loves sweet potatoes, but I will puree some peas and throw them in there and he does not even taste the difference. You have a complete meal now and you do not even know, you get to taste your yams and your peas, and we have that meal and it’s called “sweet” potatoes (sweet potatoes with a lot of peas in there). If your baby is a “yammer” at least they are getting some peas. It is very important for us to make sure that our baby is introduced to fruits and all types of vegetables.

My mom was an educator on that, she would not give me avocado or kale…it was just that you are going to get this Gerber and you are going to like it. I think that it is important to give our kids a palette in letting them know and taste different fruits and vegetables, and I want to do it in a fun way by hiding it in their favorite foods.

H.O.R.: As a mama, I just want to step in as a mama, I go ahead and puree carrots for the longest time in my spaghetti (Victoria is excited to hear this) as well as some broccoli, I will go ahead and put it into a blender and I put it in that sauce and you do not even know, shawty eating all types of vegetables (they both laugh). The fact that you have this product that if babies are not sure that they like the taste of it because of the looks…a lot kids see green and they are turned off by that. But if you have a way where you can put it in their food so that they will consume it even though its green, that is a good thing. Of course for those babies that actually like it, it is good to know that you can just purchase it and it’s good all around.

Tell me, do you have any new products in stock?

Victoria L. Clark: Yes, as of right now, we have Stages 1-3, and you get 5 options in each stage. Our menu is growing more each day, like I said I am in school and I am a full-time mom and right now we have just enough things that I am able to do, it is just me and I also have 6 sisters by the way, so I am 1 of 7 and it is definitely a family business and all hands are on deck which is a blessing. We have a commercial center where we go to create our blessings, that is what we call it…so right now it is Stages 1-3, we have some fun launches that took place recently in November, our Baby Gravy for Stage 4, I am so excited about this launch, so I will just go ahead and tell you guys.

January 1, we came out with the first (drum roll please) West Indian Baby Food Line.

H.O.R.: Oh really…get out!

Victoria L. Clark: Yes! For every month in 2021, we will be introducing multi-cultural baby food line where we will offer one of each of Stage 1-4. After that we are going to offer a new cultural baby food line and all of the proceeds will be going to orphanages in that particular country. We have a few partners that we have been working with where we will be learning about the specific fruits and vegetables in that country. It is important to us to give our babies options, if your baby wanted to taste some African food, then you can come to ‘Zion’s Eden’ and get it.

H.O.R.: You know Victoria to be honest with you as a young adult we tend to not venture out to try different foods to mentally prepare our taste buds to be receptive in trying new things. For us to be able to trust your brand to give us that opportunity to give our children something that we may not have had, sets our babies up for a great experience. They will be pushed to the next level where they are already cognizant in recognizing certain tastes when they get older and are traveling to different countries…because that is what we are putting out there that everyone’s baby will be traveling in the future, they will remember that taste from when their moms gave it to them as children.

You are going to be a part of so many family experiences for many generations to come as a result of what it is that you are creating, and I am so excited about that and it is absolutely amazing!

Victoria L. Clark: It is all in the name Zion’s Eden, I feel like God did His thing with this and He has been in control of this whole thing, I am not pushing my Christianity on anybody, but I have to give credit where credit is due (she lifts up her hands) this has definitely been a rollercoaster ride of opportunity after opportunity to grow and to make an impact worldwide, I do not just want to be a baby food business, I really want to impact lives and educate as well. There are a lot of people that I know that have babies and they just do not know what would be the best weaning food or how to introduce new exotic fruits and vegetables.

I wanted to fill that void and gap and I just thank my baby for giving me the courage to do all of that.

H.O.R.: Children are a blessing, and they are the future. You are giving our children the upper hand; you are giving them the advantage that we all need. It starts with food…nourishing your body and I commend you so much for your dedication and all the love that you pour into your products; it is so important, and we need that. We need the love, dedication, and drive, you are very smart, and I am just happy to be a part of this journey; I am so excited! I am not about to have no baby now, but I can go ahead and get some of this product and give it to my sisters (H.O.R. shouts out some of her sisters that have either had a baby or who are expecting a baby with whom she can share this baby food line with). We have to go ahead and support each other. We have to do what is right and be together in unity. Coming together and supporting one another, that’s what it is all about.

Being an entrepreneur is not easy, but it is possible, and it is very clear to see that you can be successful. Thank you for being such a great role model.

Victoria L. Clark: Thank you and I appreciate that so much, honestly it is just like I said, I did not see anybody in the kitchen cooking for my baby that I trusted. Once I became a mother everything just clicked, it was like…oh wait, what’s that, who’s that. I thought that we needed to have somebody in the kitchen who looks like us who is competing with Gerber, if not…better than them.

H.O.R.: Exactly and you know, just a little side note, I tell people who say, we are not ready, we’re not ready to have children and I will just wait until I get the house and I’ll just wait for this or that and the truth is, there is never a “right” time, God created us so that when you become a mother and you are carrying that life inside of you, everything will just start to click

Victoria L. Clark: Yes, you just have to go with it and God did this, I was honestly not thinking about making nobody’s baby food but my own, until my friend said well, I ate all the babies carrots (laughter) I need you to meal prep…can you meal prep for me. That was just the confidence that I needed, and I went with it, and here we are, and it is a blessing.

H.O.R.: That is what it is all about, having that confidence in yourself. You have to know what your instincts are telling you and then go with that, take that leap of faith, trust in yourself and trust that you are a part of a bigger energy and things will just flow. You have to be in tune and just let things flow. It can get scary sometimes when you are wondering which way to turn, do I go left or right…what do I do, trust the process, and listen. The universe is constantly guiding us, and we are being encouraged and we are given the energy that we need to keep on going. So we need to stay attuned and listen and everything will flow.

Given the fact that it is not easy there are a lot of people out there right now like our youth, and our peers and they are actually going into entrepreneurship, what are some pointers that you would like to give some of our young successful entrepreneurs like yourself?

Victoria L. Clark: One thing that I would say is to literally do the things that you say you are going to do, that makes all the difference. Once I stopped writing everything down and talking about it and actually using the time to stay low and just build what I wanted, what I had on paper, and the things that I prayed for, I started to see my life change once I began to do the things that I said I was going to do, and it was something as small as I am going to the gym today; putting that off would actually throw my week off.

The biggest advice that I can give is, start doing it and stop talking about it.

H.O.R.: I love the fact that you spoke about that, I am a person who believes that. I saw it firsthand, and I have endured it, and when I say that I am going to do something then in the back of my mind, my subconscious says…look now, you have got x amount of people depending on you, you better go ahead and pull this off…you said that you would do it, come with it!

Victoria L. Clark: It is bigger than us, when it is a bigger purpose than you that God instilled in you, and you just share it with the world, it just becomes second nature after a while.

H.O.R.: Of course, and you have a whole team. Are there any mentors or anybody that you would like to go ahead and speak on…people that you might look up to, especially now, this is not just a brand, this is a whole big movement, and this is going to change our future.

Victoria L. Clark: I would like to start by thanking my fiancée, he is head of business, he is working in collegiate sports right now, so he’s definitely been a great mentor to me. My mom has been a huge mentor because she has 7 girls, I do not know how she did it…still to this day, I’m like girl I have one son, and we are so close in age.

H.O.R.: I do not know how she did it (laughing with disbelief).

Victoria L. Clark: I was just like you have got to be coo coo…seven times! But my mom has been such a blessing to me. Anytime that she sees that I am lacking anything, she just jumps in fills me up, picks me up, gives me a little break with my son. My mom has been my angel on earth. My sisters and also my dad…there are no outside people, but I have such a strong village at home. My dad handles the finances, helping me to figure out deals and all that good stuff and then my sisters, we have a do whatever it takes mentality, if I have 15 orders and I have 3 papers due, they will say, ok let’s get this “village list” going…we got a village list, we write everything along with their deadlines, and everyone just takes from it.

I honestly look up to them for just putting up with me, and my stuff and taking it on as theirs, which is something that I am very proud of. So mostly my family and then there is someone else that has been very helpful in giving me advice and he is the CEO of Cooper’s ferry (Kris Kolluri) which is located here in Camden, N.J., (Cooper’s Ferry was founded in 1984 as a private, no-profit corporation dedicated to planning and implementing high-quality urban redevelopment projects to revitalize the city of Camden). That pretty much covers all of my mentors that I look up to right now…and Beyonce!

H.O.R.: Hey shout out to Bey! Yes, sis absolutely, we have to give a thumbs up to your family, your parents, and your husband and also your baby because he is the motivation behind all that you are doing with this movement. Your sisters, you mentioned that whenever there are deadlines to be met and you are juggling being a wife and mother…while going to school, running a business…it is so amazing to hear that they step in and step up! It is important for us to understand that family is everything!

Now I will say that not everyone has their biological family with them to support them but even in that, it gives us the opportunity to realize that even if you do not have your family, which we should strive to stabilize that situation regardless of the problems that you may have or that you have encountered in your life. The people that are in your life that are supporting you, that are grounding you, that are allowing you to thrive, and be successful in your goals, those are the people that you need around because we all need a tribe, it is essential.

So, you know how House of Ramirez gets down, we do shout outs. So, Victoria are there any shout outs that you would like to give?

Victoria L. Clark: Yes, first I want to give a shout out to Zion, I want to shout out all my sisters (she names them all) and my entire family. I shout out everyone that has been my village…I want to thank you so much for putting up with me and my crazy days.

Shout out to House of Ramirez!!!

H.O.R.: Oh stop, you going to make me blush (laughter) but the fact that you have so many villagers, it amplifies the fact that you can thrive while being unique in your own path. Not all of us are going to create baby food. We are here to promote you and support you, be there for you and stand by you, encouraging you and helping you, however we can.

We are not out here doing what you are doing but the fact that we are all aligned, and we are all in this together, that is what is important…unity is crucial, and every little bit helps. Big ups to you Victoria!

Victoria L. Clark: Thank you so much for having me, it was an honor.

H.O.R.: Thank you Victoria and you are always welcomed to come back and as you get those new flavors going in 2021, you go ahead and let me know, I cannot wait until you get to Mexico because I will be up there trying the food (she says as she laughs)

Victoria L. Clark: Of course!

H.O.R.: What’s your Instagram?

Victoria L. Clark: My personal Instagram is @vickaless and my business is @zions.eden

H.O.R.: Everyone who is having a baby or knows someone that is having a baby, we want to support you because it is important that our babies start off right

Victoria L. Clark: We got somebody in the kitchen, and it is organic, we have our facilities, we have everything that the big brands have and color (she points to herself)

H.O.R.: Yes, and it is vital that we include everybody, not just a single community but everybody. Thank you, Victoria, until next time, I appreciate you.

Victoria L. Clark: Thank you, God bless you!