instant baby formula has been around for centuries? And the first ones were not based on cow milk at all, but plant-based - made of corn and nuts?
From the stories of Elizabeth Hanson who was captured by the Native American Abenaki in 1724, we get to know of her troubles of breastfeeding her daughter, two weeks old at the time of the kidnapping. The lack of nourishment and clothing resulted in inadequate milk production. Once at the camp, the Native American women showed Hanson how to make a nut and corn infant formula milk that saved the baby’s life. The Wabanaki tribes had been nourishing their infants with a plant-based food for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
The most commonly used infant formulas today are animal based, but like said, there are alternatives. Commercially produced infant formulas using soybean as a protein source have been used since 1909. And for infants who are allergic to other proteins, there are formulas using protein hydrolysed into its component amino acids.