Food Trend Thursday: The Food Bag

Move Over Gucci There Is A New Bag In Town

My mom is the epitome of a “Bag Lady”. You know one of those people who are just traveling 30 miles into Fremont, but manage to bring no less than 3 bags full of stuff. (What I did not know is that this is actually genetic, but that’s a different story.) One of my mom’s bags that always makes its way into the car is the “Food Bag”. Although I used to laugh and make fun of the food bag, I can’t tell you how many times I have turned to it in times of need. After reaching a truly low point on a shopping trip to Omaha with my mom and Charlotte (#HANGRY),  let’s just say I never travel without a food bag of my own.

What Constitutes Food Bag?

The nice thing with a food bag is that it is completely up to you! Whether it is a full on insulated cooler with one of those blue frozen things to keep your contents a constant cool temp or whether it’s a plastic sack with an apple or carrot-your food bag is your food bag. For me, my food bag is completely dependent on what I’m doing and how long I will be traveling. If I have plans to eat out or on the road, I’ll keep it simple with a snack. But, if I’m unsure about the day’s agenda I like to be prepared with a protein source, some fruit, and some easy to eat vegetables. The key is to pack in such a way to prevent reaching that deep, dark, scary, hunger place where the only option looks to be gas station chips or a drive through French-fries.

Benefits of the Food Bag

As touched on above, the food bag is there for times of need, but the benefits are more than just satiety. Times of desperation in terms of hunger can lead to impulse spending whether it be eating out, in a gas station, or a grocery store. I’m not going to lie to you, I hit a low point spending $15 at a gas station on snacks because everything looked good, I was that hungry. By staying on top of your hunger – it will save you money! Your food bag allows you to bring your refrigerator with you to make making healthy choices easy on the go.

Whats in My Food Bag?

Well that is a great question! The answer is it depends, but here are some examples. I have a mini food bag in my purse at all times (ok, it’s a plastic sandwich bag). My snack food bag always has a mixture of nuts and dried fruit-cashews and banana chips at the moment. If I’m running errands in Omaha all day (1-4 hrs in the car), the last thing I want to do is have to stop and eat or hit up a drive thru. In this case, I will pack a whole wheat wrap with lunch meat and lots of spinach, carrots, and an apple. If I’m driving to Texas (12 hours in the car), I bring out the big guns and come prepared with pre cooked turkey meatballs, light string cheese, carrots, cherry tomatoes, apples, and some almonds.

Embrace the bags, people.


Here are some darling options for your own food bag:

This bag from here

This one is on sale here!