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By Heide Kennedy, Arizona Farm Bureau Communications Intern

My family and I have gone on numerous road trips over the years, and one of the things that we always make sure to have stashed in the car is a wide variety of snacks because I have three younger brothers and let me tell you, they eat A LOT. Unfortunately, however, most of the convenient, prepackaged snack foods available at gas stations and in the snack food aisles of the grocery store are carb and sugar loaded, which don’t keep them feeling full and satisfied for long. Luckily, there are other snack options that are much healthier and more satisfying.

Oftentimes, eating healthy is thrown out the window when traveling, because of how convenient fast food and prepackaged snacks are. But, with the right mindset and proper planning, maintaining your healthy eating habits on the road is entirely possible. In an interview with KADN-TV,  Daphne Olivier, the Unconventional Dietician said that it all comes down to your mindset before you leave on your trip. If you want to maintain your healthy eating habits while you are away, you have to make eating well a priority and be willing to take those few extra steps to find and prepare those healthier snacks.

Daphne also gave some ideas on healthy snack foods that travel well. She said that overall, she would advise that people look for whole, real foods that have been minimally processed. Sadly, that means that a Snickers bar and a bag of potato chips don’t make the cut. Some of the healthy snack food items that she suggested include:

• Beef jerky or other meat sticks
• Nuts and seeds
• Dried vegetable chips
• Fresh fruit
• Dried fruit
• Fresh vegetables

While finding and preparing these snack foods for a trip might take a bit more time, it is well worth it, because they are much more nutrient dense and satisfying. Daphne also mentioned that you could even kill two birds with one stone by packing up any leftover veggies or fruits in your fridge and taking those along with you to reduce food waste and keep yourselves full on the road.

By preparing and taking healthy foods with you on your trips, you can relax even more while on vacation knowing that you and your family are being well-fed and are maintaining healthy eating habits.

For some more ideas on healthy snack ideas that are also kid-approved, check out this article on the Fill Your Plate blog!