Ideal Bite

The best snacks for school don't come from vending machines. If you want to talk about green snacks, choose ones without a label. Many come with their own all natural, biodegradable packaging! (http://blog.betterschoolfood.org/2007/08/whats-best-snack-its-easy.html)

I'm out of college but still snack like a 5-year-old, except now it's all the organic versions of my old faves. You forgot one of the best...Frutabu smooshed fruit!

Fruitabu and other fruit leathers can do serious serious damage to your teeth. How about good old fresh fruit instead? With a glass of water to wash it down!

Sure - kids love all these fun, yummy snacks but lets not forget that all this individually packaged stuff just adds to the heap in the landfill. You can find plenty of healthy snacks in the bulk bin or just buy a big box and send individual servings in a reusable container.

Just because something is organic doesn't make it good for you or environmentally friendly. All that packaging, shipping and marketing generates greenhouse gas, landfill waste and uses resources. Not to mention the added effect of ordering this stuff online and having it shipped to your house. Really the problem is that people buy too much stuff. Instead have whole fruit available for your kids. You can also make homemade cookies as it really isn't difficult to do and fun for the entire family. You can make a weeks worth of cookies in about an hour on a Saturday evening. Use your bread machine and make different homemade breads. They can be eaten with butter, jams and local honey. My kids love my Cinnamon Raisin Whole Wheat bread. Though we make everything from Parmesan Cheese Bread to Rosemary Dill. Takes about 15 minutes to set up and then cycle through. I do it while I am working and unplug it when I am done. Processed foods are one of the major causes of obesity in this country. 99% of the processed organic foods are no better than the other stuff.

Just want to point out one of the important things from Susan's link above if people don't visit. ---------- Research shows that only 11% of kids eat the recommended 5 servings of fruits and veggies each day. Choosing fresh produce for a snack is your biggest bang for your nutritional buck. ---------- That is a shockingly low number.

I certainly agree with Wayne. And since a serving of fruit is a very small amount of food, I wonder what it is that they are eating instead?!?!

VEGAN snacks are better for the environment (note the deleterious impact of livestock that is worse than cars!) - I was suprised to see cheese snacks on your list for school kids. The new Eco-Planet "Cheddar" crackers from Heaven Scent are fantastic and much more eco-friendly. http://www.eco-planet.net/index.html Check 'em out - they're fantastic! :-)

Wayne--I love your ideas about making home-made snacks. Having just graduated college, I'm not even close to worrying about healthy kid snacks, but I do enjoy mixing my own trail mix. As for a yummy vegan snack, I've found Mrs. May's nut and fruit 'bites' (bought at Costco in CA in both indiv. and large bags, also can be bought online) to be utterly delicious. This might not be ideal for packing in your kids' lunchboxes every day, but it would make for a great occasional treat. **keep biting...**

Engage children in healthier eating by growing some of your own food. Tomatoes in a pot are a great start. We bake cookies and breads for school lunch, too. The weight issue could be addressed by knowing how many calories a child is eating daily. Most parents use the "growing child" theory and allow as much food as a child wants to eat. Using a BMI calculator made for children was eye opening. http://www.keepkidshealthy.com/welcome/bmicalculator.html