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Can We say Healthy and Airport Food in the Same Sentence?

15 Replies

Holidays are busy times in the sky, and not just because Santa is making deliveries. With many of us crisscrossing the country to be with loved ones, airports are congested bottlenecks we all have to pass through. And since we arrive with plenty of time to kill, just in case lines will be longer than the usual long, hunger sets in while we wait to board our flight.

Many of us rely on airport fare. Aside from being exorbitantly expensive, most food served at airports is not that healthy. According to this article in USA Today, more healthy options are being made available each year. And there are rare gems in various airports.

Chicago O’Hare has a burrito place at the American Airlines Terminal. Numerous airports have sushi places (watch the sodium though). And most cafe type shops offer fresh fruit, fruit bowls, and yogurt for sale.

With a little planning and forethought, you can bring your own food to the airport (and the flight), and settle in to your terminal seat waiting for your flight.

Here are some ideas:

  • Bring your own sandwiches
  • Pack apples and bananas – they don’t get squished as much as other fruit while schlepping all your luggage.
  • Pack your own trail mix – nuts, seeds, dried fruit. A great emergency stash that can last for weeks hidden in your bag.
  • If you hate paying for bottled water, you are allowed to pass an empty bottle through security and then fill up at a water fountain on the other side.
  • We’d love to recommend yogurt too, but security won’t let that through (yep,we tried). So eat your yogurt at home.

What are your tips and tricks for nutrition at the airport?

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  • Dave

    Hemi, it is so funny that you mentioned the burrito place in O’Hare. It is called Burrito Beach and I created the menu and food for the concept many years ago. It really is a gem and very popular with the pilots and stewardesses. Healthy options include fat free beans, lean grilled protein, vegetarian and vegan options and a number of great salsas and garnishes all made from scratch!

    • Air Miles

      On the last flight I think the woman in the seat next to me ate some of those burritos. God damn, the gas was unbearable. She didn’t even excuse herself. Seems like the least she could do when she practically blew a burrito hole in the seat cushion. I had to have my coat drycleaned. Ought to be a law — no burritos before any flight. No vegan glop, either.

  • Monica

    That’s what i do when i fly. I bring my sandwiches from home and bring an empty water bottle that i can keep refilling at the water fountain. There’s no way I’m paying $7 for a sandwich i can make at home.

  • Food Goddess

    I simply tote along a few raw squash to gnaw on, same as I do at home. Raw squash eaten with teeth and fingernails — NO UTENSILS!!! Knives spoons and forks are akin to processing, not all natural like teeth and fingernails. Processing foods is certain death. My squash (I grow them myself in the wild forest near the dog park) are perfect for air travel. I am confident any one of the rugged little beauties would survive a plane crash. I keep a small acorn squash at the ready to bean the living hell out of any terrorist who might attempt an airline hijacking. And I don’t share my raw squash with any goofy looking bastards, just in case. Health food — you simply can’t do without it. Everyone should do what I tell them.

    • Paix

      ok? lol

    • Goddess Lite.

      While I don’t posess the purity of spirit and conviction of the body of the Food Goddess, I too bring bring along raw foods!  Raw Kale wrapped around more raw kale, surrounding a core of delicious parsley and MORE kale (shredded)!! I grow my Kale from Free Range Organic Artisan Heirloom Kale NON GMO (because science is EVIL) harvested by seed banking monks from Mongolia.  I grow my kale (and parsley) in inner city vacant lot gardens.
       
      My teeth may be green, but you’ll take my kale from my COLD DEAD HANDS Mr. Homeland Security man!

  • Kara

    Do you know if you can take butter through security? We’re traveling and want to take our local grass fed raw butter, and don’t want it to get thrown out.

    • Food Babe

      Yes you can take it – Pack it away and don’t take it out – They won’t catch you.  I used to take yogurt all the time too without any issue.

    • airsectech

      Butter is pure fat and it will kill you. The odds of fat killing you is much higher than death from terrorist air piracy. Airport security should take away your butter before it kills you. They should slap some sense into you, too.

  • Food Babe

    I make sprouted wheat and collard green wraps for travel – they travel beautifully! I also always bring an avocado – tastes great and comes in it’s own packaging.  Individual packs of organic raw almond butter and good raw buckwheat crackers are amazing too!  I don’t buy anything to eat in airports – I always come prepared.

  • http://www.meyouhealth.com/ Alicia B.

    You should see all the food I pack when I travel! I pack fresh grapes, blueberries, apples, and almonds. I go beyond that to also pack hummus and fresh veggies — as well as gluten-free instant grains I can eat by just adding hot water (which the plane provides). I can’t rely on eating at the airport. It makes me sick when I try something simple, like a salad, so packing my own food when I travel is more essential than packing my underwear! ;-)

  • http://www.amber-hinds.com/ Amber @ Au Coeur

    What about hummus?  Is a paste considered a liquid/gel?

    • Guest

      Hummus is considered a glop. A bland gassy disgusting glop. It should be banned from airplanes…and airports…and from everywhere. Nasty.

  • NuttyObserver

    I flew out of a tiny airport in Kentucky, but they did not question my bringing some vegetable-filled socca. Chick pea flour mixed with water – stir in some flaxseed and throw in some chopped vegetables, then fry in a non-stick pan with a little bit of olive oil. Toast for a minute or so. Perfect. Fits in any bag and is filling and delicious :-)

  • NuttyObserver

    I flew out of a tiny airport in Kentucky, but they did not question my bringing some vegetable-filled socca. Chick pea flour mixed with water – stir in some flaxseed and throw in some chopped vegetables, then fry in a non-stick pan with a little bit of olive oil. Toast for a minute or so. Perfect. Fits in any bag and is filling and delicious :-)