When It Comes To On-The-Go Snacks, Why Do Granola Bars Always Seem To Steal The Show?

Last Friday, I found myself walking home from a friend's birthday celebration desperately wishing I had a Ziploc bag full of sharp cheddar. I had left the house without a snack, a critical error considering my choice of dinner venue, which turned out to be one of those painfully trendy taco spots that charges you a full $15 for two tacos the size of silver dollars. Fatal error on my part.

Three hours and a few drinks after my wimpy dinner, I needed some on-the-go nourishment. Not a little snack, like a granola bar or an apple, but a proper morsel.

This got me thinking: for some reason, portable snacks seem to lose their luster in adulthood. As kids, we're sent to friends' houses with squeezable peanut butter pouches, Thermoses full of soup, and handsome sleeves of cheesy crackers. But now, to travel with an adult-sized snack—a soft pretzel, for example, or a nice sandwich—seems almost uncouth. Whip out a turkey wrap in a public library at 10 a.m., and you're liable to earn some stares.

And why? Why are dinky little treats like granola bars the epitome of on-the-go food when there are so many other options ready to be packed in your purse, backpack, or pocket? I know I'm not the only one who's been caught out in public with a mean string cheese craving. And snack access is even more limited for individuals outside of densely populated urban areas. In that case, wouldn't it be better to travel with more substantial snackage?

Either way, I'd like to hear from you. Do you travel with food on your person, and if so, what is it? Do you go beyond the granola bars and little packs of almonds that seem to be marketed toward responsible adults? Do you go full cheese purse? Let's discuss.