I’ve traveled by air a fair amount over the last 15 years, mostly for work. Across that time, I don’t recall seeing a fellow passenger, at least not in my row, with their own food. By with their own food, I mean food not purchased at the airport or from the airline. It’s entirely possible there were people on the flight who brought their own food, but I think we can agree this is not most people. You can guess where I’m going with this. I bring my own food and this is important to me. I may look a little unusual with all of my food bags, but that’s OK.

It’s important to me to make the effort to bring my own food because I want every food choice I make to be one that is made with health, rather than convenience as the priority. My diet is by no means healthy all of the time! It’s always plant-based, but I make decisions to eat plant-based junk food from time-to-time too. When I do, it better be delicious. I haven’t had the experience of airline or airport food meeting that criteria.

Sometimes, or even often, health can feel like an abstract or far away concept. So what I mean by health in this context is, how I feel after I eat something, how I feel for the rest of the day, etc. I typically gauge this by my energy level. Low-nutrient food depletes me, high-nutrient food energizes me. I’ve yet to identify airline or airport food that energizes me. The quality of airline and airport food also typically doesn’t match the price.

So I set aside time and effort to prepare and carry-on my own food. This makes travel preparation more time consuming, but I find the time. I also see people on flights who don’t eat at all. Maybe they’ve eaten just before the flight, maybe they’ve chosen to delay eating while traveling. From what I’ve read, one strategy for acclimating to a new timezone more quickly is to eat minimally during the flight and align to typical meal times in the new timezone upon arrival.

Here’s what I brought and what I ate during a flight home to NYC last week from Portland, Oregon. This flight is a little over 5 hours traveling west to east, and eight or more hours in travel time all-in.

Apples

2 Sugarbee Apples from Washington State

These apples are SO good. They are sweet and juicy. I ate one on the plane for breakfast and one the following day. I haven’t seen them at NYC grocery stores.

Carrots

It’s carrot season. Carrots are crisp and I can’t think of a better word than juicy when eaten closer to the time they’ve been picked. I picked up two bunches of carrots while I was in Oregon and ate all but one across a five-day period.

Tofu

I air-fried a block of Wildwood Super Firm Tofu with Bragg’s Liquid Aminos and Noble Made Buffalo Seasoning. I hadn’t eaten ~1/3 of the block, and I brought that on the plane.

Garbanzo Beans

I cooked dried garbanzo beans in the Instant Pot and then air-fried them because I’d over-cooked them in the Instant Pot process. This just means that they weren’t as firm as I like them for snacking, so I took the extra step of air-frying. I hadn’t eaten ~3/4 cup of the beans, and I brought those on the plane.

Mary’s Gone Crackers

You’d be hard-pressed to find me without Mary’s in the pantry. I brought a couple of handfuls or so of Mary’s Gone Herb Crackers on the plane.

Pumpkin Pie

I made this pumpkin pie recipe from Chocolate Covered Katie the day before. I brought one medium to large-sized piece on the plane. I ate it later that evening when I arrived home.

Brownie

I made this brownie recipe (secret ingredient: sweet potato) from Chocolate Covered Katie a couple of days before. I brought one brownie on the plane. I ate it later that evening when I arrived home after I’d eaten the pumpkin pie.

Did I buy anything at the airport? Yes, I ordered a small coffee at Stumptown.

In addition to carrots, I nearly always have radishes on hand in the fridge. I’d eaten three bunches of radishes across a five-day period in Oregon, and I didn’t have any to bring on the plane. I like the balance of not only eating sweeter vegetables, but also eating bitter vegetables to balance my energy levels, especially since I also eat a lot of fruit.

That’s what I ate on the plane!

Do you bring your own food on flights? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

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I have no affiliation with any of these products or companies. I was on an Alaska Airlines flight, not Air Canada.

Image credits, in order of appearance from top to bottom of page. All images via Unsplash.
@snowjam, @shelleypauls, @jannerboy62, @kimileee, @karyna_panchenko, @ilzelucero, @ang10ze. Cover photo: @rparmly