Eat This Not That: Snack Attack

Buying locally made nutrition bars is beneficial, in more ways than one.

Eat this: locally made food bars
Not that: run-of-the-mill granola bars

Says who: Nona Evans, president and executive director of Whole Kids Foundation
Why: “Locally owned companies provide jobs in your community, which helps the overall local economy. At the Whole Kids Foundation, we encourage parents to choose food bars that have the most fruit and vegetable ingredients. We know that kids generally don’t get anywhere close to the recommended servings of veggies, so any time you can add those in the form of whole veggie ingredients, it will give their nutrition a boost.”

What food bars should we look for in Austin?

• Epic Bars. “These are definitely not granola bars. They are meat bars. Varieties include things like chicken, bison, wild boar and smoked maple salmon. These bars are relatively low in sugar, and what sugar is present is from ingredients like fruit or maple syrup. They are also gluten-free and high in protein, which is an important choice for so many parents. These would be good bars for summer road trips or to keep handy while outdoors hiking or camping.”
• Bearded Brothers Energy Bars. “These come in varieties like Fabulous Ginger Peach, Radical Raspberry Lemon, Mega Maca Chocolate and others. They have no added sugar and are also gluten- and soy-free. The serving size for these bars is smaller, so it’s nice for a snack.”

• Oatmega bars. “Oatmega has flavors like wild blueberry crisp and chocolate mint chip. They keep the total sugar per bar at 5 grams, which is good.”
• Thunderbird Bars. “Thunderbird has flavors like pecans goji pistachios and pineapple mango papaya. They also don’t use any added sugar, so the sugar in their products is all from the real food ingredients.”