The Best Natural & Organic Snacks for School Lunches

We've all heard the reports about how unhealthy school lunches are, and many parents are turning to packing their child's lunch as a viable, albeit more time-consuming, alternative. But packing a lunchbox doesn't automatically mean that the contents are any healthier than what's found in the cafeteria line. However, it is possible to pack delicious, natural and organic foods in your child's lunchbox that are easy and convenient.

Gone are the days when eating healthfully meant that everything had to be made from scratch. Plenty of companies are realizing the importance of natural and organic foods, as well as feeling the demand from concerned parents, and are producing natural and organic snack items that kids love. While you still have to pay attention to the label (organic sugar is still sugar), packing your child's lunch with healthy, natural and organic snacks is easier than ever. Single-serve packaging and foods that kids will eat are plentiful-you just have to know where to look.

Below are some of the best natural and organic foods and snacks for your child's lunchbox, so you can feel good knowing they're eating just as well at school as at home.

Snackimals Animal Cookies
Snackimals, from Barbara's Bakery, are the all-natural, partially organic answer to the traditional animal cracker. These delicious cookies are 100% natural, including no trans fats, made with organic ingredients, dairy- and cholesterol-free, kosher, and vegetarian. They come in 4 delicious flavors: Chocolate Chip, Vanilla, Snickerdoodle, and wheat-free Oatmeal. Packaged into single-serve bags, these all-natural cookies are the perfect dessert for your child's lunch.

Annie's Homegrown Cheddar Bunnies
Annie's Bunny Snacks are a hit with kids of all ages as a natural and organic snack alternative to traditional snacks like Goldfish Crackers. These deliciously popular bunnies come in both large boxes and small snack packs, perfect for packing into your child's lunch. Made with all-natural ingredients and organic whole-wheat flour, you can feel good letting your child munch on this snack. The snack-sized bunny bags also come in the Bunny Graham Friends and Honey Bunny Graham flavors.

GoGo squeeZ Applesauce Snacks
Applesauce is always a big hit with kids, but packing a travel cup and spoon can be a messy ordeal for a lunchbox. This ingenious product from France changes all of that! Materne's GoGo squeeZ applesauce snacks come in a squeezable pouch with a built-in straw at the top and re-sealable cap. They are 100% natural, with no added sugar, no artificial flavors or preservatives, and they're kosher-certified. These natural applesauce snacks are perfect for school lunches and come in five delicious flavors: regular, apple banana, apple cinnamon, apple peach, and apple strawberry. As a bonus, one pouch equals one whole serving of fruit.

Stonyfield Farms YoKids Squeezers
Yogurt is a hit with many kids, and now that it can be found in a squeezable tube, it's easy to pack into a school lunch for healthy eating. However, most yogurts on the market are loaded with artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives, not to mention a lot of sugar. Enter Stonyfield Farms, one of the leading producers of organic yogurts for kids. Their new YoKids Squeezers are organic, lowfat, and delicious. They currently come in three flavors: strawberry, cherry, and berry. And if your kids like the idea of a frozen treat, just pop them in the freezer first for a cool, creamy dessert. Either way, kids will get a serving of organic dairy and fruit without anything artificial.

X-treme Fruit Bites
All kids I know love to eat fruit snacks, but all of that sugar and artificial coloring and flavoring makes me cringe. However, now there's a natural alternative: X-treme Fruit Bites from Brookside Fruit Company. These all-natural fruit snacks are made with fresh, local fruit, lower in sugar, and are packaged in convenient, snack-sized portions. They come in three flavors: apple, citrus, and strawberry, and are an easy way to please the pickiest of eaters.

Organic Chewy Granola Bars
Granola bars make a great snack, side, or dessert option, and Cascadian Farms has a wide array of organic granola bars to choose from. These single-serve bars make a quick and easy organic snack for kids' lunches that provide just the right amount of sweetness. They come in 11 flavors, from the standard Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Vanilla to more adventurous flavors like Blueberry Pomegranate and Harvest Spice. You might want to buy 2 boxes-one for your child's lunches and one for you.

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