The toddlers in my room bring their own lunches everyday. And there is one thing I frequently see in there that I hate with a passion: food pouches. I’m talking about the applesauce pouches and yogurt tubes. Most of you will probably say things along these lines:

“But my kids love them!”

“But they are so easy to throw in a lunch box!”

“But my kids can eat them in the car seat on the way to school!” (although for more on why kids shouldn’t snack in the car, read this post.)

Well let me tell, there are three big reasons (and one small reason) why I hate them.

Stop Babying Your Children

You know who sucks food up? Babies. How many adults do you know that eat their lunch or dinner by sucking it out of a pouch? I’m gonna guess the answer is somewhere between “not many” and “none.” So why do we have children do it? Our culture tries so hard to keep kids as babies. The helicopter parents of today love to monitor and control every aspect of a child’s life under the guise of knowing better. But is a plastic tube of mushed up food really “better”?

As a parent, I am raising my daughter to become a well-rounded adult. Part of being a well-rounded adult in our culture is the ability to eat appropriate foods with a spoon. I will admit, sometimes we get takeout and an option for Mac on the kids menu is a pouch of applesauce. But we bring it home and squeeze it into a bowl so she can eat it with a spoon. (Let me throw in my pitch for moderation again. Sometimes a food pouch is your best option. But I’m talking about using these consistently, not just as a treat.)

Unhealthy Choices

This is my small reason because I know you can find healthier pouches of food. In fact, you can find pretty much any food ground up and pumped into a food pouch or tube nowadays. But I’m thinking specifically about things like sugary yogurt with food dye that you suck from a tube. There are no redeeming qualities when it comes to something like that.

Bad for Your Wallet and the Earth

I don’t think people realize that it is waaaaay cheaper to buy a large container of yogurt or applesauce and doling it out into reusable containers. It also saves all of that plastic from going to the dump and hanging out polluting Mother Earth because you were too lazy to spoon some applesauce out of a jar.

Unhealthy Eating Habits

I know, I know, I use this phrase a lot. (Like when I talked about snacking in the car and using an open glass.)But it is so important to help our children form good eating habits. With obesity becoming such a problem, we really need to focus on setting our children up for success. Eating a snack or meal should be treated like a separate event, not as part of watching TV or driving in the car. A pouch of food promotes being on the go while eating.

So tell me, what are your thoughts on food pouches?