Why road trip food sucks & what to do about it.

I’m particular about quality food and I know there is good food in a lot of places. However, it's increasingly disappointing that road trip food is so terrible, reflecting the fact that typical American food is terrible. Considering road-trips are a common way of traveling the US, I cannot fathom why every gas station offers the same, crappy food-like substances and sugary beverages: chips, candy, hot dogs, energy drinks. Cheap. Ultra-processed. Wrapped in plastic. Occasionally, a banana or apple sits near the cash register. What’s worse are fast food options inside gas stations or next door – the food making Americans sick.

What could be more of an anomaly than traveling to beautiful places – natural wonders, national parks and monuments – and consume the most unnatural food? When campgrounds and hotels at the gateways to gorgeous, unforgettable landscapes offer the same, crappy food. Not surprisingly, I bring my own food on road trips.

My kids and I traveled with my sister and her family. If you think I’m a foodie, you haven’t met my sister. Her camper’s medium fridge was full, as was a large cooler, plus boxes of fruit, eggs from her chickens, snacks, special drinks. My own food packing job paled in comparison: two egg-crates full of pantry food and snacks; two small coolers with drinks and dairy, berries and bananas, lettuces and lunchboxes; and two bags of carefully packed produce like potatoes, tomatoes, avocados, citrus and more.

We planned for four nights of camping in very isolated locations –we had a menu (which my sister created), consisting of meals like pork chops (local, yes) with rice and broccoli; elk burgers with rosemary potatoes and salad; elk steak and black bean tacos. When my sister’s truck broke down north of Salt Lake City and we ended up in a hotel near a Chipotle, In-N-Out Burger, Chili’s and other standard chains that exist everywhere (I stopped “seeing” them a while ago), we continued forth with our meal plan. Sissy grilling her elk brats in the parking lot while I roasted Brussels sprouts in the hotel room. Simple, nourishing meals, a thousand times better than what we can find in commercial, suburban venues.  

We’re not the only ones who plan like this. I met Leslie, a schoolteacher from Salmon, Idaho, in the bathroom in the Moab campground. We started talking about travel food. Because her family tent camps for ease and they prefer to play all day outside, they plan uncomplicated meals ahead of time. “A month before we leave, we make double batches and freeze them. Things like chicken cordon bleu, lasagna, enchiladas, fajita mix – we bring tortillas and beans. We have traditional camping food, too, like hot dogs and hamburger soup. Breakfasts we keep basic – oatmeal and granola. We don’t fuss over Dutch oven cooking. Rather, each day, we pull out a frozen dinner to thaw and eat the next day.”

Preparing foods is obvious for camping and easy enough when we stay in hotels with kitchens. Still, part of traveling includes finding a special places with home baked goods, meals unique to the area and healthy, locally grown food. Such places are few and far between. We found handcrafted gelato in Salt Lake City proper. In Moab, I found organic coffee and, thankfully, an organic food co-op to replenish our supply of fresh produce, healthy snacks and coconut water. On the Navajo Reservation in Monument Valley, there was a small shop selling “Navajo tacos” made with corn flatbread fried in tallow.

Otherwise, that was end of quality or regional food for the remainder of the trip. I thought our campgrounds, which offered a wide variety of lodging, would offer a wide variety of foods choices in the shops. Nope. Only the same foods one finds at gas stations – more chips, crackers, cookies, candy, soda, energy drinks, beer, bottled water. Nothing else. The town options matched those of suburbia everywhere. In the dusty town at the entrance of and Canyon de Chelly there was a Burger King, Denny’s and Pizza Hut. With enough time to research, perhaps I would have found authentic Navajo fare. Alas, our time was limited, we camped, and we were prepared.

Plus, I was planning to go out for pizza in the historic town of Williams, Arizona, just south of the Grand Canyon. I recalled authentic-looking diners when my kids and I visited this historic Route 66 town six years prior. I hoped the quality of food would pay homage to the town’s gusto for preservation, though I cannot imagine what foods might have been available during the “Dust Bowl” or post-WWII migrations. Sadly, the wood fired pizza was tasteless, pricey and served on Styrofoam plates. Apparently preserving food traditions is not honored like preserving historic buildings.

The next day, on the quite touristy yet lovely train ride to the Grand Canyon we were, once again, exposed to classic “American” food. Though the 2.25-hour ride was dedicated to sharing stories about how the resurgence of the tourist train – now run on recycled vegetable oil instead of coal – brought life back to the locals, the food was neither made nor catered locally. Rather, there were cookie-cutter muffins and sweet breads, cantaloupe and pineapple chunks, Sprite and Coca-Cola, Swiss Miss Cocoa and Spiced Apple Cider packets. I let my kids eat some because, of course, we’d already consumed a simple breakfast in the hotel room: yogurt, granola and berries. (Plus, I brought healthy snacks.)

I hoped the South Rim of Grand Canyon would offer decent food, as we planned to have lunch there. Fountain sodas and energy drinks, chips, candy bars and conventional ice cream was bountiful, plus “grab-n-go” dry, bland sandwiches in brown paper bags waiting under a warming light for hungry people to rescue them. I chose a nut and seed bar and – to my delight –kombucha, with four flavors from which to choose!

Before our stop-over in Vegans and a long drive home, I prepped dinner, breakfast and snacks while at my dad’s kitchen in Arizona. Feeling nourished from his wife’s smoothie breakfast, made with fruit from their garden, and lunch consisting of bison-elk meatballs, I was ready for the next 24 hours – the last leg of our trip. I made burritos in the Vegas hotel, had zero temptation for beer, nachos or churros at the Golden Nights hockey game; nor to the hotel breakfast of fruit loops, waffles and plastic-covered fruit.

Our country offers so much awe-inspiring nature, historic towns, roadside attractions and excellent entertainment, yet offers very little in terms of good quality, nutritious food. With advanced planning and a little splurging, though, road trips can still center around unforgettable experiences.  

Originally written for and published by 5BGazette.com