I spent yesterday enjoying the great feat of engineering that is airplane travel, and I was hungry the entire time. I just can’t bring myself to eat high-calorie, high-fat, low-nutrition food when I know that it’s going to taste bad, that it’s made from stuff that’s bad for the planet, and that it just generally offers nothing good. It’s depressing.

If I have time at SeaTac, I’ll pick up a sandwich or a salad from Dish D’Lish, but I almost never have time at SeaTac, usually I’m cursing my way through security hoping I get to my gate before they shut down boarding. I often find myself at the Starbucks counter, since you can buy a soupy bit of oatmeal—for $3! (Three dollars is not a lot of money. But remember, this is the stuff orphans eat in Dickens novels.) The cheese plates are okay too.

It occurred to me though that I know all these smart and savvy food people in Seattle and they travel…and I started wondering: how do they eat when they’re enjoying the great feat of engineering that is airplane travel? Do they just leave their locavore ethics on the other side of the security gate? Do they prepare meals in advance?

So…where do you? I would love to hear your secrets about staying fed while en route. Please give ’em up, I have to fly home in a few days.