Cure the Cramming Cravings

You can send college students some encouragement as well as something that will feed their brains. Since most of the food they survive on isn’t exactly healthy, here are some delicious, high-quality snacks that make appreciated care packages.

• Munchies Collection Gift Box ($55) Blue corn chips and salsa, chocolate sourdough bread, a Magic Brownie, a handmade candy bar, Smooch Lion Gummi’s and Cream-Nut Peanut Butter, all from famous Zingerman’s Bakehouse in Ann Arbor, Mich.

• Caffeine Break: Ithaca Bakery, home to Ithaca College and Cornell, knows how to please college students. Try the Cayuga Coffee line—it’s 100% Fair Trade and almost entirely organic. Not a bad deal for $7.49 per pound for regular and $10.49 per pound for decaffeinated. Or choose soothing tea to calm mid-term nerves—llook for Twinings and Republic of Tea, ranging in price from $3.65 per box for Twinings and $7.99 to $15.99 per tin of Republic of Tea.

• Unjunk the Junk Food: For a healthier take on snacking, log onto dianes-gourmet.com and choose Robert Rothchild Raspberry Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip ($8.99 per 13.5-ounce jar); Rothchild Pretzel Dippers ($3.99 per 8-ounce package); and bulk gummy bears made of fruit juice ($5.99 for 12 ounces). Or check out The Better Cheddar’s selections at thebettercheddar.com: Zuk’s Salsa ($6.99), available in Mango Ginger; Garlic Hummus; and Zesty Garlic. Students will literally go nuts for Santa Barbara Pistachio Company’s nuts ($8.49 per bag); and Twist and Crack Almonds from Nunes Farms ($8.49 per bag) too.

• Cookie Monsters. Who wouldn’t love a dark chocolate-covered graham cracker—try Bahlsen’s Afrika cookies ($3.99). Or try Almondina’s skinny biscotti ($3.99) made with a lot of almonds and popular because of the low calorie count. -Denise Shoukas

Denise Shoukas is a regular foodspring.com contributor and is the author of foodspring’s food forager blog.