My stadium food rant

I have a problem with stadium food. It's not that I don't enjoy nachos, hot dogs, burgers, chicken fingers, peanuts, candy, or any of the other staple items of stadium food - I do really enjoy the occasional hot dog with loads of mustard and relish or the occasional Snickers bar. It's not that I have a problem with the fact that a bottle of water in a stadium costs $4 and I can't even keep the cap, when I could get a whole 24 pack of water at Sam's Club for the same price. (Okay, that's a lie - I do have a problem with that, but I digress). And it's not that I have any problem with other people enjoying those things, if that's what they want to eat. My problem is that I am not one of those people that can go several hours without eating, and tailgating or eating before a game isn't always a viable option - which means that for any lengthy sporting event, I'm pretty much a captive to whatever the stadium nazis are serving up. In other words, JUNK food. I'm ranting about this because I just got back from the BCS championship game at Dolphin Stadium, where the fantastically prepared concessions people ran out of soft pretzels right after halftime of the game. At approximately 10. When I hadn't eaten for about 5 hours. I'm more than a little peeved about that. For one thing, if you're an NFL stadium, how difficult should it be to stock the appropriate amount of food for a major event like the BCS championship game so that you don't run out of your most popular item halfway through the event? For another thing, why is it that the ONLY even remotely healthy item that I could have eaten in the whole stadium was a soft pretzel with no butter and no salt? It's not as if I was at liberty to bring my own healthy snacks in with me - oh no, my bag was carefully searched when I entered the stadium. Sure, I could have smuggled in a granola bar or something in my pocket, but why should I have to do that? Would it really be so difficult for stadiums to start offering at least SOME healthier, lower calorie, lower fat food options? I'm not necessarily talking fresh fruits or veggie trays here, but even pre-packaged Rice Krispie treats come in around 90 calories and 2 grams of fat, and spoil no faster than your average candy bar. We've all heard the statistics and the constant reminders that we need to be eating healthier, exercising more. And yet when we go to sporting events, we have no choice but to eat what they're serving (or eat before or after, which isn't always practical) because we're not allowed to bring our own healthy food in with us. I don't suppose my rant here is going to change anything, I'm going to have to continue bucking the system by smuggling in 200 calorie snack options somewhere on my person in order to avoid the customary bag search, at least for those times when I'm going to need a snack during the game. I also realize a lot of people probably want the traditional stadium fare and wouldn't go for the healthier options, anyway. But I really think that we're not going to become a healthier nation until places like stadiums start to realize that we need healthier options in the mix and make those options widely available for those of us that would take advantage.