Food is important no matter how long you plan to hike, but obviously, common sense is needed to determine how much to carry and what type of food to prepare.
On day hikes of 5 hours plus it's best to go for high energy foods on a snack basis. Only take what you plan to eat as you may not eat all your food...carrying it around only adds weight to your backpack. Day hikes should include nutrient rich foods that give you a boost of energy.
Cereal bars are small and the goods quality ones are packed with dried fruit and oats that are both filling and energy rich. A chocolate bar will keep your spirits up, as well as giving you a sugar spike that will give you a lift. Don't forget to hydrate along the way.
Hot Soup can give you motivation on a cold hike and even a tasty sandwich can give you something to look forward to at the half way mark.
If you are taking shop-bought food, make sure you take the wrappers back with you and try to take the least amount of packaging beforehand. It would be a good idea to take all the packaging off before you set out and put the food into seal tight bags, this will reduce the size of waste packaging and keep things a lot tidier.
On longer hikes, say 10 hours plus or a weekend hike, prepare a good healthy meal to see you through the first day, then try to get food from a store en-route like pasta and sauce if you have cooking utensils, or simply fill up at the self service store before setting off for the day.
There are special precooked foods especially made for hiking trips that are small and packaged well. You would only need to heat the contents up to enjoy a tasty meal. Don't take tinned food...they are heavy, are an awkward shape and you will have to carry the tins back with you. Obviously it depends how deep your hike is, but these are the basic rules of eating food whilst out hiking.
A longer hike over a few days will need to be planned at lot more in detail. Make sure you can reach supply stores along the way at least once a day. Keep your money safe in a zipped pocket...you don't want to be in a back country store without cash!
Hiking for more than a day is different to day hiking. You will need to camp out so will need a bigger backpack with more supplies. Day hiking will only really need small amounts of energy foods, but even day hiking needs to be planned. Make sure you're not too far away from human contact or supplies.
Food is definitely one of the 10 essential for hiking, and be aware that these 10 essentials are only the basic needs...longer hikes need to be planned with a fair amount of common sense on board.
This video will go through the 10 essentials for hiking.
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