As summer evaporates away and the new school year is in the horizon, the tasks for many families are to shop for new school clothes, purchase one or more laptops and make the mad dash to the office supply store for the penny per notebook fire sale. For the finale, many turn to their Sam’s, Costco or BJ’s warehouse store for food items that will become the kid's mid morning snacks and packed lunches.

But the trick in making these bulk item purchases is you need to know ahead of time that these are the types of food that your family enjoys eating. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck with a lot of food that stays in your pantry for a long time. The solution to this dilemma is to sample the product ahead of time.

One item that is currently available for sampling is the Nature Valley® line of food snacks. By signing up for the Eat Better America® newsletter, General Mills will send you a free Nature Valley® Trail Mix Bar plus the new Granola Nut Clusters. Because both are made with 100% natural ingredients, they are the perfect snacks to help anyone re-energize for the second half of the day. This offer is available to U.S. residents and while supplies last.