Food container and dispenser

Abstract

A portable food carrier is disclosed, including a flexible, compressible outer container body and an internal lift having a tapered bottom. The tapered bottom of the lift is particularly configured to allow a user to grasp the carrier and squeeze the container body at the location of the taper, causing the lift to move upward in the container, in turn pushing food product located above the lift toward an open, top mouth of the container, where the user may then access and eat the food product. The lift is configured to interact with the interior of the container in such a way so as to assist the user in maintaining smooth movement as the user squeezes the outside of the container, thus making it optimized for use with only one hand.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A food dispenser comprising:
 a container having one or more manually compressible exterior walls; and   a lift inside of said container having at least a first tapered wall and engaging an interior of said container such that manual compression on the outside of the container causes said lift to move along a length of said container, wherein an outer surface of the lift conforms to the interior surface of the container;   wherein said interior of said container defines a lift engaging surface that is configured to allow linear, bidirectional movement of said lift within said container.   
     
     
         2 . A food dispenser comprising:
 a container having one or more manually compressible exterior walls;   a lift inside of said container having at least a first tapered wall and engaging an interior of said container such that manual compression on the outside of the container causes said lift to move along a length of said container, wherein an outer surface of the lift conforms to the interior surface of the container; and   a flexible bag positioned within said interior of said container;   wherein said lift engages said flexible bag such that movement of said lift within said container moves dispensable food within said flexible bag toward an open top end of said container.