Healthy Vending Machines

vending machines
Hard boiled eggs in vending machines.

Public schools in New York have added a new healthy item to their vending machines: carrots.

But if you were eleven years old again and were going to spend a dollar on an after school snack, you probably wouldn’t want to eat carrots. You’d probably choose a Coke or a Snickers bar. These efforts to fight childhood obesity and begin children and adolescents on a healthier course early in life have been backed by legislation. Last year the federal Agriculture Department passed a law to set dietary standards by the end of 2012.

Some complain that the healthier options such as the $3 hummus or the $2 yogurt parfait, are too expensive when compared to the $1 bag of chips or candy bars found in most machines. Still this marks a vast departure from the vending machines of the past. About 6% of the nations vending machines are school vending machines found in high school and middle schools. Another 6% are found in colleges. I would have thought the percentage higher. And with these healthy trends continuing, it may be hard to find vending machines with the junk foods we were used to seeing while growing up.

But if it makes for a healthier nation, so be it.

Peanut Butter Snacks in School Vending Machines

custom vending machineIf you were in the middle of the SATs and you had ten minutes to get food, you would likely turn to school vending machines to satiate your hunger. But what would you get? Remember you have another two hours of testing. Potato chips? On an empty stomach? No way. A Hershey’s bar? And crash from the sugar low? Nice try.

You need energy. Non-crashable energy. Peanut butter. Snickers.

The gooey caramely, chocolatey delicious nougatey flavors all coalescing in your mouth to give you the pleasure of candy and the energy of a more serious snack…With that thing you can power through the rest of the test with ease.

Other options to consider are: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. It doesn’t matter whether you pronounce them “Reesease” or “Reese is,” they’re also packed with energy, though perhaps aren’t as delicious.

And if you don’t like chocolate, and you’re nearby a custom peanut butter snack vending machine that has them, peanut butter crackers, the kind with the salt crystals on them, are delicious and hunger satiating.

It all comes down to personal preference. Some of us may not like nougat, some of us may like salty, some may prefer eating their candy as weirdly as possible. Whatever, it’s all made easy with snack vending machines in schools.

Coke in Vending Machines

vending machinesEvery morning I hear the crack of a Coke can being popped by my cubicle neighbor. Some people like orange juice in the morning, some people like milk, he likes Coke. I look over and jeer at him; we laugh it off. But deep down, I can’t blame him. I know that Coke is a product that will stand the test of time. I wouldn’t be surprised if Coke exists in vending machines in five hundred years.

Unless they change it a little. Or tax it into oblivion, an idea which Michael Bloomberg and Michelle Obama have kicked around in the past. But I doubt that will happen. Sure, they might make it more “natural” if you can’t taste the difference, but chances are Coke will be in vending machines of the future as it is today.

Coca-Cola has had a rich history since it’s invention. Back in 1886 it was believed that carbonated water was good for health, which is why Coca-Cola was found in pharmacies and soda fountains. When they tried changing the formula in 1985, to make New Coke in custom vending machines, the backlash was incredible. Southerners especially felt as though part of their regional identity had changed. By the early ’90s when the name changed to Coke II, it was already too late. People preferred their Coca-Cola Classic. This year, they dropped the Classic, because everybody knows there’s only one Coca-Cola.