Healthy Vending Machines

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You know what they say - you are what you eat. Unfortunately, no matter how healthy a breakfast or snack mom prepares for her kids to eat during recess, most kids prefer the calorie laden, coloring infested snacks and junk food that are readily available in schools through vending machines that wouldn't think twice about swallowing those quarters.

To try and take up some of the slack that the departure of unhealthier fare left, the Dole fruit company has taken its own initiative to start a program "that will put vending machines selling healthy food products into schools." Dole's machines will stock fruit, fruit bowls, salads, sandwich wraps and milk.

Stanford University has a new arrangement with YoNaturals to install some healthy vending machines. YoNaturals's high tech and innovative machines have revolutionized the way vending machines operate, with credit and debit card payment systems along with cash and coins purchasing to ignore a vending machine because of misplaced change. Thanks to YoZone's cashless payment system, one swipe of a major credit or debit card makes vending your favorite healthy snack a breeze.

The problem is that, to many people, the vending machine is as much a part of their daily diet as fast food joints. According to the National Automatic Merchandising Association, in 2004, Americans spent more than $21 billion buying food and beverages from the vending machines.

"Junk food from school vending machines is one of the primary reasons for extra weight in children," said Bob Williamson, chairman and CEO of Horizon Software International.

YoNaturals with healthy vending machines in hundreds of schools throughout the U.S. has proof that children will eat healthier items and that schools can still see significant revenue from their vending programs.

There are no snack vending machines at all in any of the student areas of the campus.

The new guide on vending machines is part of an action plan announced by the FSA in August designed to improve children's diets.

Already, calorie-conscious consumers can find nutrition bars and salads in their machines.

But even if there are healthier choices in vending machines, it's easy to fall victim to a sugar craving.