School Vending Machines Killed
Childhood obesity is through the roof in this country. We can point to a number of reasons including the ridiculous financial reporting of fast food restaurants and candy companies. We can also criticize the lack of education about food that will make children know which food is not good for them and will make them fat, not good for young and old. But one of the biggest culprits is an inanimate object that sits in school day in and day out. The vending machine. These machines on a daily basis tempt kids to buy candy before school (candy for breakfast, anyone?), between classes and even at lunch (it’s a cup soda, chips and other candy bars count as a meal?). Children are loaded on fat because of regular sugar, fat and simple carbohydrates. What should parents and schools do to cut the cord between students and their snacks? The answer is simple – school vending machines.
You may ask how, in this world of cuts and reduced budgets, schools can afford to change this. The sad truth is that schools make a lot of money from their school’s vending machines. And if these systems are easily removed, schools will suffer financial losses that could force them to cut back on supplies and student services. The good news is that healthy food vending machines generate as much, if not more, revenue for schools than junk food. Replacing an unhealthy food vending machine with a healthy vending machine is easy. In fact, schools have many options to get these systems in front of their students.
1. Let the health workers come to your school
When you have decided to make your school healthy for your students, you can choose to rent a healthy vending machine. This option is much less expensive than buying a machine and health dealers will do all the work. They will set up the machine, prepare good food and drinks, monitor its operation, replace it when needed and solve all maintenance problems. They may charge a small fee but you get to keep most of the profits to put toward school supplies and programs.
2. Buy and operate your own machine
If your school has the capacity, you should consider purchasing a healthy vending machine and operate it yourself. Or maybe you have rented a machine for a while and are ready to work on your own and get more profit. However, this option will take a little more time on your part but the returns are worth it. When you buy a vending machine, it is delivered to your location and with the help of some training videos and great customer support, your school can set up and you will organize it yourself. It’s remote monitoring software allows workers to see what’s going on with the machine at any time, from anywhere. You will know when an item needs to be restocked or there is a problem with the vend. For this small amount of extra work, your school can see a big profit.
3. Set up a Young Entrepreneur Program Where students make machines
Since vending machines are truly self-contained small businesses, what better way to teach kids the importance of business than by letting them run their own machines personal? Basic concepts such as supply and demand, income and cost and how to work with money can be taught with the help of the machine. This option is perfect for high school business classes or youth business organizations. Let them set up the machine, prepare it, maintain it, restore it and support it. All machines come with a programmable LCD screen. Let your students decide what goes on the screen. It can present school announcements, food information of vending machines, or even sell advertising and take advantage of healthy vending machines’ second income streams.
There are many ways to get these healthy systems into your school. Whether you choose to buy or rent, work on your own or let your students do the work and learn the basics, there’s no excuse for keeping your food processor around. more. Kids can reach for fruit, trail mix, popped chips and protein foods instead of donuts, honey buns, greasy chips and candy bars. They can get a bottle of green tea or a carton of non-sweetened ice cream on the course. Giving students healthy options will not only make them feel better every day, it will also help them study better and do better on tests. Healthy children turn into healthy adults. And healthy vending machines can be the first step to their success.
