By Kevin Sears
You can notice its exclusivity. Held up in a fortress of solid black steel with a jail bar partition, the snacks are only accessible to those with a dollar and fifty cents. However, I wonder who is truly being protected: the snacks, or the students? The school board wants you to believe it’s the students, as they have long stolen our nostalgic snacks for an alternative: baked chips. It’s time for the Surgeon General to raise the alarm about the crippling impacts of baked chips in the United States.
While I acknowledge that school snacks should be healthy, I believe we should consider students faint and hungry from a long school day, hoping for an escape. A salty yet sweet bite to wash all of the worries away. Instead of far-away school admins who don’t rely on the same vending machines as we do, here is how I, a student, would stock our school vending machine for an optimal experience.
Subject to the elements, the most challenging part about storing food in a vending machine is food preservation from spoilage and rot. The school has missed an opportunity with the water and Gatorade Zero exclusive refrigerated vending machine outside of the library and cafeteria. For both a healthier and tastier option, the school should sell cupped yogurt and bottled juice.
To better cater to the Asian student body, considering that they make up half of the school, it would be beneficial to introduce a selection of popular Asian snacks into the vending machine collection. For a salt and crunchy bite, GGE Wheat Crackers and Bin Bin Rice Crackers would make great additions. The GGE Wheat Crackers are sold in a snack-size chip bag, while the Bin Bin Rice Crackers should be sold in 2 packs at a time, with 2 crackers in each pack. Shrimp chips and instant ramen would be perfect for a stronger taste. Although not advised, many teachers house student-accessible microwaves, which could turn an instant ramen vending machine snack into a small meal. For the sweet tooths, stock Hello Panda and Pockies for a quick snack on the go.
To indulge in some food for thought, imagine the joy of a fancy cake-in-a-bottle vending machine housed in Osaka, Japan. The sweet strawberry sponge cakes encapsulated in a bottle would capture the hearts of Fountain Valley. Its delectable selection is made of pudding, pistachio pudding, canelé, royal milk tea canalé, cherry blossom cake and more mouth-watering options.
With empty stomachs and watery mouths, it is the students who stay long hours after school who benefit most from the vending machines. And yet, we’re cheating these students of an escape from a long day at work under the guise of staying healthy. A happy life is a healthy life. We must invest in the delicious delights, the sweet escape of better vending machine snacks.
