At the start of last school year, before classes began, during passing periods and at almost all times of the day, a horde of students were gathered around the school’s two vending machines to get a snack or soda. The machine would be near empty every two or three days. This year, school administration made an adjustment to the vending machine policy, a tweak that has left students walking away from their desired snack spot with money still in hand. Basically, the vending machine is off during the instructional day.
“I was upset because I usually get a snack after tech school in the morning, and it was disappointing that I couldn’t anymore,” junior Maddie Schmitt said.
Due to state regulations, any food or beverage available during the school day should be smart snacks, meaning they must meet general ingredient and specific nutrient requirements.
According to guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, smart snacks must be a grain product that contains 50% more whole grains by weight, or have as the first ingredient a fruit, a vegetable, a dairy food or a protein food. It can also be a combination that is at least one quarter cup of fruit or vegetables, and the food must meet the nutrient standards for calories, sodium, fats and total sugars.
With the regulations in mind, students are still able to purchase snacks and drinks during their lunch times from the cafeteria. Since the machine has been off this year, the food service program has noticed an increase in sales during students’ lunch times.
“The sales have gone up during lunch, which is really great because as a corporation, that helps the food service program,” Food Service Director Emily Hansen said.
The vending machines do turn on after school, starting at 3:40 p.m., and they turn back off at midnight. This allows students who have to stay for sports and extracurricular activities to be able to purchase snacks and drinks.
With many students upset with this change, this will help reduce the amount of trash left in the academic hallways and classrooms.
“I usually get updates quite a bit on things that aren’t going well,” said Gibson Southern High School Principal Jon Adams. “I haven’t gotten a lot of complaints from maintenance on that.”
This change will also help with the number of students who stay in class rather than asking to leave to walk down to the vending machine.
As the school year continues, Titans will have to remember this change and work with these new rules and regulations.
