Vending Machine Proposal Final

Adding Healthier Vending Machines across Texas Tech Campus Abstract Obesity has been a nationwide problem throughout the United States. Not only is Obesity affecting the adults in America, it is affecting the youth in detrimental ways. The youth in America are the ones that will shape our future. Without them being healthy and ready to conquer the world, our world will never change for the better. Another reason to have a healthier lifestyle is it saves money, being unhealthy causes many costly trips to the doctor’s office. Rather it be diabetes, contracting a flu or other virus because of a weak immune system, or stepping off a curb and breaking your ankle because you are not filling yourself with healthy nutrients to have a healthy body, it will be costly and not too many college kids have the money to pay for these costs. To hopefully end this problem, we should promote a healthier lifestyle. Promoting a healthier lifestyle can be stocking the school vending machines with healthier alternatives. Instead of having candy, popcorn, and cokes available at the insert of a quarter, have granola bars, sun chips and other healthier food choices. This does not necessarily start at the middle school age, this starts at the college age as well. Students who eat better, perform better and students who perform better become better human beings as a whole. Texas Tech students deserve a healthier alternative in their vending machines instead of filling their bodies with garbage. Introduction The problem with not having vending machines with a healthier choice is that students who are on the go and do not have time to eat a well-balanced meal are forced to grab a bag of chips or candy bar to fulfill their hunger. From my experience on food choices, I found that eating something full of sugar and carbs could not get me through the day without feeling bloated, tired, and just unmotivated. However, when I would eat something full in nutrients and was just pretty good for me, I would be able to get through the day feeling energized and willing to do my work. Healthier vending machines throughout campus gives students the chance to change their lifestyle and promote health instead of junk. I also predict that more revenue will be brought due to the fact that more students in college will use the vending machines if there were healthy snacks involved. Students, more commonly women, tend to watch their weight and try to avoid gaining the “freshman 15” even through all their years in college. A healthier choice is something that is always on a person’s mind when it comes to fulfilling a quick on the go snack and students at Texas Tech deserve that. Project Plan/ Research I used two surveys, one with three questions and another with six questions. The first survey asked the following: Rank the following options highest to lowest on a food choice you would buy from the vending machines. The options included a chewy granola bar, Sun chips, pretzels, protein bars, and baked chips. Of the seven respondents, baked chips was at the top of the list, following close behind was protein bars. Pretzels, granola bars, and sun chips were closely tied. The second question that was asked was “Please list 3 food items that are healthy that you would want to see in a health vending machine.” Of the seven respondents the question was answered with a various amounts of healthy snack options. They ranged from carrots and ranch, a cliff bar, almonds, string cheese and packaged grapes. The last question asked in this survey was “Please list 3 drink items that you would want to see in a healthy vending machine.” Of the six respondents, the answers were mostly water and fruit flavored water, although milk, juices and even protein shakes were given. This survey just goes to show how students do want to have input on what is in the vending machines and they do want to have healthier options. The second survey has six questions but I will only give four out of the six and the first question is as follows, “How often do you consider the nutritional value of the snack you get from a vending machine?” Of the sixteen respondents, 37.50% of the students answered always, 25% answered sometimes, 25% answered rarely, and 12.50% answered never. These are pretty good statistics when it comes to the health of youth in America. The second question asked was, “Do you eat form the vending machines here on campus very often?” Of the sixteen that responded, 0.00% answered always, 18.75% answered sometimes, 50.00% answered rarely, and 31.25% answered never. These results lead to question number three, “Would you eat more from the vending machines if they were to provide healthier options?” 12.50% answered always, 68.75% answered sometimes, while 6.25% answered rarely, and 12.50% answered never. These odds are quite a bit better than the previous survey question. The last question I will give is, “When you select an item from the vending machine do you consider the nutrition value?” Of the sixteen that responded, 37.50% responded always, 31.25% responded sometimes, 18.75% answered with rarely, and 12.50% responded never. This question shows that students have been more concerned with what exactly they are putting in their bodies and what the nutrition facts are given. This survey shows that not many students participate in using campus vending machines that are full of junk, but if were given an healthier options they would be more drawn to using them. Diving deeper in my research, I came across an article written by Rebecca Kendall. Kendall is a journalist out of the media outreach and publications at UCLA. Her article titled, “Snack on this: Healthier choices score at campus vending machines,” gives an inward view on Joe Viana. Viana is doctoral student there at UCLA and conducted a study on rather students would choose a healthier option or would they continue to buy the junk in the vending machines. “He found not only that consumers are interested in having healthier items available in vending machines, but that offering them did not hurt the vending machines’ sales.” (Kendall, 2014) Viana was among the first to promote healthy vending machines through a college campus and have shown the positive effects of this study. Giving students the opportunity to choose a healthier snack when they get that mid-afternoon hunger is promoting a longer, healthier lifestyle for young adults. Solution Throughout the research and surveys done, I have found that healthier vending machines throughout campus lead to a better lifestyle for students. They are giving the opportunity to choose better for themselves. Let’s be real, students gain weight during their college years, it is inevitable. They are always on the go and never have the time to pick the healthiest food. If they have at least the option to choose something healthier then that could lead to choosing a healthier lunch or dinner. Adding these vending machines can give students that boost. Making them more health conscious about their decisions. Adding these healthy vending machines also do not seem to bring revenue down from these machines, either. In fact, could possibly raise them with more students being interested in a healthy snack. Eating good, healthy snacks give students that energy to actually do their work and not procrastinate. Feeling tired and drained of all motivation goes away quickly whenever you choose food that your body loves. Yes, that quick bag of chips fills your hunger but it quickly sends you down the slope of feeling bad afterwards. Healthy alternatives promote motivation and motivation promotes better human beings. Which is quite important since this is the generation of our future. Concerns Concerns were raised when proposing a healthier option in vending machines on college campuses. The first and most popular was the cost of these snacks. Healthier foods are typically more expensive than the less healthy. Money and thriftiness is a major subject in college life and being a “broke college kid” is definitely no joke at all. Let’s say that a bag of chips is $1.00, cheap enough, but add a granola or protein bar at the cost of $1.25. The question that is raised is “will students really spend that extra .25 cents on a granola bar?” The answer is yes, students are more health conscious in their college years and want those options available to them. As long as the change in price is not a huge difference like it is at grocery stores, students will still typically choose a healthier snack. Another concern is allergies, students who have food allergies are at higher risk. Most common allergies, are nut allergy, fruit allergy, and gluten. Healthy snacks typically contain nuts, such as almonds or pistachios. If given the option, fruit cups could be given out as well and that would be a concern for student who have strawberry or banana allergies. These incidents could be avoided with either having warning signs or keeping food tightly packaged and individualized. The last concern I will mention is, if given the option for fresh fruit or vegetables, how will we be able to keep them fresh? If there is fruit or vegetables involved, freshness is an absolute must. An option to have is having a chilled vending machine that can maintain the freshness that is required. A problem with having fruits and vegetables available is that it cannot stay in the vending machine for long periods of time. Somebody would have to frequently check on the freshness of the produce and that can be a tiring job, but if you are getting paid for it, it should be alright. Fresh fruit is among the highest requested snacks in surveys done and I think having it as an option despite the concerns would be very positive for healthier lifestyles and money earned by these vending machines around campus. Evaluation The timeline for this proposal to fully take action is merely dependent on how fast we can get approved and find a vending machine company that offers healthier vending machines for college campuses. Taking all unhealthy vending machines is not what is being proposed, but just simply taking some out and adding a healthier one. These vending machines could be added in the Commons or at the Student Union. Even adding these throughout campus at various classroom locations can be another positive option. Money wise, Texas Tech would possibly lose money in the process of removing some of the old vending machines and replacing them with new ones. Depending if the companies used are more expensive than the previous ones. I truly believe all the money could be earned back once the machines are fully functional and students are aware that new vending machines are out and have a healthier snack choices. The amount of time needed to start this can be easily done in under a year if the right people are behind this promotion. Conclusion In conclusion, healthier vending machines will create a better lifestyle. Through my research I have learned that healthy options are something students want to have when it comes to snack time. Healthy options have been given in the dining halls throughout college campuses nationwide and I believe healthy snacks are to be promoted as well. Healthy options are just the beginning to ending overweight, unhealthy young adults in the college era. If this proposal could be spread nationwide, then it would be an absolute positive effect for the health of Americans. Texas Tech adding healthier vending machines throughout campus can promote a healthier lifestyle throughout the South Plains and also be one of the first examples across the United States to have these options available to students on campus.