As it currently stands, all items in Colonia High School’s vending machines are the “healthy” alternatives, diet Snapples, low-fat Doritos, baked Lays, etc. However, many students believe that this shouldn’t be the case.

The USDA began enforcing nutritional standards on all meals, snacks and beverages sold during the school day. “Smart Snacks” are suppose to offer children healthier choices. According to the USDA website, chocolate bars were replaced with a fruit cups and so on. Reduced or low sodium product were introduced to promote a healthy heart.

Presently, all items in the vending machines cost $1-1.50, and are “healthier” versions of the snacks they really represent. This is personally a gigantic let down for me, as even Colonia Middle School vending machines had better snacks in them. It almost begins to feel like a Monopoly of snacks, nobody is happy with the current foods, but seeing as there are no other alternatives, students are forced to take what they are given. A big example of just how hated the current snacks are happened just two weeks ago. Three rows of Classic Lays Potato Chips, no low-fat, not baked, just plain chips, were introduced into the vending machines are were completely sold out before lunch was over. This example shows just how much demand regular snacks have.

This issue starts to seem a bit unrealistic when you also factor in that the snack bags are usually only half full, and still cost a dollar, the same amount of money you could spend at a local convenience store and get double the non- low-fat snack. That one simple fact makes the entire inventory of lunch items being sold seem like a huge scam, and it would seem the same to an outsider. Not only is it overpriced and unwanted, the snacks are unneeded. While these healthy snacks would be very helpful in a school of overweight students, the issue is not even close to widespread in CHS, and some underweight students may not be getting the calories they need due to diet everything being sold in the vending machines.

All this poses the question of whether it would be smart for CHS to change their vending items to less healthy alternatives, alternatives which will appease a vast majority of students.