The Need For Healthy Vending Machine

The need for healthy vending machine is expressed by general public too , and according to a study the consumers’ demand for healthy vending snacks and beverages is on the rise (Bishop et al., 2014, p.1); “many states, cities and counties” are expressing interest in implementing healthy vending policies, however majority of the states have not developed a policy yet (Bishop, et al., 2014t). The need to avoid high sugary foods is also expressed by many organizations, such as the American Heart Association, center for disease control, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, confirm that there is a need to reduce the sugar intake,(Union of Concerned Scientists, 2014, para.1). These trends are all aligned with my proposed policy and confirm that the public opinion is moving toward a reduction of sugar intake.

The proposed policy will affect various audiences differently some positively and others negatively. Since it is aimed to use healthy foods in college vending machines, therefore it will primarily benefits the young adults who attend public college and universities. The availability of healthy snacks and beverages in campus environment has a positive impact on developing healthy eating habit among the college population such as the faculty, staff and visitors (Bishop et al., 2014, p. 1). Since this is federal policy, therefore it is not applicable in private institutions such as Harvard or Yale University, and the students’ needs in these institutions must be addresses differently. This policy empowers our economy, as the college students are tomorrow’s work force, and with better health they will have higher efficiency, less sick leave and lower health care cost, furthermore developing healthy eating habit will...

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...ortant step, which was recently implemented by the FDA to set regulation for disclosing the “calorie information of the foods in the vending machines”, which is called the “Calorie Labeling of Articles of Food in Vending Machines( FDA,2014, para.2)” http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/UCM249278.pdf

“The purpose of this regulation is to enable the consumer to have access to nutritional and calorie information for foods in vending machine at the time of purchase; therefore, it has a positive impact toward my suggested policy. According to“The Smart Snacks in School “ starting in the school year 2014-15, all foods sold at schools’ vending machines should follow the nutritional requirements set by the United State Department of Agriculture(USDA, 2014, para.1) http://www.fns.usda.gov/healthierschoolday/tools-schools-focusing-smart-snacks