The act of eating is a natural and necessary part of human life. However, inherent dangers surrounding food and culture exist in modern society. Today, there lie countless traps that suck people into lifestyles of unhealthy and detrimental eating habits, many of which have crept their way into schools all over the country. Until recently, the reform against unhealthy eating has been directed towards school lunches, but it now targets another major factor of dietary deterioration that many people tend to overlook: vending machines.

The convenience of vending machines allows a person to obtain salt and sugar ladened food with a mere push of a button. With an average cost of no more than 2 dollars per item, vending machines are cheap and convenient. This combination leads to children in numerous schools across the country, consuming high amounts of non-nutritious junk foods. Stocked with snacks of little to no dietary value and drinks made with nothing but sugar, the garbage inside these quick and easy machines brings nothing but harm to the youth of today.

“Vending machines offer healthy snacks such as trail mix and unhealthy snacks such as chips,” responded a SHC student when asked about her thoughts on the items inside vending machines.

The reality is that nothing inside vending machines is truly healthy. Trail mix may seem healthy until the chocolate inside it is observed. Also, baked or not, chips are unhealthy carbohydrates that are loaded with fats.

If vending machines at a school offer no soda, that’s great, right? Wrong! If they do not have soda, they have sugary iced teas or fruit juices that have an equivalent, if not more, amounts of added sugar than soda. A tip when deciding if juice is healthy or not, is to look and see if the label reads 100% Juice. If so, it should be plenty healthy and not loaded with an alarming amount of sugar. It is important to stay aware of the contents of various foods we consume by checking nutritional labels. They’re there for a reason.

In response to this growing trend, the Obama Administration has taken action to improve the nutritional standards of food for children that can be sold outside the cafeteria. Yet some are still not aware about the fact that the snacks and beverages contained within vending machines have little to no benefits for our bodies.

Vending machines are also comparable to fast food. Fast foods are regarded as extremely high calorie meals made of “who knows what,” but are basically cheaply and chemically processed animal meat. Despite this, fast food is still eaten simply because it is tasty, “cheap and fast.” This is true for vending machines as well. They offer easy, quick food on-the-go that is at a price almost anyone can afford.

This type of access to unhealthy food can bring out the worst habits in dietary consumption among students. According to the Florida Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Survey, 72% of the participating students purchase a snack or beverage from a vending machine as their lunch at least twice a week. This raises a serious concern for the overall welfare of America’s youth, especially since, as The New York Times reports, 19 to 50 percent of a student’s daily food intake is consumed at school.

Nutritionists have evaluated school vending machines and have concluded that they promote childhood obesity. The recent rapid rates of childhood obesity show that about one in every five children are obese, according to the The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As a result, the USDA has decided to make some changes regarding the food allowed to be served by schools. It demands a regulation on the fat, calorie, sugar, and sodium of the foods sold in schools. In addition, it also aims for schools to provide healthy, unprocessed foods such as whole grain carbohydrates, low-fats, vitamin-rich fruits, and vegetables.

The fact is that there is a bigger loss than gain when it comes to vending machines. Though they offer a type of access that gives a person an irresistible option of convenience, the food they contain and that is consumed by our bodies is trash. Next time think before buying from a vending machine; spend your dollar elsewhere.