Opinion by Paige Beck
Waiting for the second lunch always gets me, and other students, hungry. Sometimes I don’t have time to grab a snack before I leave the house, so it leaves me sitting in class with my peers having to listen to my grumbling stomach. A lot of other students complain about being hungry as well; a simple solution to this problem would be to put in vending machines with snacks.
A lot of the student body already carries around cash to get various drinks in the vending machines we have now, so why not put food in one of them to fix the problem of hungry kids?
When I am in class, and I’m hungry, I often find it hard to focus on what we are learning. But if there were vending machines in the school, then I could grab a quick snack on my way to my next class. A study was done at the University in California proving fatty acids help the brain with memory and help with learning. The study showed that kids who get more fatty acids, perform better in school. There are many foods that give a good source of fatty acids, for example, yogurt or almonds. Those foods not only taste good but also help people learn.
The reason why some people may be against putting vending machines in our school is the cost or the unhealthiness of the food in the machine. A school in Indiana put three vending machines in their school district and received $90,000 dollars before taxes. They received a 32 percent profit rate from the money earned. The school could benefit from that money and use it in other ways.
To ensure that kids are making smart decisions on what they are eating, a healthy vending machine could be put in place, rather than one filled with junk food. Many companies offer healthy options to their vending machines that are a perfect energy booster for students in school. For example, Clif bars or fruit cups could be placed in the vending machine.
I know not only the students but also the teachers would benefit from having a vending machine around the school. It would be a wonderful improvement to our high school.
