Debate on Vending Machines & Health is Revealed
Popular among the JCHS community is the little cave adjacent to the commons that houses the vending machines.
Information recently acquired by The Observer has uncovered information about a previously unknown, behind the scenes debate regarding what food the vending machines should carry.
Approximately two years ago, the school switched vending machine providers. At the time, the conventional wisdom was that the switch was made for reasons of Kashrut.
However, a member of the professional community wishing to remain anonymous says the change was made because of a desire for healthier food. Specifically, the move was sparked by the feelings of Dan Leibowitz, who was the learning specialist at school at the time. Leibowitz, “felt ‘traditional vending machine snacks’ [had] no place in the educational system,” the source said.
Leibowitz, who no longer works at JCHS, confirmed by email that he was involved in the switch.
“The organic lunch offered at JCHS is healthy on a number of levels for students, for the environment… It seemed unusual that around the corner from these nutritious foods was a vending machine full of processed choices made largely of sugar,” he wrote. “While tasty and sweet, many would argue that these are unhealthy options. It seemed reasonable to reconsider that decision.”
The source also says that there were, “One or two members of the professional community [that] fought to keep diet soda in the machine and a candy bar or two.” That claim could not be confirmed.
According to Chief Financial and Administrative Officer Jeff Fearn, the switch was made after some students and staff asked for a greater selection of kosher snack options. Fearn noted that after a request from students relayed through Knesset, the school will now “continue to review the items offered annually.”
Math Teacher David Roth agreed with Leibowitz’s position, saying he is “against having junk food available all day long for students. Our society is drowning in the stuff, and to have a refuge for seven hours a day seems a great idea to me.”
Students hold mixed feelings regarding what should be sold in the machines.
Junior Gary Shumaker said, “More unhealthy snacks should be sold [in the vending machines]… because students like that kind of stuff. Unhealthy snacks make me happy.” Sophomore Ben Preneta agreed with Shumaker, saying, “Unhealthy food tastes better than healthy food.”
Senior Yael Platt, on the other hand, wrote in an email that she, “definitely [does not] think the vending machines should be serving … horrible snack foods full of high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils.”
Aside from food selection, many students occasionally experience problems with the machines, ranging from not returning money to dispensing the wrong item, but later will work perfectly.
Senior Ari Berman said that the machines have, “eaten my money multiple times and work for other people… the next day.”
Laike Vending, a company that Fearn said has vending machines in most public and some private schools in San Francisco, owns and operates the machines.
The problems with the machines usually stem from the refrigeration system resetting after a machine is refilled.
Whenever a machine breaks Laike is notified and the machine is usually fixed the same day. The machines used to be refilled every Friday, however due to the school’s early closure for Shabbat, the company switched to refilling every Wednesday.
While not all community members agree on whether the snacks should be “healthy” or “unhealthy” as senior Aviva Herr-Welber wrote in an email, “the key… [is] that they are YUMMY.”
