Healthy Vending Blog » The Bigger Picture

HUMAN Attends “Building a Healthier Future” Summit

HUMAN — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 01:12:02 +0000

HUMAN Joins the Political Front to End Childhood Obesity

CEO Sean Kelly Attends Partnership for a Healthier America’s Inaugural “Building a Healthier Future” Summit in Washington, DC

First Lady Michelle Obama Addresses Attendees of the Building a Healthier Future Summit

The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which works with the private sector and First Lady Michelle Obama to solve the nation’s obesity crisis, hosted its first national summit last week on November 29th and 30th, 2011.

HUMAN’s CEO, Sean Kelly, was among 800 business leaders, community leaders, academic experts, and government officials invited to the Building a Healthier Future Summit.

The summit was a forum to share experiences, form partnerships, and announce substantive commitments to aid the fight against childhood obesity.

The Challenges We Face

The two honorary vice chairs of PHA, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Mayor Cory Booker, laid out the challenges the nation faces as a result of the impact of childhood obesity--specifically its impact on the economy, the health care system, and military. Senator Frist told of the enormous changes that are happening in the market place. Companies providing healthful foods are showing higher profits and enhanced competitiveness.

Mayor Booker challenged the conference attendees—including private businesses—to work together to make change.

Booker compared childhood obesity to past challenges such as the abolition of slavery or defeating Nazi Germany, telling the audience that ”the greatest threat to our democracy in America is the health and education of our children.”

Summit Breakout Sessions

The conference was organized around four tracks: Schools, Early Childcare, Physical Activity and Access to Healthy, Affordable Food. Breakout sessions were rich with conversation and explored how to create healthier environments in schools and childcare centers, as well as how to encourage shoppers to buy healthier and locally-grown foods. They also explored private sector partnerships that would have the greatest potential to generate movement and play amongst our nation’s youth.

HUMAN attended the Early Childcare track, which focused on innovative strategies for creating healthy childcare environments. Childcare centers are ten years behind other educational facilities when it comes to promoting health and wellness. More than 20% of children ages 2 to 5 in the United States are currently overweight or obese. Since many young children spend a large percentage of time in childcare, childcare facilities, preschools, and other early learning and care settings, they are critical venues for preventing obesity and promoting healthy behaviors during the early childhood years.

Sean assumed a “corporate convener” role in the Early Childcare breakout session, “Caretakers as Role Models: Worksite Wellness in Childcare Facilities,” in which he provided an example of ways that HUMAN has committed to promoting healthier child care settings. The breakout session identified strategies for engaging childcare providers in healthy lifestyle activities to change cultural norms for adults around healthy living for themselves and the children they care for.

Michelle Obama’s Call to Action

The major highlight of the conference came on the second day. First Lady Michelle Obama joined the summit crowd to deliver a call to action on physical activity. She announced that the next initiatives for her “Let’s Move!” campaign will focus on encouraging physical activity among young people, who she said suffer from a “crisis of inactivity.”

Young people today are the most sedentary in our nation’s history, Obama said. This generation spends an average of 7.5 hours each day in front of a screen such as a television or computer, and only a quarter of them play outside each day, compared to three quarters of kids a generation ago.

“It wasn’t always like this,” Obama said, reflecting on her own childhood. “We would walk to school every day. And then when we got to school, we’d run around and play before the bell rang. You got to school early to run around.” But these days, “the only walking our kids do is out the front door to a car,” Obama said.

Obama didn’t reveal any specific details for the upcoming initiative, but she did note that she plans to work with mayors, schools, sports leagues, celebrities and business to find new ways to encourage activity among young people.

The Building a Healthier Future Summit was a great way for HUMAN to break into the political sphere to help end childhood obesity. This is a national issue that will only get worse. We can help eliminate food deserts by increasing access to healthful foods AND educate children on why those choices are needed.

We have to seriously start changing the way we feed our kids. We need to start educating young, since we are the gatekeepers of the food kids put in their mouths.

Why Do We Do It?

HUMAN — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:17:49 +0000

Why Do We Do What We Do?

Tony Robbins Uncovers the Invisible Forces Behind Motivation

Have you ever failed to achieve something significant in your life?

Chances are, you have. Failure is a part of being human. But here comes the zinger…why did you fail to achieve it?

Usually, the same old excuses come up:

“I didn’t have enough time. We just didn’t have enough money. The right technology wasn’t available.”

What do all of these excuses have in common? They all involve a lack of resources. However, the defining factor is never resources, rather, it’s resourcefulness. Resourcefulness boils down to something very simple: emotion. If we can get the right emotions, we can get ourselves to do anything. If you’re creative enough, fun enough, persuasive enough, you can get through to anybody. If you don’t have the money, but you’re creative and determined enough, you FIND a way.

Check out Tony Robbins’ TED talk:

Here’s an example of resources vs. resourcefulness, according to Robbins:

Resources

- Time
- Money
- Technology
- Contacts
- Experience
- Management

Resourcefulness

- Creativity
- Determination
- Love | Caring
- Curiosity
- Passion
- Resolve

Robbins also focuses on a powerful quote: “Decisions shape destiny.” Thus, your resourcefulness and motivation depend on the decisions you make. There are 3 decisions we make at every moment of our lives.

1) What am I going to focus on?
2) What does it mean?
3) What am I going to do?

To break this down, think of it this way. Every moment, we decide to focus on something. The minute we focus on something, we give it a meaning, and whatever that meaning is produces emotion. An emotion then creates the action. People’s emotions are what drives them. It’s the “why” factor we always talk about. Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer, but his emotions told him to keep fighting. Emotions are an immensely powerful thing that humans possess. They are not always cut and dry, but they mean more than you think when it comes to making decisions that positively (or negatively) affect your life.

According to Robbins, two invisible forces shape our decisions. (1) State and (2) World View. Our state is what we do/feel in the moment. Our world view is the long term; it is the shaper of MEANING, EMOTION, and ACTION.

So, don’t think about making decisions in terms of what resources you DON’T have, rather; what resourcefulness you DO have. Pay attention to what emotions drive you to make decisions, and appreciate the emotions that drive other people. Don’t just think about “what” you do, think about “why” you do it.

At HUMAN Healthy Vending, we value the “why” over anything else. Our emotions are deeply rooted in this philosophy, because we truly care about what we do and have a PASSION for doing it. The “why” affects every business decision we make, and we have learned and grown because of it.

Take some time to revisit Simon Sinek’s video on “the why.” Even if you’ve already seen it, we guarantee you’ll learn just as much the second time around.

Check it out:

HUMAN Healthy Vending Featured in LA Times & ABC News

HUMAN — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:08:04 +0000

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

HUMAN Healthy Vending Featured in Los Angeles Times & ABC News

We have another exciting update for you! HUMAN was just featured in the LA Times and ABC News.

First, we were named one of Entrepreneur’s “Top 100 Brilliant Companies” in June, then one of CNN Money’s “10 Generation Next Entrepreneurs to Watch,” and now…the Los Angeles Times and ABC News.

The LA Times article describes the healthy vending trend and even explores two points of view….some believe that snacking is the overwhelming cause of obesity, and others believe that healthy vending machines can help reduce the growing pains of the obesity epidemic.

So which is it? Here at HUMAN, we know healthy vending alone won’t solve the problem. It’s all about education. The pairing of education along with healthy snacks is the first step in getting kids to eat better and understand why they need to eat better.

Not only that, but schools are now mandating healthier choices. According to the LA Times, “Over the last decade, states have taken a variety of steps to improve school nutrition policies [...] They’ve banned sodas, restricted sales of sweetened sports drinks and limited the amount of sugar and saturated fat in school snacks. Some states have set nutritional standards for food sold on campuses — in school stores, in cafeterias and even in vending machines.”

The LA Times also tells the other side of the story-the debate that snacks are still snacks. This is true, processed food is still processed food. Some nutritionists believe that there shouldn’t even be vending machines in schools.

Of course, if every child knew how to eat right, this would be utopia. But, America is a snacking society, and little changes at the beginning are meant to trigger big chances in the future. If kids are going to snack, they may as well snack right.

The mention is the LA Times isn’t even the only press we got last week…we were also featured in ABC News. The article, titled “Vending Machines Get a Makeover,” discusses the obesity epidemic and how HUMAN machines are facilitating easy access to healthful foods.

“There’s no way we’re going to snap fingers and tell an entire country to stop snacking,” said Sean Kelly, CEO of HUMAN. “That might work for six months, but it’s not sustainable. Rather than creating no benefits, we’re going to create some benefits and help people get healthier and healthier.”

Needless to say, we’re stoked for being featured in two great media sources.

Check out this behind the scenes look at the LA Times photo shoot:

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Fostering Innovation the Right Way

Docstoc’s Jason Nazar Shares His Secret

A successful Internet entrepreneur, Jason Nazar, talks about the virtues of failing fast when creating a new product or trying to do something new. Once you learn a lesson, incorporate it in your routines. ‘Don’t fail at the same thing more than once,’ he says.

Check it out:

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Walk-to-School Programs Gaining Momentum

How Saying No to the School Bus Might Be a “Step” in the Right Direction

We’ve all heard our grandparents’ stories of when they were school children.

“I had to walk a mile uphill, both ways to get to school!”

And of course, we rolled our eyes, and didn’t even think twice about the convenience of riding in a school bus to and from school. Most kids are bussed to school--with only those living very close to the school having to actually walk. Most people don’t think twice about the effect busing plays on students’ physical fitness--or lack thereof.

“Because of a ‘car-centric’ society that favors wider roads and fewer sidewalks — as well as a heightened fear of abductions by strangers — far fewer kids walk to school than was the case four decades ago. According to study authors, 42 percent of children actively commuted (walked or biked) to school in 1969-70, compared to only 13 percent in 2009″ reports Health.com.

To determine if walking to school actually promotes healthier, active lifestyles in kids who walk to school versus those who don’t, Dr. Jason Mendoza and his research team conducted a study.

The researchers split a group of 149 fourth-graders from eight schools in Houston into active commuters — those who walked to and from school up to five days a week — and a control group who were driven by bus or car. At the beginning of the study, both groups had logged similar amounts of moderate to vigorous activity, about 46 to 49 minutes per day.

But over the next five weeks, the kids who walked to school upped their activity slightly — an average of 7 extra minutes per day of moderate to vigorous exercise. In contrast, those who got driven to school actually lowered their daily activity over the study period, to an average of 41 minutes daily.

While the activity increase for walkers may seem modest, Dr. Jason Mendoza said that even small amounts of exercise are meaningful in a country with a 17 percent obesity rate for kids under age 19. About a third of adult Americans are obese, and another third are classified as overweight.

Although walk-to-school programs are uncommon, they may serve as a way to increase physical activity in children. Although walking takes more time than getting a ride on a bus or car, it may be a step in the right direction to reverse the effects of childhood obesity.

What do you think? Are walk-to-school programs a good idea?

HUMAN Healthy Vending Buffalo NY

HUMAN — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 22:47:44 +0000

NFL Player-Turned-Social-Entrepreneur Tackles Obesity Crisis

Buffalo Bills Player, Jon Corto, and His Wife, Jen, Launch Wellness Day Event at Orchard Park Middle School

Last Tuesday was an exciting day for the Buffalo, NY area. Nearby Orchard Park Middle School hosted a Wellness Day, and celebrated with a new HUMAN Healthy Vending machine!

Buffalo Bills Safety Jon Corto and his wife, Jen, launched a sampling event during Wellness Day. Baskets of healthy snacks and drinks were provided to the students. The event couldn’t be more successful.

Even the local news stopped by for a visit. CBS affiliate WVIB featured the sampling event on the nightly news along with a news article. Jon Corto was interviewed about Orchard Park’s new vending machine, pointing out the differences between what students think healthy food tasted like and what it actually tastes like.

“You’re not getting all the processed food, the synthetic stuff, you’re getting wholesome stuff. We don’t say you can’t eat cookies, but if you’re going to eat them, be smarter about it” said Corto.

Check out the news clip:

A big focus was on the LCD screen attached to the top of the machine, which can provide nutritional information to students. The LCD screen is a fun, attractive way to teach students the importance of healthy eating, and can even encourage them to read food labels. It’s one thing to place a healthy vending machine and tell students to eat healthy; it’s another thing to educate them as to why they need to eat healthy. Starting nutritional education young is the best way to create lifelong health and wellness.

Not only that, the machine has been a smash hit at Orchard Park Middle School. According to Principal Dave Lilleck, the machine has been selling out on a daily basis.

Congrats, Jon and Jen, for such a successful event!

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What’s Wrong with What We Eat?

New York Times Food Writer, Mark Bittman, Weighs in on What’s Wrong With What We Eat

It’s no secret that we’ve got a BIG problem. With the plethora of fast food joints densely populating the country, it really is no surprise. However, this is only part of the problem.

So, what’s wrong with what we eat?

Mark Bittman, food writer for The New York Times, dives into the issue. He narrows it down to a few main points:

1) Too much meat

2) Too few plants

3) Too much fast food

4) Too little home cooking

Check out the video below to learn more about it:

Bittman makes a powerful comment--we aren’t born craving donuts and Whoppers. So why is it Americans love them so much? A lot of it has to do with marketing. It’s time to change the focus from junk to health, and it’s up to us to demand healthier products in our homes, schools, and workplaces.

This isn’t just a national issue; it’s a global issue. Our habits are putting the entire planet at risk. So where do we go from here? It’s a simple formula:

Eat less junk and more plants. Eat food. Eat real food.

The World’s Got a BIG Problem

HUMAN — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:07:40 +0000

The World’s Got a BIG Problem

Global Obesity Rates Have Doubled in the Past 30 Years

The headline says it all. Scary stuff that shows obesity isn’t just an American epidemic, it’s a global epidemic.

Everywhere you look, you hear about the world’s economic crisis. People are losing their jobs, no one can seem to sell their homes, certain industries are plummeting; from the news across the world, you would think that we are heading in a downward spiral into a black hole of debt.

But what about another BIG problem, the one that no one seems to mention? It’s one of the biggest elephants in the room, yet it seems like it’s not on the top of anyone’s mind. The obesity epidemic is hitting the world hard. Three recent studies published in The Lancet (a British medical journal) and reported in The New York Times found that worldwide obesity rates have doubled in the last three decades, even as cholesterol and blood pressure levels have fallen.

If this all happened in the last 30 years, what is in store for the future? If people continue their habits as they are now, things will only get worst, and FAST.

“Being obese is no longer a Western problem,” commented Majid Ezzati, a professor of public health at Imperial College London and an author of one of the studies.

People in the Pacific Islands, like American Samoa, are the heaviest, one of the studies found. In developed countries, Americans are the fattest and Japanese are the slimmest.

In 2008, 5% of men and 8% of women worldwide were obese. In 2008, that number had climbed to 10% of men and 14% of women. That’s 205 million obese men and 297 million obese women in 2008 alone. That’s not including the additional 1.5 billion adults who were overweight.

In America alone, the costs of obesity are surprising. The economic costs of being obese can be as much as $4,879 per year for women and $2,646 for men.

Check out the video to see the other costs you may not think of:

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HUMAN Hosts 2nd Business Building Bootcamp (HB3)

New Healthy Vending Operators Learn, Bond, and Crush It!

This past weekend, HUMAN Healthy Vending hosted its second HUMAN Business Building Bootcamp, or HB3 for short. It was a blast!

The HUMAN Team Before the Tiki Cruise

21 different operators from across the country came together in Santa Monica for some intense machine training, bonding, and fun. You could feel the positive energy building as the days progressed. Everyone, from the operators to the Santa Monica based team, was pumped up.

The event started on Thursday with an integral question: “Why are you HUMAN?” Like we always say at HUMAN, the “why” is the most important question you could ask. Every operator is HUMAN because they believe in our cause and want to help the community, and that in itself is invigorating.

All day Thursday and Friday, the new operators crushed it with machine training. Saturday was devoted to location acquisition, the other huge part of machine campaigns.

Of course, we don’t just work hard at HUMAN…we PLAY hard too. We bonded over dinner on Thursday night, got our blood pumping on a morning Friday run, set sail on a tropical Tiki cruise Friday eventing, and embarked on a leisurely Santa Monica bike ride Saturday morning.

Thanks for making HB3 Round 2 such an amazing experience. Stay tuned for the next one coming in the next 4-6 weeks!

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Creating Healthier Communities, One Child at a Time

How NutritionWise is Helping in the Fight Against Obesity

We all know how important it is to eat healthy, but not everyone lives by such advice. Being healthy isn’t just about eating right, it’s knowing why you need to eat right. Also, physical activity and a healthy mind are all part of being healthy.

Knowledge is power, but it’s powerless until it’s used. It’s one thing to put healthy food in front of someone and expect them to eat it. It’s another thing to educate them as to why they should eat it.

Nicole Meadow of NutritionWise

One LA-based company, NutritionWise, is helping educate children about healthy lifestyles. NutritionWise is a private nutrition consulting practice of Nicole Meadow, MPN, RD, that provides a lot of different services. NutritionWise’s main purpose is simple, yet so powerful: For children and families to know how and why to make healthy choices.

We were able to talk to Nicole about her experience as a registered dietician and founder of NutritionWise. Check it out:

What are some of the services NutritionWise offers?

Being an independent nutritional consulting firm, we do a LOT of different things. We provide 1-on-1 private nutrition consulting for children who are underweight and overweight. We also give lectures in schools, work in day cares, etc.

What got you involved in nutrition?

My father and stepfather had two different health scares--heart disease and cancer. They weren’t given much time to live, and they changed their nutritional habits 180 degrees. They outlived their life expectancies by a long shot, and it really got me motivated in nutrition. I was Pre-Med and switched my focus to becoming a dietician.

What is your main motivation behind NutritionWise?

I am extremely passionate about working with underprivileged children, and I’m passionate about nutrition. Those two things combined are my driving force behind what I do.

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NutritionWise is helping in the fight against obesity by educating children and families about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Nutrition isn’t just about the here and now, it’s a lifelong commitment. Just like HUMAN Healthy Vending, we know how important it is to educate and increase access to healthy food. Healthy vending is one way to bring health and nutrition to people, but it isn’t the only way. Consulting firms like NutritionWise are essential to making sure everyone realizes the importance of health and wellness.

Here’s to good health and happiness!

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How Great Leaders and Organizations Inspire Action

HUMAN — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 22:05:46 +0000

Think from the Inside Out

TED Talk Reveals How Great Leaders Inspire Action

How do we explain how others are able to achieve things that seem to defy all assumptions?

A TED talk featuring Simon Sinek explores this question. Why is it that Apple continues to become more innovative year after year, when it is just a computer company with the same access to consultants, technology, and other resources as everyone else? Why did the Wright Brothers figure out human flight, when there were other people who were better qualified and better funded?

Check it out:

Sinek discovered that all great organizations and leaders follow the exact same pattern. They all think and act the same way…and it’s the complete opposite of everyone else.

The pattern is simple, but it explains why some organizations are able to become excellent leaders who are able to inspire. The idea is called “The Golden Circle,” and it looks something like this:

Every organization knows what they do. Some know how they do it (e.g. differentiating value proposition). Very few know why they do what they do. What’s your call? What’s your purpose? What’s your belief?

“Why” is the one word that sets apart an organization that inspires others from your average organization. It’s also the most difficult to understand. Most people think from the outside in--from the clearest to the fuzziest. However, the leaders who inspire--no matter the size of their organization--think from the inside out.

Sinek mentions a powerful phrase: “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”

The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.

At HUMAN, the “why” is the most important part of our business. It’s more important than what we do or how we do it. We always say “we are a health and nutrition company with a vending problem.” Vending is how we do it, but it isn’t why we do it. Our goal is to create universal access to healthy foods, drinks, and snacks, and we give 10% of our proceeds to charities that help this cause because we believe in this mission.

Healthy vending has been such a success because all of our operators, locations, and customers believe in what we do.

No matter what you do, ask yourself “why am I doing this?” The answer might not be as clear as you think, but when you know it, you know it.

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A Day in the Life of a HUMAN Healthy Vending Team Member

How HUMAN’s Operations Manager Crushes It, Day In and Day Out

Although we’ve talked a lot about what we do from the outside, never before have we shown our readers an inside-look at HUMAN from the perspective of our team members.

A lot goes on behind the scenes here, and we have a lot of different “departments.” From sales and marketing to the actual machine installations themselves, there is a lot that goes into the daily happenings at HUMAN. Our Operations Manager, Patrick Sanders, gives us a rundown of his day and his responsibilities at HUMAN.

1. What’s your routine like after you wake up?

The very first thing I do is chug an enormous glass of water. I’ve found that that wakes me up faster than anything else. Then I go for a run outside to get my blood flowing.

2. What’s the first thing you do when you get to work?

I do the thing that I dread doing the most first, which is my highest leverage activity. For example, if there’s a tough conversation I need to have with someone, I get it out of the way first.

3. What kinds of projects do you handle?

I handle planning all logistics (including machine delivery and installations) for HUMAN, managing customer service, planning out our manufacturing process, ordering parts, etc. If it’s behind the scenes, chances are I handle it!

4. What do you enjoy most about your job?

The best part about my job is working with people who are passionate about what they do. Everyone here puts in 110% and believes in what HUMAN does. We’re a close-knit team…basically, it’s like going to work with my friends.

5. How do you exemplify “Crushing It?”

I crush it by managing complexity…wearing a wide variety of hats and dealing with challenges that make every day different. I’m also very customer facing, which I LOVE!

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The HUMAN Business Building Bootcamp (HB3)

HUMAN — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:20:15 +0000

Healthy Vending Operators, Unite!

HUMAN Healthy Vending Hosts First-Ever Business Building Bootcamp

This past week was anything but average for our new operators.

The HUMAN Business Building Bootcamp (HB3) Crew

Twenty-five healthy vending operators from 13 different states and Puerto Rico came together to experience their first-ever HUMAN Business Building Bootcamp (HB3). Let us tell you, it was better than anyone could have imagined! It was an eye-opening, rewarding experience for all attendees (including us!).

Check out the highlights:

What Went Down

The 3-day event featured a variety of activities, from morning fitness activities like yoga on the beach to business optimization and machine training sessions. A Q&A session with one of our successful vending operators, Roeh Kfir (also July’s Operator of the Month) helped our new operators better understand the ins and outs of the business.

Of course, this weekend was more than just all work and no play. We bonded over good food and nights out on the town, and even set sail on an exotic tiki boat cruise!

Here are some sweet things our new operators were able to do at HB3:

- Receive optimal training & instruction on the HUMAN machines
- Hang-out with a bunch of other HUMAN operators (their new family)
- Become a HUMAN Location Discovery & Acquisition (LDA) All-Star
- Meet the HUMAN corporate team & check-out our California digs
- Learn how to optimize their business now & in the future
- Have a whole ton of fun!

So, from all of us here at HUMAN, thank you for making our inaugural HB3 such a success! We’re now doing HB3 training every 4-6 weeks. Stay tuned for the next one.

Sean & Andy

Co-Founders, HUMAN Healthy Vending

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Hunger Pains and Weight Gain

Video Reveals Hunger + Obesity = 1 Global Food Issue

Ellen Gustafson explains a shocking irony when it comes to food. How is it that so many of the world’s population is starving, while a huge portion of people are also obese? 1 billion people are starving, and 1 billion people are overweight. Interesting contradiction, huh?

America is perhaps the biggest oxymoron of any country. 6% of Americans are hungry, while a staggering 33% of children and 67% of adults are overweight or obese.

That being said, obesity + hunger = 1 big global food issue.

Check out Gustafson’s TED Talk on the issue:

Here at HUMAN, we are tackling this issue by placing 100% healthy vending machines across the country. Our goal is to provide universal access to healthy snacks and foods. We also contribute to stomping out the obesity epidemic by donating 10% of all proceeds to charities that support the fight against obesity and malnutrition.

The facts don’t lie. We are in a domestic AND international food crisis.

Do you know of other ways to rid the world of hunger and obesity? Leave us a comment and let us know!

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New Child Nutrition Law Encourages Healthy Fundraising Projects

HUMAN — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 23:23:42 +0000

Signed!

The new child nutrition law signed by President Obama on December 13th 2010 gives power to the government, particularly the Department of Agriculture, to determine what can and what cannot be served in our schools. First Lady Michelle Obama has been a champion of this legislation as part of her Let’s Move campaign aimed at ending childhood obesity. Putting this new law into effect is the first step in making our kids healthier.

Unplug the junk machines

Junk Food Machines Unplugged

New guidelines put in place will limit the amount of unhealthy food available to kids during school hours. The main source of unhealthy food is the school vending machine. Typically packed with candy bars, chips and soda, these machines tempt kids throughout the day and put them on a blood sugar roller coaster ride that makes it impossible for them to concentrate. This new legislation will effectively shut off these vending machines during the most profitable times. The only way a vending machine will be left on during the school day is if it serves healthy snacks and drinks. It’s in the schools’ best interests to swap out old junk food machines for new healthy machines so they can continue to earn this much needed revenue.

Fruity Fundraisers

Often schools use fundraisers like bake sales to help students afford extra-curriculars like band camp. And kids are always selling candy to teach basic business principles and to earn prizes. One Green Bay area school is taking these new guidelines to heart. The band at Ashwaubenon High School is selling fruit instead of candy to raise money for a trip. Across the country, schools are making changes and reducing the amount of junk food sold on campus in an effort to fight back against increasing childhood obesity rates.

Healthy Vending

Schools that choose to make healthy vending machines available on campus will not only contribute to the wellness of their students but they will earn hefty profits as well. Healthy food doesn’t mean a drop in revenue, quite the contrary! Sales of organic foods are on the rise and what better place to put them than in front of our youngsters. Healthy food means healthy bodies and healthy brains. The child nutrition law will help make this a reality for our kids.

5 Reasons To Start A Vending Business

Vending Woman — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 00:56:28 +0000

Dreaming on the Job

This quirky video – Office Space meets The Office meets Joe Versus the Volcano all in 4 minutes – is a huge reason for starting a vending machine business. You might not think vending machines provide the escape you’re looking for, but keep this video in mind and read to discover more reasons that it is. (Aside: Joe Versus the Volcano is a 1990 Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks film that I watched after enjoying You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle. Not on the same level. Very strange.)

1) Your Ideal Job is Out There

As a recent graduate with a degree in something I do not want to do, I have spent a lot of time lately looking for my ideal job. The elusive dream. I only have a few small requirements:

a) I want to do something meaningful. I want to work for the good of humanity and feel like my time is well spent. Forget flipping burgers or endless data entry — I want to make a difference. Life is too short to spend it on meaningless pursuits. I want to leave a legacy for future generations.

b) I want to do something profitable. I have a lot of skills. Sure, at the moment they seem to not be that marketable, but if Joe Techno down the road can get 35 dollars an hour, possessing the social prowess of an irritated donkey, I — a well-rounded, well-read, smart, social, motivated, working woman — should be able to find something that people will pay me well for.

c) I want to do something flexible. Let’s face it: there are a lot of jobs, even meaningful, profitable ones, that are soul-killing in their practice. Take being a surgeon, for example. Yes, you are saving people’s lives and making a ton of money. But that schedule! You never see your family — if, that is, you found time somewhere between medical school and interning to start one. Your social life revolves around the nurses’ station and patients’ paperwork. You are in surgery for hours and come out so brain-dead you might as well be the next one on the table, and you find you have 10 hours left of your shift.

No, thank you! I want to see my family. I want to spend time with friends. I want a vacation once in a while. I kind of want to travel to France. Maybe Turkey. Is that too much to ask? In America today, sometimes it seems like flexibility (or, what I call, “livability”) is no longer an option. And then when you ask for all three together --meaningful, profitable, flexible — you might as well ask for the moon.

So when I found something that combined the three, I had to talk about. For all you idealists out there, don’t give up hope! You’ll never believe what it is: vending machines. I couldn’t believe it either, but stay tuned in. You can get into the healthy vending machine business and make our own schedule, make money, and make a difference. Vending in general is great, but if you really want to make a difference, health-food vending is the way to go in this day and age.

Why Vending?

It is very easy to start a vending business on your own. You don’t need any special degree; you just have to be a self-motivated individual, willing to learn, with a good dose of common sense. But you’ll find out exactly what you need after you get started. I’m here to ensure that you do.

2) Passive income

After you buy and stock a machine and put it in a great location, your machine is making money for you around the clock. Vending machines require very little attention, which means you can do other things with your time. Whether you are putting in a 40-hour week, road-tripping with the girls, or getting stuff done around the house, you can be making extra money without even thinking about it. What could be better than that? Whereas with most employment there’s a 1-to-1 trade-off, (work for pay, or, no work for no pay), passive income generates itself. It’s like an investment: Work up front and reap the benefits for a long time.

2) Flexible schedule

Here’s that livability thing I was talking about. Life happens, whether or not you are around for it. But there are steps you can take to be around. One such step is finding a job where you set your own schedule. Vending machines generate passive income, so that already allows you lots of able-to-be-absent time, but they also don’t have office hours. Of course, you have to work with the location, but within reason you can make your “rounds” whenever you want. Technologically advanced machines help this process even more. With a computer and the Internet, you can remotely monitor stock levels, maintenance needs, and cash flow. You may get to such a level of comfort that you never have to visit a machine after initial installation.

3) You’re the boss

Making your own schedule is only one benefit of being your own boss. Think of the others. No performance reviews. No micromanaging or politicking. No conforming to someone else’s vision or demands. No making money for somebody else. You work the way you want to achieve the result you’re looking for. You take home the profit at the end of the day. Of course, you’ll want to work with a vending franchise, but you aren’t working for them. A good franchise can help you with location and item selection, machine technology and maintenance, and can offer continuing support. I mean, you’re new and they’re professionals, so make use of their expertise. With the Internet, learning from the pros is easy. This clip gives you an introduction to “vending school.”

5) Healthy Vending Helps People Live Better lives

Now, as a pragmatist, vending makes sense. But can you really feel good about it? Before I learned about the healthy trends in the vending market, I would have said no. Selling junk to people who don’t need it in places they can’t resist is not the way I want to make money. That scenario is clearly less than ideal on a human level.

It's Not Halloween Everyday

Instead you can make money by providing healthy alternatives to people who need them in places that lack them. Now doesn’t that sound better? Downright altruistic. And America needs some altruists working on their food. According to the Center for Disease Control, childhood obesity has tripled in the last 30 years. In 2009, only Colorado and D.C. had a prevalence of obesity less than 20% of the population! That’s outrageous! Clearly, people don’t know how to eat the right amount of food for their bodies. So what do food retailers do? Make addictive, chemical-filled, calorie-chocked, highly marketed food completely devoid of nutritional value and sell it to us to make ridiculous profits. That’s unconscionable.

You Don't Always Want or Have Time for This

You can be a part of changing that. In fact, if you’re getting into the vending industry, you should be a part of it if you’re savvy. Traditional vending is on its way out. People are starting to monitor what they’re putting into their bodies, and they’re starting to want it to be something that will benefit them long-term instead of just gratify them in the moment. Of course, if some little snack could do both, that would be even better.

Bright entrepreneurs are catching on. When bottled water sales started growing by leaps and bounds, thinkers put on their caps and thought: “Perhaps people are looking for something healthier among the sodas and Snickers bars in that machine. What if everything in that machine were healthy?” Others, like Sean Kelly, founder of one up-and-coming vending movement, saw devout exercisers on the treadmill with a Coke at the gym and thought: “If we don’t have healthy items accessible, how can we expect anyone to get healthier?”

Kelly’s company, H.U.M.A.N., is doing the product research and technological innovation you would not know how to do and ensuring that your healthy vending machines are glitch-free. They find what products sell – some even interview people at the location of the machine to find what kinds of snacks they prefer – and are making top-of-the-line machines with features like LCD displays, cashless payment options, and infrared vend sensors to ensure that you are making the most efficient profit you can.

So, if you missed the 5 reasons, here’s the quick recap:

1) You don’t want to be in a cubicle

2) Vending creates passive income

3) The schedule’s flexible

4) You’re your own boss

5) Healthy vending helps people live better lives

Now get started. Find a company with a conscience, and the technology to back it up, and start your dream job today.

Who knew that vending could be so interesting?

Recommended Resources

Ready to go? Become a partner operator with H.U.M.A.N.: http://www.healthyvending.com/contactus/operators

New School Vending Machines Give Lessons In The Lunchroom

Austin Brawner — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 21:32:29 +0000

Nutrition is JUST as Important as Geography

Our Educational System Is Failing

Science, math, history, reading…some of the main subjects our kids are taught everyday at school. It’s important for them to learn the multiplication tables, the order of the planets and how to conjugate a verb. But there is one subject that takes a back seat in schools much to the detriment of our kids -- health. Teaching kids how to get healthy and stay healthy is extremely important but today’s obesity statistics reveal the awful truth that this subject is grossly neglected both in school and at home. Nearly 30% of America’s kids are obese! Childhood obesity leads to diabetes, heart disease and a poor quality of life. So what can we do in our schools and in our homes to teach kids the valuable lessons they need to learn in order to have a happy, healthy life? New school vending machines are an important step forward in this battle against the bulge.

How Important is Nutritional Education?

Diet and physical inactivity is the leading cause of premature death in the US. It tops tobacco, alcohol and drug use and is responsible for over 300,000 deaths a year. Lack of nutritional education is literally killing Americans. And because unhealthy kids grow up to be unhealthy adults, we need to focus our efforts on school-aged children to get this crucial message across. The American diet is too high in saturated fat, sodium and sugar which leads to some major health issues such as heart disease, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, stroke and many cancers. Teaching prevention also saves a ton of money. The total yearly cost (direct and indirect) of diseases associated with diet and inactivity is a whopping $617 billion! The USDA estimates that if Americans ate healthier diets, it would save about $71 billion in medical costs, lost productivity and deaths. All we need to do is make our kids aware of the connection between what they put in their mouths and their long-term health. Sounds simple, right? It should be but unfortunately neglect of this important prevention message goes all the way to the top.

It’s Not Enough

The US government does have programs aimed at educating the American public about the importance of eating healthy and getting enough exercise. But when they have to compete with junk food giants, they fall short. For example,the largest nutritional education program the federal government has -- the 5 A Day Program -- has a budget of $3.6 million a year. $68 million is spent by Mars to advertise candy (that’s 68% more than the government’s budget) and McDonald’s spends $1 billion on advertising (1,000% more). Since people are greatly influenced by advertising and promotions, it’s no wonder they react more favorably to the higher-budgeted campaigns. The food industry as a whole (which is largely unhealthy food items) spends $25 billion on advertising. Compare this to the funding allocated to the CDC’s Division of Nutritional and Physical Activity which is a mere $45 million. And even within the government programs, the numbers are slanted. The CDC spends over twice as much on anti-tobacco campaigns than they do on their educational programs when in fact, tobacco kills about the same number of people as does poor diet and inactivity! These numbers prove that we cannot rely on government programs to educate our kids as to the importance of a healthy diet and active lifestyle.

PE Classes Are Being Cut

Even our schools are failing in the most basic nutritional education areas. More and more schools are cutting physical education (PE) classes and health classes. Most states don’t have a minimum requirement for daily physical education in schools. The American Heart Association is working with schools to promote guidelines of 150 minutes a week for elementary school kids and 225 minutes a week for middle schoolers. The reason schools are cutting these programs is simple.

They don’t have the funds to support them. When schools need to cut back on teacher salaries and classroom facilities, usually health teachers, health classes and gym activities are first to go. More emphasis is placed on math, science and English due to federal requirements for test scores (federal funds are linked to adequate test scores). Those subjects are important but we’re cheating our kids out of a full education. And it’s making them fat. Kids actually perform better in the classroom if they are physically fit and if they don’t get the opportunity for physical activity at school, they likely won’t make up for it after school. More than 60% of kids ages 9-13 do not participate an any organized physical activity during non-school hours. It’s vital that they get this exercise during the school day. Not only does it get their blood moving and help them burn off some fat, it will instill healthy habits that will last a lifetime.

Lessons From a Machine?

It’s not the school’s fault if their budget can’t support every program it once could. It is their responsibility, however, to find a way to educate students in all areas, even if classes can’t be scheduled. One way schools can revolutionize the teaching process is with a new vending machine. Yes, a machine can teach your students! Don’t worry, math and science teachers, your jobs are safe. What we’re talking about here is a vending machine that only sells healthy foods and drinks. Replacing old junk food machines with these healthy vending machines will expose kids to a variety of nutritious snacks that they likely didn’t know existed. Teaching kids that healthy food can also be tasty and satisfying could be the first step in changing their eating habits all day long. No longer will they have the sugar rush and crash that makes it hard for them to concentrate and learn. If they bring home a bag of trail mix, their parents will see it and it could start an entire conversation about healthy foods and the importance of nutrition. Parents might even sample some of these foods and then buy them in larger sizes next time they go to the supermarket. Aside from the tasty nutritious items the healthy vending machines offer, the high-tech LCD screens on each machine give schools a new way to educate students. Just about every kid loves watching TV and they will stop and watch if something entertaining is happening on the vending machine screen. This opens up a huge opportunity for schools to place information on these screens that will speak to a very captive audience. The possibilities are endless for what can be done on LCD screens but here are a few ideas.

Teach With Cartoons

Younger kids will respond to a cartoon-like explanation of where food comes from. If they select a bag of baby carrots, the screen could display the “story” of how the carrot started from a seed, rain made it grow, it was picked and packaged and now is being dispensed for them to enjoy. These vignettes can have sound effects like rain and wind), narration, music and text to cover all learning styles. Having a different “story” for each item in the machine prompts students to pick a different item each time to get a new story.

Tasty and Fresh

Eat Local and Encourage Involvement

If you allocate a certain percentage of your machine items to locally grown and produced snacks, not only will you save a ton of money on distribution and shipping, but you have a great chance to teach kids about the food they’re eating. The LCD screen can describe the farm where the produce was grown or if your school has a garden, you can stock your own produce and explain to the kids that the food is coming right from their very own school. Encourage them to get involved in community gardens or start one of their own. Explain the economics of using locally grown produce and snacks and how it benefits the community financially.

Educate On The Machine

Nutritional information about the food in the healthy vending machine can also be displayed. This type of information is good for older students who understand the concepts of calories, saturated fats and sugars. Compare the nutritional information of a granola bar to a candy bar and your students will quickly see the benefits of the healthy items. Include information about drinks too. Most kids don’t realize how many chemicals they’re consuming with a single can of soda. A short lesson on calories will answer questions about why fruit juices are not low-cal but they are still healthy alternatives to soft drinks.

Technology Gives Us Endless Opportunities

Providing Nutritional Facts Matters

There are plenty of opportunities for parents and schools to teach children about the importance of healthy eating apart from PE and health classes. With continued budget cuts and junk food advertisements bombarding our kids everyday, it’s crucial that we offer this type of education both in the classroom as well as out of the classroom. Kids’ eating habits start very young and without the proper lessons, they will continue to choose unhealthy foods that will eventually make them fat and give them horrible health problems. Putting healthy vending machines in schools is a great first step to getting kids on track with what they eat. Using the LCD technology to explain where food comes from, what’s in food and how it can help their bodies stay fit, as well as help them learn, will give them an excellent foundation when they start to make more of their own decisions later in life. Lessons are all around us; we just need to choose to teach them.