New vending machines were installed to go with the new school year, but do these HUMAN vending machines really provide healthier options? MVHS’ new HUMAN vending machines claim to “help unite mankind and nutrition” by providing healthier school snack options. Take a look at this comparison between new snacks currently sold in the vending machine versus healthier alternatives.

Barefruit Crunchy Granny Smith Apple Chips vs. Brothers-All-Natural Freeze-Dried Fuji Apple Fruit Crisps

MVHS’ vending machines currently offer Barefruit Crunchy Granny Smith Apple Chips as a crispy fruitful brunch and lunchtime snack. Although apple chips may seem healthy because apples in general are healthy, freeze dried apples are a better way to go. Instead of being fried in oil and chemicals, freeze dried apple slices or even regular apples are better snacks. Of course, the healthiest option that is also the best for your wallet is a classic apple.

Pirate’s Booty Aged White Cheddar vs. Boom Chickapop

Pirate’s Booty is a popular snack option amongst teens; puffy and crunchy, it’s admittedly a great thing to munch on. However, a healthier alternative would be plain popcorn, or this lightly salted popcorn, Boom Chicka Pop. Though when one thinks of popcorn, the immediate image may be an unhealthy over-buttered movie theater snack, plain popcorn could be a healthy addition to trail mixes, or a good light snack to munch on by itself. By comparison, 4 cups of plain lightly salted popcorn is similar to the calories and nutrition facts of 1 ounce of Pirate’s Booty — definitely a healthier option.

Steaz Iced Green Peach Mango Tea vs. Teas’ Unsweetened Pure Green TeaMVHS currently offers Steaz Iced Green Peach Mango Tea, a calorie free beverage with fruit flavoring. However, an even better option for tea is pure unsweetened green tea. Green tea is a metabolism booster, disease fighter, and enriched with antioxidants. Green tea, though a great health benefitting beverage, is not as good as water. Instead of drinking teas, water keeps your skin looking good healthy and moisturized, contributing to that attractive glow, and keeps control of your calories.

The verdict
The new HUMAN vending machines at MVHS do provide relatively healthier options for brunch and lunch time snacks; however, real fruits and plain water are still the healthiest choice. Instead of dropping a couple bucks on a bag of cheese puffs, eating something like whole foods is more cost effective and better for your body. When thinking about which snacks to eat in and out of school, one should opt for real fruits instead of artificial flavors.