One 20 ounce bottle of Minute Maid fruit punch contains 71 grams of sugar. That is the equivalent of over a third cup of sugar.
One small bag of Cheetos contains 300 milligrams of sodium, which is 20 percent of the daily sodium intake recommended by the American Heart Association.
One pack of Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts contains 420 calories. That’s about 20 percent of the calories the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests that teenage girls between the ages of 14 and 18 eat in a day.
These are some of the snack options for Stone Ridge girls who are hungry after school, but that may be about to change.
There are currently three vending machines, two of which have drinks similar to soda and one with unhealthy snacks like candy and chips, along with some healthier choices like granola bars.
Dean of Students Ms. Stephany Fontanone and Director of Athletics Mr. Jason McGhee are considering options that would provide healthier vending machine choices for students.
Because these options are still in the planning stages, Ms. Fontanone thinks there is a possibility of replacing one of the two soda machines with a new vending machine with healthier food. Another solution could simply be replacing some of the less popular unhealthy food options in the existing food vending machines with healthier options.
The two biggest questions, according to Mr. McGhee, center on cost and space. Running the needed power for new vending machines, of course, would cost the school money. There is also the question of whether or not the vendor can provide these healthier products and whether the new snacks will be popular enough with students for the vendor to make a profit by selling them.
A survey of Upper School students conducted by The Here & Now showed that 93 percent of students believe that they would benefit from seeing healthier vending machine options in the future.
According to the survey, the food and drink options students would most like to see included in the vending machines are granola bars, Naked Juice or some type of smoothie, Pirate’s Booty or popcorn, and dark chocolate candy.
Madison Bryant, ‘17, thinks that healthier vending machine choices are “a great idea, and [they] would really enforce healthy eating in our school.”
“I would like the idea because if I didn’t have breakfast one day, I could come in and grab a granola bar instead of a pop tart,” said Chloe Lacombe ‘17.
Much has already been done at Stone Ridge to promote healthy eating. The Athletics Department has invited dietician and Stone Ridge alum Michelle Gartman to educate the student athletes about nutrition so that they can become more aware about what is going into their bodies.
“Stone Ridge athletics can be a model for the entire country,” says Mr. McGhee. “We can be a school where others look at us and say, ‘wow.’ Going above and beyond is the vision, and there are bumps along the way, but one must have the patience to succeed; it takes time for everyone to believe in the vision.”
machine at the end of the school day.
A healthier vending machine is one piece to a much larger picture, and with the help of Stone Ridge students and faculty, it can spark inspiration for healthier living.