Local high school wants extension of baby carrot vending machine

Local high school wants extension of baby carrot vending machine

Fayetteville-Manlius happy with results

by Adam Feldfogel (NCC News)

Oct. 28, 2010, 4:00 p.m.

Cheese Doodles are no longer the only orange snacks in vending machines. Baby carrots have become a hit with the students at Fayetteville-Manlius High School since the test vending machine was installed in the school in September. Now F-M wants to extend the trial run of the machine into January.

"It's been very successful here," said Greg Avellino, the associate principal of the school. "There's a lot of interest to still buy the carrots as an alternative." This is the purpose of the "Eat 'Em Like Junk Food" marketing campaign that the school is a part of - find out how well students will respond to a healthier alternative to the usual chips and candy found in average vending machines.

The vending machine sold out at the beginning of the test, according to The Post Standard. Now that the "novelty" has worn off a little bit, sales are down, but principal Ray Kilmer says the carrots are still a popular choice for students.

"All the attention at first heightened sales in the beginning," said Kilmer, "but we are still seeing very consistent purchases of these carrots."

All profits going back to the school district

The machine dispenses chip-sized bags of carrots for only 50 cents. Bolthouse Farms, the company which helped launch the carrot campaign, has been providing the vending machine and carrots to the school for free.

All of the profits from the machine are being donated right back to the school district for other food service needs. Greg Avellino explained what exactly those funds would be used for.

"My understanding is that it's gonna be used to purchase a non-oil fryer," said Avellino. "Again, just an alternative to helthy cooking."

"The baby carrot packages are convenient, and students are busy and need a quick pick-me-up," added Pricipal Kilmer.

Hope for the future

The "Eat 'Em Like Junk Food" campaign was tested in Syracuse, as well as in Cincinnati. Jeff Dunn, the chief executive officer for Bolthouse Farms says both Syracuse and Cincinnati have average carrot consumption, so it made sense to test the vending machine in these markets. But this is just the beginning of the road for the program that is trying to make high schools a little healthier. The campaign will eventually go throughout the nation.

"It may not be changing the face of the high school cafeteria," said Kilmer, "but it's giving high schools another healthy option."

photo courtesy of syracuse.com