Vending Successes
July 2003: Fairfax County students choose milk
Americans expect to have choices - lots of choices in what to wear, what to say and even what foods to eat. Students at Fairfax County Schools in Virginia already have plenty of food and beverage choices in their school cafeterias. Now they have one more - milk served from vending machines.
Milk has always been a part of school meals, but students at Lake Braddock Secondary School, Sandburg Middle School and Westfields High School now can buy ice-cold milk from the new vending machines located in the school cafeterias.
The milk vending machines were placed in all three schools, one machine per school, by the school's milk supplier, Shenandoah's Pride Dairy of Springfield, Va. The cafeteria managers are excited to offer a nutritious product that attracts students. Faculty and staff also like the new machines. "I was so happy when they got this," says Westfields history teacher Katie LaPointe, adding that she buys milk from the vending machine daily.
The vending machines offer milk in more choices, such as 14- or 16-ounce single-serve sizes versus the 8-ounce size served on the lunch line. Flavors include vanilla cream, creamy chocolate, strawberry and cookies 'n cream. If sales are any indication, students seem to love the new options. When the vending machines were first installed, cafeteria staff had to restock the machine several times a day to keep up with sales. Even without the novelty of the new machines, a single machine can sell an average of 300 units of milk per week. Students who buy milk say they do so about every day.
Students choose milk
Ninth-grader Ben Rogers of Westfields High School says he's looking for new flavors that aren't sold on the lunch line. Michael Wagner, a freshman at Lake Braddock Secondary, agrees that the flavor choices are a big plus, as is the "big bottle." Eighth grader Cassie Proctor, also of Lake Braddock, likes the convenience of the vending machine versus waiting in the lunch line. When asked why he buys milk, instead of other popular beverages out of the vending machines, Westfields' senior Mark Capayachi sums it up quickly, "I like milk. It tastes great and it does a body good."
Teens may know milk is good for them, but according to the United States Department of Agriculture, they aren't drinking enough of it. In fact, an alarming nine out of 10 teen girls and seven out of 10 teen boys don't get the calcium they need daily. Aimee Aronson, R.D, L.D., and nutrition education and marketing specialist for Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, emphasizes how important milk's nutrition is to adolescents.
"Not only is milk an excellent source of calcium, which is so crucial for strong bones, but it is also a great source of many other vitamins and minerals that are essential for growth and development," Aronson says.
Bobbie Graham, Westfields central kitchen production manager, points out that a major advantage of vending machines is that "they expose (students) to food choices at their convenience and within their limited time frame." All three of the Fairfax County schools have placed their machines in the cafeteria, a high traffic site that helps guarantee sales. Locating the milk vending machines near other vending machines, which all three schools do, also increases potential sales, both during the school day and after the dismissal bell rings.
The cafeteria managers are thrilled with the success of the milk vending machines. "We want what is best for the kids," says Joanne Morgan, central kitchen manager at Westfields. "The kids love milk from the machine and that's what counts."
Ray Scribner of Shenandoah's Pride Dairy agrees that milk vending is a great program to increase nutritious options to students. "Whether students choose to purchase milk with school meals, a la carte in the lunch line or out of the vending machines, the important thing is that they are drinking milk," Scribner says. "We're doing whatever we can to help the schools get students drinking milk more often."
Westfields cafeteria staff believes having the milk vending machine is great public relations for the cafeteria, too. "We feel good about offering milk's nutrition to the students," Morgan says. "The staff likes that we offer milk, and the vending machine brings students into the cafeteria." Lake Braddock Secondary School's cafeteria manager Tom Connolly adds: "We do whatever is best for the kids."