Healthy Foods - Coming to a Vending Machine Near You

By Rachelle Bowden in Food on Jul 9, 2004 11:51AM

North America's largest vending machine company, Canteen, will be installing hundreds of machines with healthier food choices in 11 cities, including Chicago. Over the next 45 days, expect to see your soda replaced with water; your candy bars replaced with granola bars; your pizza, burgers and hot dogs may become salads and wraps.. and those Cheetos you stop by for every day at 2:00? They're gonna be replaced with nuts and dried fruits. Canteen, who's vending machines are mostly located in workplaces, says that they are being pressed by businesses who are concerned about better nutrition for their employees since they have to bear the brunt for the health costs of obesity. Another reason is pure marketing. Health food is hip now and consumer demand is high.

At Chicagoist we rarely eat from our company's vending machine because of all the crap food in there.. but if we walk over one day and find ourselves staring down some yummy trail mix or a nice old turkey wrap, who knows what may happen .. we may have to start stocking our pockets with loose change again, something we haven't done since we grew up and got our own washer & dryer.