Last week, I read this Forbes.com article about a company on a mission to make vending machines healthier: “[Sean] Kelly, a pre-med Biomedical Engineering student at Columbia University, searched for somewhere to buy water at his gym. Coming up short, he witnessed a woman purchase a soda to drink during her workout. ‘She took a swig, put it in the cup holder on the treadmill and started running,’ recalled Kelly. ‘I thought, if this is the case for us in an upper-income demographic what’s it like for people in other places?’”

To help fight the obesity epidemic, Kelly’s company, H.U.M.A.N. Healthy Vending, plans to stock vending machines with healthier, often locally sourced snacks to provide nutrient-rich options (protein! fiber! complex carbs!) for people who otherwise would have to choose between chips or a candy bar.

Read the full article here. Oh, and I’d like to offer an apology to the author of the piece,  Natalie Robehmed. You see, I was Natalie’s RA her freshman year of college and I arrived at our first floor meeting bearing a giant bag of Skittles for her classmates to share. If only these vending machines existed then — I could have grabbed some Pop Chips!

What do you think about healthy vending machines? Do you think the idea will work? Have you seen any in your neighborhood?

Photo by Frank Ockenfels/AMC