By Younes Ahmed, Will Kowalski, Mark Seplaki, Abhi Srinivasan, Addison Stachura
Williamsville East has had many changes to it, including a big one to the vending machines and school store. Many students have noticed this and aren’t the happiest, this is all due to Michelle Obama’s “Lets Move Campaign.” Former First Lady Michelle Obama proposed this campaign back in 2010, and as of the past couple years the school has begun to implement it. She pushed for healthier meals and lunches all throughout school, replacing the “unhealthy foods” with “healthy foods”. “The HealthierUS School Challenge (HUSSC) is a voluntary initiative established in 2004 to recognize those schools participating in the National School Lunch Program that have created healthier school environments through promotion of nutrition and physical activity. In February 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama introduced Let’s Move!, incorporating the HealthierUS School Challenge into her campaign to raise a healthier generation of kids. At the time, monetary incentive awards became available for each HUSSC award level: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Gold Award of Distinction.[“With her push, New York state came out with the Smart Snack law, requiring all the schools to fully apply the rule to all snacks sold in public schools. The snacks must be filled with nutrients that are whole-grain, rich, dairy, protein, or fruit/vegetable-based, with strict limits on calories, sugar, fat, and sodium. We surveyed 159 total people, with 149 being students and ten being teachers. We also interviewed all four grade levels almost evenly, principal Mr. Swenson, and two PTSA school members that work the school store.’
Recent changes to the school store and vending machines stem from the “USDA Smart Snacks in School” initiative, implemented in 2014 to promote healthier eating. The policy requires all foods sold during the school day to meet strict nutrition standards.A school store runner explained that “USDA standards food has to comply,” calling the guidelines “highly restrictive.” Snacks must limit calories, sugar, fat, and sodium while including ingredients like whole grains, fruits, or protein. As a result, many previously popular items have been removed. A school store volunteer noted that “choices for stock are based on ingredients… can’t have gelatin reduced fats.”Compliance is mandatory, as “the school district can lose funding when the store is not compliant.” Principal Mr. Swenson added that the school “had to start to follow health guidelines . the fed gov and board of ed policy.” These requirements have also contributed to higher prices, since healthier options cost more.
According to Principal Swenson, the school store is fully run by the PTSA and all the money that goes into it, and the profits that come out of it belong to the PTSA as well. We talked to the PTSA member that runs the school store and found that the “USDA Smart Snacks” is enforced by both local East administration, and administrators from the district office. If it is found that the school store is not complying with state law the district can lose funding.
A majority of our students and faculty interviewed noticed the change to school store stock, specifically 87 of the 159 that filled out our form. We then asked this group of people how their purchasing habits changed from before the change to stock, to now. 35.2% of the people had no change because they never bought from the school store in the first place, however of the remaining 103 students and faculty 66% decreased their spending at the school store. “The guidelines are highly restrictive” says the head of the school store. This means that they were forced to stock the school store with healthier snacks, snacks that students don’t enjoy. In our form we asked students to specifically name a snack that they would like to see added to the school store. There were a variety of answers but the overwhelming majority was snacks that do not comply with these guidelines that were previously in the school store. “My favorite item was the smores poppy”, (Poppy is slang for pop tart) said senior Cameron Mauro.
Vending Machines is a must have in a high school, with all the students that have sports and extracurriculars after school. These students need to eat something! We decided to run a survey and find out students’ opinions on the recent change in the vending machines.There was a stock change in the vending machine at the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.
So all 9th and 10th graders wouldn’t have noticed a change, but when asked in the survey,” How often do you buy from the vending machine since they changed the stock to healthier items?” Not a single person out of the 159 responses picked that they bought more from the vending machine after the stock change. Senior Cameron Mauro stated that he never buys from the vending machine anymore because of the bad selection and the high prices. Junior Mike expressed that the vending machines never seemed to work when he wanted to buy something. A lunch is not enough for students, they need a snack to get them through the 7 hour school day. And it’s unfortunate that the vending machines are not able to provide for the students of Williamsville East. Another question in the survey was,” Do you support the change to the vending machine options?” 18.8 percent answered that they do support the change. While 26.4 percent said they do not support the change. The rest remained neutral. Vending Machines are a quick easy way to get food in your system and should be available to high school students, who are the ones that need a snack the most.
Student reactions are mixed, but many express frustration, particularly with vending machines. “The vending machine prices are ridiculous,” said sophomore Luke Landreth, while junior Mike added, “they never work and they are too expensive.”Usage has declined as a result. Senior Kyree said he “used to use a vending machine everyday before the change,” but no longer does. Others point to limited selection. “Nothing good anymore,” said senior Cameron Mauro, whose “favorite item was the smores poppy” has been removed.Still, some students support the changes. Luke said he is “happy with the selection,” and freshman Audrey said she “overall enjoys school stores,” though it “can improve selection.” Junior Braydon said that he missed the Big Texas in the vending machine. Overall, while students understand the health focus, many feel the changes have led to higher prices, fewer options, and decreased satisfaction.