Vending Machines

Imagine: You're hungry for an afternoon snack, just a little something to hold you over until dinnertime. You head down to the vending machine, drop in your change and walk back to your desk with … yogurt, some trail mix and a piece of fresh fruit. That's not quite the reality in most workplaces — at least not yet. But more and more vending machine companies are swapping out cookies and candy for granola bars and rice cakes. The switch is driven by consumer demand coupled with a patchwork of new laws and regulations aimed at improving the way America eats.

Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum face a daunting calendar in the months ahead: a set of far-flung primaries that offers little chance for a knockout punch as they battle for the 1,144 delegates needed to clinch the GOP presidential nomination. In that long slog, little will matter more than an efficient organization and a robust treasury. And in those key areas, the contrast between the two leading GOP contenders could not be more stark. Romney has built an operation unrivaled in its vigilance and precision, which has allowed him to raise more money, reach more voters and rack up more delegates than any other candidate.

For confectionery-crazed Angelenos, the newest development in vending culture is the sweetest one yet: a 24-hour cupcake-dispensing machine at Sprinkles, the Beverly Hills-based Holy Grail of cupcakery. And it's pink. The automaton will vend freshly-baked cupcakes, mixes, apparel and other goods, according to its Facebook page . The company has yet to announce a launch date. Customers visiting the machine's profile on the social networking site seemed enthused, with comments deeming the cupcake ATM “very dangerous” and “ingenious.” One visitor wrote: “Is this a GREAT COUNTRY or what?

For confectionery-crazed Angelenos, the newest development in vending culture is the sweetest one yet: a 24-hour cupcake-dispensing machine at Sprinkles, the Beverly Hills-based Holy Grail of cupcakery. And it's pink. The automaton will vend freshly-baked cupcakes, mixes, apparel and other goods, according to its Facebook page . The company has yet to announce a launch date. Customers visiting the machine's profile on the social networking site seemed enthused, with comments deeming the cupcake ATM “very dangerous” and “ingenious.” One visitor wrote: “Is this a GREAT COUNTRY or what?

Karla Rendon stood in front of the vending machine at Maplewood Mall in St. Paul, Minn., staring at an assortment of items ? diapers, baby wipes, sippy cups, bottles, grape juice and diaper rash ointment. Just what a mother shopping with her 13-month-old baby needed. "I wish there had been one of these when I was at the Mall of America," said Rendon of Maplewood, Minn., recalling a recent excursion with daughters Makayla, 5, and Daisy, 13 months. On that day, Rendon had forgotten Daisy's bottle.

If it's a soda you crave after a sweaty basketball game on an L.A. County court, or a candy bar you hunger for while waiting at a county office, you're money's going to be no good in the vending machines. Taking a cue from standards adopted for California schools, the Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to require that all food and drinks in the vending machines in most L.A. County facilities -- including offices, parks and recreation centers, and medical facilities -- meet state nutrition guidelines.

The quintessential Paris experience is to enter a boulangerie , inhale the heavenly smell of fresh bread and buy a baguette for an impromptu picnic on the Seine. Now imagine stuffing a euro into a vending machine that dispenses warm baguettes with all the cachet of an ATM machine. Talk about a buzz kill. French baker Jean-Louis Hecht calls his new baguette vending machine the "bakery of tomorrow," according to this Associated Press story. He has installed two vending machines so far -- one in Paris, one in a northeastern town called Hombourg-Haut -- that spit out hot bread for a Euro (about $1.42)

For many students, “back to school” means back to a vending machine diet. As you might guess, this isn’t necessarily a good thing for student health. Vending machines are found in 16% of U.S. elementary schools, 52% of middle schools and 88% of high schools. About 22% of students in grades 1 through 12 buy food in vending machines each day – and those purchases added an average of 253 calories to their diets, according to a new study in the September issue of the Journal of School Health.

The fare sold in "healthy" vending machines may do less damage to your waistline than the products found in mainstream machines, but experts caution that any processed snack is worse than a piece of fresh fruit or a handful of roasted nuts. Top-selling items in mainstream vending machines across the country, according to the 2011 State of the Vending Industry Report: Snickers bar: 280 calories, 14 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 30 grams of sugar Peanut M&Ms: 250 calories, 13 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 25 grams of sugar Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream potato chips: 240 calories, 16.5 grams of fat, 2.25 grams of saturated fat, 345 milligrams of sodium Top-selling items in "healthy" vending machines, according to Fresh Healthy Vending and H.U.M.A.N.

Many chain restaurants and vending machines would have to display the number of calories in their food for consumers under draft guidelines released Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration. The guidelines require that calorie information be posted in the same size type as the menu item or price, whichever is larger. Vending machines would have to display the information in a "clear and conspicuous" manner so consumers could review it before making a purchase, according to the guidelines, which were authorized by the healthcare legislation passed this year.

The push-back against rampant consumer culture has some new, mechanical muscle: the Swap-O-Matic vending machine, which distributes recycled goods among its users free of cost. Designed by Lina Fenequito -- a Parsons School of Design graduate -- and detailed over at FastCompany , the machine operates using items donated by some users and then snapped up by others. Donors' accounts are given "credits" every time they add to the machine's inventory; they can then "spend" the credits on others' castoffs.

The fare sold in "healthy" vending machines may do less damage to your waistline than the products found in mainstream machines, but experts caution that any processed snack is worse than a piece of fresh fruit or a handful of roasted nuts. Top-selling items in mainstream vending machines across the country, according to the 2011 State of the Vending Industry Report: Snickers bar: 280 calories, 14 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 30 grams of sugar Peanut M&Ms: 250 calories, 13 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 25 grams of sugar Ruffles Cheddar & Sour Cream potato chips: 240 calories, 16.5 grams of fat, 2.25 grams of saturated fat, 345 milligrams of sodium Top-selling items in "healthy" vending machines, according to Fresh Healthy Vending and H.U.M.A.N.

Imagine: You're hungry for an afternoon snack, just a little something to hold you over until dinnertime. You head down to the vending machine, drop in your change and walk back to your desk with … yogurt, some trail mix and a piece of fresh fruit. That's not quite the reality in most workplaces — at least not yet. But more and more vending machine companies are swapping out cookies and candy for granola bars and rice cakes. The switch is driven by consumer demand coupled with a patchwork of new laws and regulations aimed at improving the way America eats.

The quintessential Paris experience is to enter a boulangerie , inhale the heavenly smell of fresh bread and buy a baguette for an impromptu picnic on the Seine. Now imagine stuffing a euro into a vending machine that dispenses warm baguettes with all the cachet of an ATM machine. Talk about a buzz kill. French baker Jean-Louis Hecht calls his new baguette vending machine the "bakery of tomorrow," according to this Associated Press story. He has installed two vending machines so far -- one in Paris, one in a northeastern town called Hombourg-Haut -- that spit out hot bread for a Euro (about $1.42)

In the latest attempt to gain ground against the nation's epidemic of obesity, the Food and Drug Administration proposed rules Friday that would require some restaurant and fast-food chains to post the calorie content of standard items on their menus. The rules, which are subject to another round of public comment before they take final form, would also apply to vending machines, coffee shops and convenience and grocery stores. But they would not apply to movie theaters, bowling alleys or airlines.

Automation ? long a force in agriculture and manufacturing ? is accelerating in the retail sector, a trend that could hamper efforts to bring down the nation's stubbornly high jobless rate. In an industry that employs nearly 1 in 10 Americans and has long been a reliable job generator, companies increasingly are looking to peddle more products with fewer employees. Shipping and warehousing workers are being replaced by robots that can process packages more efficiently than humans.

Regarding "A Vending Machine Selling IPods?" June 14: At the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, we've offered vending machines for a little over three years now from which students may purchase blank media (tapes, disks, flash cards), batteries, headphones and office supplies. It allows students to acquire items without leaving the building, and during hours when other sources may be closed. At first, we made fun of my boss when he came up with the idea, but it has become quite popular, and even a landmark.

Investigators are searching for an arsonist who has set a series of vending machine fires at schools across Ventura County. Thousand Oaks High School administrators called fire officials after 11 of their machines were burned Monday night, said Sandi Wells, a Ventura County Fire Department spokeswoman. Similar fires were also set Monday night at Thousand Oaks' Colina Middle School and Westlake High School, Wells said.

Karla Rendon stood in front of the vending machine at Maplewood Mall in St. Paul, Minn., staring at an assortment of items ? diapers, baby wipes, sippy cups, bottles, grape juice and diaper rash ointment. Just what a mother shopping with her 13-month-old baby needed. "I wish there had been one of these when I was at the Mall of America," said Rendon of Maplewood, Minn., recalling a recent excursion with daughters Makayla, 5, and Daisy, 13 months. On that day, Rendon had forgotten Daisy's bottle.

For 42 years, Ronald Foster didn't know he had a felony conviction for cutting up pennies. It seemed like a nickel-and-dime crime at the time. President Obama apparently agreed; last week he pardoned Foster and eight other people for unrelated crimes. Foster stands out among the list of convicted thieves, drug dealers and users. In 1963, he was earning $82 a month as a Marine at Camp Lejeune, N.C., when he and 16 others hatched a scheme to cut pennies into dimes so they could use them in vending machines, he said.