This year, the school’s vending machines have adopted new cheap snacks for students to eat. In accordance with new school foods health laws, they’ve been stocked with the “diet” variety of snack foods with minimal sugar.

The Warrior Ledger editors have strong feelings about the new foods. After many weeks of working hard after school and relying on the vending machine foods to satisfy growing hunger, they’ve developed an attachment to the used-to-be available vending choices. Their favorites are gone, replaced by products that fail to meet the standards.

When the staff needs an energy-boost while working late at the school, we go to the vending machines. However, after tasting some of the new stuff, the staff will rely on the machines much less. The things that are actually good are over-priced and it’s not as if we couldn’t easily find alternatives.

There were high hopes for the new health code, but if you’re selling processed food instead of processed food, not much has changed. Especially since the healthier choices added have sacrificed quality in exchange for only a few grams less of sugar.

The new snack foods are meant to promote semi-healthier food choices. While an attempt at creating healthier students is admirable, the foods won’t make enough of a difference for it to truly matter. It’ll just incite complaints and decrease vending profit.

Last year’s vending foods can be found nearly anywhere else for cheaper prices than what they were offered for at the school. There’s an abundance of fast-food surrounding the school, too. If we’re going to spend a few dollars on food that’s harming our systems, or at least not helping our systems, we may as well spend that money on food that will actually satisfy our hunger. A few dollars will stretch a lot further off campus than it would on campus.

5 dollars spent at the school adds up to roughly 30 chips, but 5 dollars spent outside of school could easily get you a liter of ice-cream. Such high prices are basically a punishment for not being able to leave campus or wanting a little bit of food in school. The school unfairly drains your money for wanting or needing some food.

Still, the staff gives in to the new food choices. Although the less sugary snacks in the vending machines don’t taste as good and the pricing is unfair, they provide an accessible source of energy for when we don’t feel like putting any effort in finding something to eat.