Leading the way in the nationwide effort to combat childhood obesity, the Health and Wellness Committee of Tumwater School Board and Black Hill High Schools have just passed a board policy requiring more healthy choices in the school vending machines.
YoNaturals healthy vending machines operated by Katherine Gray of Health Nut Vending are now installed in Black Hills and Tumwater High Schools. Gray is also installing YoNaturals healthy vending machines in corporate offices, health clubs, malls, retailers, and medical facilities such as Capital Medical Center, also in Olympia.
Dale Reeves, Activities Director of Olympia's Black Hills High School, says, “It's the right thing to do. We're excited about the opportunity for kids to have choices in a healthy spectrum. We saw the way California was going, and instead of waiting for a state mandate, we wanted to take a leadership position and be pro-active. The existing machines just didn't meet the standards we set. YoNaturals machines and products did.”
Former President Bill Clinton in 2006 announced an initiative in which five of the nation's leading food manufacturers pledged to make healthier snacks to combat childhood obesity in America. However, the initiative has proved toothless, and little has changed since then.
“This is voluntary, they don't have to do it.” Clinton said, speaking of the companies and the schools. Nevertheless, he said the nation's childhood obesity epidemic and skyrocketing health care costs made immediate action essential.
YoNaturals Inc with national headquarters in Solana Beach, California, is a pioneer in the national effort to clean up vending machines in the public schools. Their website www.yonaturals.com offers practical action steps any teacher, parent, student or school system can take to uphold their civic responsibility to maintain and foster public health.
Nick Yates of YoNaturals says, “We've made it easy for any school to make the transition from junk food machines to healthy vending machines. Schools will still earn generous commission on sales, so they can recover any revenue lost from removing junk food machines which don't comply with government requirements.”
“The big difference is all our products are healthy and natural - the same products you might find at your local health food store like Whole Foods or Wild Oats. All our products meet or exceed the nutritional guidelines for each state. Our plan-o-grams help you custom-design food inventory that will be in 100% compliance, and satisfy your local taste and product preferences as well.”
“Not only that, our healthy vending machines feature state-of-the art technology with 24/7 monitoring. You can set the timers on our machines to switch on and off at your discretion, to make sure you comply with any mandated student break times. We can monitor and control inventory, and tell our distributors when to restock them, and also alert them instantly if there are repairs that must be made on site. Our systems are seamless, sophisticated and smart.”
YoNaturals CEO Mark Trotter says, "Our web site (www.yonaturals.com) features a complete mini-course in healthy nutrition that's simple and easy to follow. Every product we carry has been specially selected based on taste and nutritional content."
The healthy snacks and beverages in “YoNaturals” vending machines are similar to what you would find in a health food store like Whole Foods or Wild Oats, including more than 150 choices of healthy bars, chips, crackers, cookies, dried fruit, nuts, meals, spritzers, smoothies, iced tea, coffee drinks, organic milk, water, energy drinks and juices.
YoNaturals is also actively seeking locations for their healthy vending machines in schools, colleges, universities, corporate offices, health clubs, hospitals, malls and large retailers.
To have a healthy vending machine in your location call YoNaturals at (858) 794-9955 or email sales@yonaturals.com
|
