The vending machines by the west cafeteria have recently increased their prices, and although a reason behind the increase is not officially disclosed, it is likely due to an increase in the price of supplying snacks in Niles North vending machines.

Since high school students usually do not have much money to spend freely, every dollar, every quarter, and every dime can make a big difference.

“The vending machines are […] well over retail price. […] Students are already using them less frequently,” Senior Sandra Montero says.

However, the inconvenience of the price increase is not solely irksome for the dent it makes in a student’s pocket.

“A lot of the $1 options are now $1.25,” Senior Justin Imm says, which is bothersome since “I don’t carry around a quarter and I hate breaking dollars.”

While breaking a dollar or any bill may simply be a pet peeve or minor inconvenience for some students, the consequences can be more far reaching when placed in the position to choose to either search for a quarter or to break a dollar and sacrifice time in order to collect the excess quarters that the vending machines spew.

Since some students either do not have a lunch, have a terribly early lunch, or tend to get hungry frequently, the vending machines provide an ideal service to get some food quickly before your next class, so that you can dirrect your attention away from an angry stomach to the material at hand.

“The greatest benefit of the vending machines was the cheap snacks that were very affordable and convenient. Now with it being an extra quarter you may be late to class because you can’t find that extra quarter,” Imm says.

Unfortunately, it is possible that the school is fairly limited in their ability to address the issue of the vending machine price increase.

According to Assisstant Principal Keith Robinson, “I believe […the price increase is] due to supply and demand where the initial cost of the product is always passed down to the consumer.”

However, it is possible that some compromise can be reached. Robinson plans to meet with Brian Lucas, the owner of Lean Green Healthy Vending, our Niles North vending machine provider.

When considering how prices can be decreased, it is important to remember that our vending provider needs to make a profit to keep his business running and that Niles North gets a percentage of the profit made from our vending machine sales. At some point, lowering our prices may offer a marginal benefit to students that does not outweigh the benefits of additional revenue for our community.

If it proves to be difficult to lower the prices of vending machine merchandise, the issue of searching for an extra quarter or two could be approached instead.

A possible solution could be to round prices to the nearest dollar, so that while the prices of some items are decreased, others can be increased to compensate.

For students who have any potential solutions in mind, be sure to share your ideas with student government or the student association representative for your homeroom.