Parents Launch Healthy Vending Franchise After Daughter’s Celiac Disease Diagnosis
Memphis, TN (PRWEB) July 24, 2013 -- David and Ginny Szalay have always paid particular attention to their daughter’s diet since she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 5. When their daughter was also diagnosed with Celiac disease, they knew it would be even more difficult to find snacks and drinks to meet their busy lifestyle and daughter’s specific dietary needs. In an effort to solve that challenge, the Szalays partnered with HUMAN Healthy Vending – the nation’s leading franchisor of healthy vending machine businesses – to ensure that their family, as well as the greater Memphis community, has convenient access to healthful foods and beverages, including allergy- and diabetic-friendly options.
HUMAN Healthy Vending is an award-winning franchisor of eco-friendly and high-tech healthy vending machines. HUMAN’s machines vend better-for-you foods and beverages, including fresh fruit, hummus and snack bars, and can provide schools with planograms that comply with the USDA’s Smart Snacks in School rules.
Operating as “Easy Nutrition Everywhere LLC,” the Szalays have secured locations for HUMAN Healthy Vending machines in Germantown, Memphis, and surrounding areas, with Farmington Elementary School and Shelby Farms Park as the first locations to sign contracts.
Farmington Elementary School ditched their junk-food vending machine in May and incorporated a healthy vending program in its place. Now, healthful choices, including options that are gluten-, nut-, egg- and dairy-free, as well as locally sourced items, such as Zippie Hippie Granola Bars and Monkey Bars, are available to students and staff. The local options are also available at Shelby Farms along with Organic dog treats from local farmers, Farm House Barkery.
Principal Lee Ann Chism Kight led the effort to bring a healthy vending program to Farmington.
“Farmington’s staff has worked hard to provide healthy lifestyle choices for our students from our Walk to School Wednesdays and bike rodeos to our Falcon 5K Club," said Chism Kight. "We have held staff challenges related to walking and weight loss, and even host an after school yoga group. Updating our snack offerings to align with our commitment just made sense.”
According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Memphis is routinely listed as one of the most obese cities, with more than a third of residents "obese," which the federal Centers for Disease Control defines as having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.
“We clearly have challenges as a community to make changes to our diet. Sparked by our own struggles to feed our daughter healthful foods, my wife and I will help make a positive change in our community by providing access to healthful choices and educating on the benefits of eating well and staying active,” said David Szalay. “The best place to start is our schools and recreational areas. We are excited to work with Farmington School and Shelby Farms Park as our first locations.”
The Szalays’ healthy vending machines in schools provide wholesome snacks that are a better alternative to the foods and drinks typically found in vending machines.
With the USDA’s Smart Snacks in School rules, all schools must revamp their current vending machine snacks to meet a specific criteria designed to ensure snacks and beverages are wholesome by July 1, 2014. The Szalays are positioned to provide schools with a product mix that complies with these rules.
Those interested in owning their own HUMAN Healthy Vending franchise, or in having a HUMAN Healthy Vending machine at their location, may call 310.845.7745 or visit http://www.healthyvending.com.
About HUMAN Healthy Vending
HUMAN (Helping Unite Mankind And Nutrition) Healthy Vending’s mission is to make healthy food more convenient than junk food. HUMAN accomplishes this by placing high-tech and eco-friendly vending machines that only vend better-for-you foods and drinks, including fresh produce and locally sourced foods, in schools, hospitals, gyms and corporate locations across the world. In addition to providing healthful food options, HUMAN machines provide nutrition education via high-definition LCD screens that display streaming videos and other digital content. HUMAN currently has more than 1,500 machines placed across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
HUMAN Healthy Vending has been ranked by Entrepreneur as one of its “Top 100 Brilliant Companies” and by Forbes as one of “America’s Most Promising Companies” (two years in a row).
HUMAN donates 10% of profits to charities that fight the causes of childhood obesity and malnutrition, with a predominate recipient of those funds being HUMAN’s non-profit arm, HUMAN Everywhere. HUMAN Everywhere’s mission is to leverage the power of social entrepreneurship to improve the nation’s collective health by increasing access to nutrition education and healthful foods while advocating for public policy that contributes to these goals.
Annabel Adams, HUMAN Healthy Vending, http://www.healthyvending.com, 562-852-3338, [email protected]
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