Would you eat salad from a vending machine?

[ShiftyNJ]

Would you eat salad from a vending machine? 28 y.o. Chicago entrepreneur Luke Saunders hopes so! Read about his efforts to make fresh, healthy food more convenient for those on the go, and -- ultimately -- affordable for people who subsist on junk food because it's all they know.

The dreadful inconvenience of Salad - The Atlantic

[Virge]

HELL NO.

What preservatives would they have to use to do that???? Jeez! I eat salads more than anything else, both at home and in restaurants and I eat BIG SALADS. He's selling salads in puny pint jars. And there's no way he could get in all the great stuff that comes with most salad bars.

He might do well if he puts them in pet shops so people can feed the rabbits and guinea pigs.

[ShiftyNJ]

HELL NO.

What preservatives would they have to use to do that???? Jeez! I eat salads more than anything else, both at home and in restaurants and I eat BIG SALADS. He's selling salads in puny pint jars. And there's no way he could get in all the great stuff that comes with most salad bars.

He might do well if he puts them in pet shops so people can feed the rabbits and guinea pigs.

I don't think they put any preservatives in them... the story says they make the salads every morning, fill the machines by 1200 daily (there are only 13 of them for this reason) and whatever they don't sell that day gets donated or discounted to $1.

[Virge]

I don't think they put any preservatives in them... the story says they make the salads every morning, fill the machines by 1200 daily (there are only 13 of them for this reason) and whatever they don't sell that day gets donated or discounted to $1.

I read that but projected to see what would happen if it ever became an real industry that put salad vending machines in office buildings, etc. I know in the premade sandwiches they use preservatives to keep meats from discoloring and inert gases like Argon. I also found out that if you buy any types of potato chips, pretzels, etc with a 4+ month expiration date from date made they're treated with "crispness agents" and bagged in mixtures of gases that aren't monitored or regulated by anyone but the manufacturer. My room mate eats spicy pork rinds and they always come with 6 to 8 month expiration dates.

That crap scares me more than fruitcake... those things sold around christmas that can sit out for a year and never mold.

[ShiftyNJ]

I hear you there. I wouldn't make a habit of this unless it grew using the same methods used now, and the only time I eat out of a vending machine at all is if I am desperate, at which point this is still probably better than the alternatives. Since my job no longer involves late nights alone in an office stuck out in suburbia, trying to eat yogurt with a plastic knife because that's what I could find, it's more of an abstract problem for me, but I know there are many people who still face choices like this.

[LJay]

How is this so different from the prepared salads that I see at the grocery store? Lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and all of that are in a plastic bowl with a clear cover and open dated. Can't say that is the tops, but it may be better than chips and a Snickers for lunch.

Would I buy it? Probably not, because I tend to avoid as much pre-made food as possible because it is expensive and because I have learned to plan ahead for meals on the go.

[LJay]

O Virge! My great grandparents ate the top layer of their wedding cake--a fruitcake--on their 25th anniversary. It was carefully does with brandy from time to time to keep it in good shape. When I was a kid, we used to bake fruitcakes on Halloween and dose them to be eaten a year later and often even five years later.

[East]

No....I live in a salad bowl geographically and can easily and inexpensively buy fresh produce 365 days a year....and I like making my own dressing.

[Rareboy]

I actually make a fresh salad every day for lunch.....one of the advantages of being out of the fast food world.....I will go to the fresh salad places in food courts and even at McDonald's...I eat a salad 9 times out of 10. If I only had a vending machine with salad...I suspect that I'd eat one out of the machine.

[CellarDweller]

I would always question how fresh that salad is, so I vote no.