Garfield has had vending machines since Mr. Rees went to Garfield – but likely even more than that. More recently, the vending machines at Garfield had been running fairly smoothly until the tail end of the 2023-2024 school year. An issue with the vendor led to no restocking of snacks; little by little, Bulldogs witnessed as all the chips and granola bars were taken until there was only one thing left. At the top corner of one of the vending machine were a few bags of T.G.I Friday’s Potato Skins. They sat there, untouched through the end of last year and briefly into this year.
After talking to other schools in Seattle about the vendors they utilized, Garfield made the jump between vendors. With that came three brand-new vending machines and some new and old snacks.
Sugar-Free Fruit Punch Powerade – starting with one of the older vending machines, on the very right corner is the Coca-Cola sponsored vending machine that doesn’t have Coca-Cola. Instead it offers Dasani water and three flavors of zero sugar Powerade; blue raspberry, fruit punch, and grape. The fruit punch flavor, being a zero-calorie drink, is obviously bitter without the added sugars. For people unaccustomed to zero-sugar drinks it might be a shock, especially for the first sip. For those more accustomed, the Powerade might carry a flavor more nuanced than its sugary counterpart.
Across from that vending machine is another beverage dispenser which includes Smartwater, Peach Mango Bodyarmor Lyte, orange and apple juice, and multiple flavors of Vitaminwater. The Strawberry Lemonade Vitaminwater is exactly how it’s advertised: Water that is flavored as strawberry lemonade.
In the new vending machines, two snacks were chosen: Sweet Heat Popchips and Reduced Fat Doritos. For the Popchips, while they are flavorful, there’s something lacking about them. They don’t feel as airy as other Popchips flavors and the ‘sweet heat’ isn’t the strongest taste. The latter is an upside for those fine with a more mild taste but may not rest as easy with others.
Reduced Fat Nacho Cheese Doritos – these doritos are almost identical to their fat-full counterparts. The only real difference is the reduced amount of dust, which slightly reduces taste. In addition, it makes clean-up easier. Depending on how you get rid of the dust this is either an upside or downside.
Just like the previous vending machines, it should be noted that they are refrigerated. While that did not affect the taste of either chips, they may for other items. For example, the texture of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Cereal Bar was similar to a Rice Krispy Treat.
Noticeably, the new vending machines no longer have a formerly popular item: the Nutella & GO! spread and breadsticks. Despite that, overall the new vending machines offer a wider, better array of snacks.
