I first encountered Farmer's Fridge at the Milwaukee airport and it was the best option there. Yesterday I used the Fresh Bowl kiosk at the Fulton Street station. I loved that I could grab it en route and the options were so much healthier than anything else around me (Dunkins, etc.). The BEST part is the zero waste packaging. Glass jars that I returned to the machine on the way home for a credit on the next purchase. And the machine stocked bamboo utensils. Yes, it was a little pricey, but I give it five stars for thoughtfulness.
I have been a BIG FAN of Farmers Fridge for at least 2 years as a frequent flyer who connects through O’hare often.
As airlines now schedule connection times requiring surgical precision to race through the airport and offer minimal in flight food (and no fresh food on flights under 3 hours) I rely on FF. The Southwest salad is always delicious and fresh and there is never a line or a wait at the kiosk which is critically important.
The packaging is perfect for carrying onto and eating inflight (unlike most airport fast food which still hasn’t figured out basic leak proof packaging). And I feel better because I save the containers and recycle them at the kiosks on my next flight thru chicago. Except for a few which my college aged daughter swiped. She recreates her favorite FF salads in her apartment using the simple screw top containers and easily carries them around campus-no leaks and no crushed salad.
I don’t mind the regulatory oversight but in my extensive in airport dining experience I trust FF food more than almost any other site.
I miss being able to find the kind of vending machine disparaged here and in many other articles. All I want is a candy bar or a small bag of potato
chips. A machine from the company discussed here is the only one in an office building near me, in Chicago. I gather it is a subscription service accessed with a non-cash form of payment. I never see anyone using it and have wondered many times about the glass jars of salad and yogurt.
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Our 'deep state' friends on the job, as usual. Thanks!
Isn’t this just a reborn automat? An automat would be deemed a restaurant for inspection purposes (pret a manger anyone?).
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Stop the world, I want to get off! Why is everyone and everything jumping on the automation bandwagon all the time? Why are we in such a rush to dehumanize our daily life? Tech snobbery or just a simple conspiracy to keep the techies employed and start ups starting? Leave our food alone. We need more fresh food markets manned by humans not machines.
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Farmer’s Fridge sounds like a contradiction in terms. I know it's not, but there's just something about the name...
Salads? They sell fresh tartar (raw beef) from machines here in Switzerland.
EVERYWHERE in the world sells fresh food from vending machines.
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Seems like typical start-up behavior. Did they just drop these vending machines off without checking with the city first? Don’t blame them actually.
The city’s wheels may turn faster knowing there are jobs here. But I’m sure the company anticipated some regulatory blow back. It’s how Silicon Valley operates: deploy first, build customer support, and put pressure on regulators.
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@K.Kong, yup, it’s part of their business model: Don’t ask for permission, ask for forgiveness. Well, actually startups and Silicon Valley, don’t even ask for forgiveness. They just whine (and whine and whine) about how unfair it is for our (yes, “our” not “the”) to regulate them (ie protect us) on our behalf. Part of (much of) the profit calculation model is based on taking advantage of lack of regulation - because it’s cheaper - for them. As these start ups mature, they by necessity have to start putting in protections (hotels have sprinklers and security etc which makes them more expensive than Airbnb) which over time brings them to a less profitable business model, but a business which is better for the rest of us.
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Well this is a tough one. Is NY over-regulating and potentially wrecking a good thing? Maybe; the state is notoriously unfriendly to business and suspicious of any venture that seeks to make money. But I certainly trust the food inspection bureaucrats more than I trust a vending machine named Farmer. The idea of selling otherwise hard-to-get fresh salads through a convenient and well-operated vending machine is a good one, and I’d like to see them in schools or food deserts next to the machines selling Doritos and candy bars. Hopefully the City and vendor will play nice with each other and the business will flourish on good sales of better food choices for everyone. One thing to note, though: it is inevitable that someone, somewhere, will get sick (or claim to get sick) on a Farmer’s Fridge purchase. Fresh salad is just too convenient a vector for pathogens to avoid it, even with the best inspection regimen. Then the issue becomes: how long before the trial lawyers kill it off.
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I happen to love this convenient, healthy option that is now in our local airport and near my office. And, the recyclable containers are a plus. This is a bit beyond ridiculous to create these barriers to operate. Any unused product is donated at the end of shelf life which is another plus. Price points are fair for this healthy dining option. I love it.
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@MommaBear
And how do you know that the food is fresh? What tells you that?
How do you know the food is donated? Who is watching this? I'm sure the people putting the food in and removing outdated packs are paid a low wage. How are they supervised?
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I was a skeptic re these inspections and ratings but have seen been converted.
I eat out a lot and in my 20s-50s have gotten food poisoning at least four or five times.
I am eating out more than ever now in my 60s (I am 71) and since the onset of the ratings have never come close to getting sick.
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I tried them a couple of times. Way, way overpriced. Way, way over-sugared. Not much healthy about it.
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Is the packaging recyclable?
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Yet most bodegas and stores with deli counters are still not graded...
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I can't be the only one who remembers Automats.
It was a highlight of My first trip to NYC in the mid-60s; at 10 years old,I thought most everything else we did was not nearly as exciting.
It would be interesting to see if it could make a comeback - this is actually not so different.
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Then surely you remember that the Automats were facades for the full service kitchen that was behind them, the food was prepared and sold onsite, nothing like what these machines do, But thanks for the reminder if a bygone era!!
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I think NYC should not charge $250 per vending machine, as if each were a standalone restaurant. Could they not give them some sort of new category, once they feel reassured that they were well monitored and never sold past the sell-by date? Obviously the person who stocks them is removing all the old ones regularly. I think this is a fantastic business model, and one that could really encourage excellent (and tasty!) eating habits in food deserts everywhere.
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@A — on the one hand, you observe the potential for this model to make inroads in places where good nutritious food is scarce, and on the other you call for giving fresh-vended food a free ride in the health inspection system. Even the seller says they see the value in receiving an inspection and a grade. Why shouldn’t there be a plan, a cost to enter a location, and ongoing inspection? That benefits the seller, the city, and most importantly, the consumers. Without it, fresh food in an unattended machine will become the next chaotic disruptive free-for-all, and a sickening one, at that.
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Throughout Japan vending machines of every conceivable item are widely used and available. Learn from our neighbors in the Far East. Extremely convenient.
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@John Ramey
They also have the Food Sanitation Act, which I think is a more comprehensive regulation of food handling and preparation protocols -- for stores, restaurants, and vending machines alike -- than any US state has.
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Surely New York City has had those "automat"-style vending machines with the rotating, refrigerated compartments containing things like egg salad sandwiches? This just doesn't seem like that revolutionary a concept (though I'm sure the food in the yuppy version is packed with lots more buzz-word-worthy ingredients).
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No, NYC has never had a sizable number of proper food vending machines. Those are much more common in Japan.
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Sorry to be cynical, but the inspectors aren't happy about being replaced by robots, in this case a central computer that tracks the temperature every five minutes. That's better than any old school establishment.
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@No Name Please — The temperature inside the case is only one factor. The contents of the jars may be packed in sanitary conditions, but what about the outsides of that packaging? Paint your own picture, but who inspects the delivery/restocking people for cleanliness? Okay, I’ll call back to the Seinfeld episode where Papi got a little sloppy…and didn’t wash his hands before going back to hand-tossing pizza crusts. Yum. No central computer is going to track that.
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