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Salad Vending Machines Serving Up Healthy Eating Options In Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) -- If you're struggling with a New Year's resolution to eat healthy, there are some vending machines in Chicago that can help, reports WBBM's Nancy Harty.

Salad seems like the last thing you would find in a vending machine, but CEO Luke Saunders says Farmer's Fridge is changing the face of delivering food.

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"It was like how do I create something that has a new distribution model that I could take a restaurant and chop it up into 10 pieces and put it all over town?" said Saunders.

15 machines, mostly downtown and at the Marriott O'Hare are restocked every weekday and at 7-11's, it is restocked every day to make sure contents are fresh for choosy customers. Leftovers are donated to a food bank.

Saunders says the concept has brought in a whole new segment of consumers.

"What we found is a lot of people made their food at home, they were at-home eaters and a lot of the customers buy the jars and use them afterwards to make their own lunch again," he said.

The first machine went in late 2013. He hopes to have 50 by the end of the year.

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