On-campus PicoCoolers offer healthy, alternative food options during afternoons and evenings

The HFC Student Council listened to the concerns of the HFC student body about not having on-campus access to healthy food options after 2:00 p.m., when the Skylight Café on the main campus closes. Student Council worked on this during the 2025-2026 academic year.

The result has been the installation of PicoCoolers, which are refrigeration vending units on the first floors of the Technology Building (Building E) and the Reuther Liberal Arts Building (Building K), both of which are on the main campus. The PicoCoolers offer salads, sandwiches, meats and cheeses, quick meals, and grab-and-go snacks. These offerings are significantly different than the typical vending machines fare of candy bars, cookies, chips and similar.

"These are meant to be a quick, easy access option for students to grab – especially for the students who take classes after 2:00 p.m., as well as the students who have busy schedules and lack the time to leave campus and grab something to eat," said Student Council Chair Easton Anthony Socola, who was Vice Chair when this initiative was first proposed. "I'd like to emphasize that these options are meant to be convenient and quick. The amount of times I've been on campus and ignored my nutrition to focus on other things is astounding. There is a large amount of research regarding nutrition and student success. After looking into this, I try to grab something to eat before my night classes."

A feasible option for quick access to healthier food

To keep the food items affordable, prices range from 79¢ to $7 per food item. The PicoCoolers do not accept cash. The require credit or debit cards.

There are microwaves and tables near the PicoCoolers, so you can heat up your food if you wish. We ask that you keep the area tidy once you are finished eating.

"This project was initially inspired by a collection of student feedback. The No. 1 concern we had was a lack of food options after 2:00 p.m., which prompted the Student Council to work toward a solution," explained Socola. "This was quite a learning experience for us. It started by running a survey to get more concise feedback on our future plans, which ended up being one of the most responded-to surveys in our history! After this, we began the discussion with faculty and staff regarding plans for some supplemental food options."

Working alongside the College's administration, the Student Council explored a variety of options, including mini-markets and other restaurants on campus. Socola met with representatives from HFC’s Finance department, the Skylight Café, and Aramark – HFC's current vendor – to make sure everyone was on board with the plan. Aramark proposed the PicoCoolers, which turned out to be the most feasible option. The PicoCoolers are a pilot program. Once the Student Council gets more feedback, it will determine future plans from there.

PicoCoolers have been well-received

The PicoCoolers were placed in the Technology and Liberal Arts Buildings because of the amount of foot traffic. Socola will review data before moving to install more PicoCoolers on the rest of the main campus and on the East Campus.

"We would like to expand some form of food options across most of the campus. This will be dependent on the feedback we receive," said Socola. "This is something we are still gauging. We are working to create a survey for students to give us mass feedback on what they like, what they don't like, and anything else. Talking to faculty and students across campus, the PicoCoolers have been fairly well-received so far."

Socola pointed out that the price of a food item decreases as it nears its expiration date. Food items are removed after their expiration date.

"Depending on the food items, the prices are meant to align. Smaller, quick snacks will be cheaper, and the food items closer to meals are a bit more expensive. Aramark's system for the PicoCoolers tracks the sales, expiration dates, and more," he said. "This allows the machine to automatically lower prices for items that would soon go to waste. Personally, I really think this system is very useful because it takes some of the cost off of the user and minimizes food waste."

The process of getting the PicoCoolers onto campus took some work. Socola stated the Student Council worked with all the appropriate parties for two semesters on this project before it came to fruition.

"I do think there is value to bringing these types of initiatives to the campus," he said. "I'd like to make certain that this is only the start. The future of what this could become is in the power of the students succeeding us."