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Healthy eating can be challenging when you’re traveling, especially in airports and on airplanes. If you’re looking for a quick, healthy, delicious meal while you’re traveling or passing through airports, then you will want to check out this vending machine recommended by Heather Poole, a flight attendant for a major U.S. airline and the bestselling author of Cruising Attitude: Tales of Crashpads, Crew Drama, and Crazy Passengers at 35,000 Feet.


Heather lives in Los Angeles but is based out of New York City, meaning she has to commute to across the country just to go to work. Traveling as much as she does, she knows a thing or two about airline and airport food. On her public Facebook page, Heather posted a picture of her sitting in the jump seat and eating a Farmer’s Fridge salad with the caption: “New York – Los Angeles ✈️ Farmer’s Fridge chicken Caesar salad is so good it’s hard to believe I bought it from a vending machine at JFK airport. Way better than first class food. Also, I wasn’t paid to say this. Just sharing good stuff with flight attendant friends.”


What made me take note of this and write about it to share with you is that I trust Heather’s recommendation and there were many positive responses from her flight attendant friends and colleagues. Keep in mind, even when flight attendants fly standby or are stuck in the jump seat, they are usually very well treated by their colleagues who are working the flight. They’re almost always offered a free first-class meal since many passengers either pass and/or there’s extra.

Here are some of the comments from her colleagues:

Dawn King-Karavas: I just bought one in the PIT airport and it was so good! A fa told me there is an app you can use too for points.

Amanda Ball: I love Farmers Fridge, and I always save the containers! They’re the absolute best to reuse.

Yvonne L Shields: I love it!

Cecilia Barfield: I love it! Wish there were at more locations!

Brittany MacDonald: Farmers Fridge is THE best!! The southwestern salad is phenomenal too!

Janice Mirly Dusty Steedman: I’ve been getting that for years. I think I saw it first at ORD. Then DFW. Its’s gooood.

Shelley Braatz: I think the salads from Farmers Fridge are all great

These are rave reviews and makes me want to go to the airport and try it for myself – can you tell I’m hungry? On a related note: One of my top tips when traveling to a new airport is to find the restaurant/café with the longest line of flight attendants and/or pilots because they know where the best, quickest and cheapest food is.

I see Farmer’s Fridge vending machines all the time, including just last week in the waiting room of the emergency department at Cedars Sinai Hospital. Next time, I’m going to try them out for myself.

Have you ever tried Farmer’s Fridge? What do you think and is there a particular item you love?

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1 Comment On "Flight attendants claim this airport vending machine has better food than First Class"
  1. Max Weber|

    Farmers Fridge has some of the best food at the airport and it is reasonably priced. You can save some money by using the app.

    The Pesto Pasta and the Baja Chicken Wrap are my favorites.

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