Food Theft Problem

Due to Covid funding, every Woodstock student gets a free lunch daily. Despite that, some students are stealing extra food and treating cafeteria workers with disrespect.

“It really kills our spirit,” Gretchen Czaja, the head of the cafeteria, says.

Along with stealing lunches, the cafeteria staff has witnessed students misusing eating utensils and throwing away school property. The implications of these acts are being felt across the school.

“We need to remind ourselves that there are people here to make us a free meal from scratch. It’s not perfect but it’s a beautiful program,” C3 Director Luis Bango, says.

Czaja, along with other kitchen staff, are frustrated with how students are behaving. In an attempt to raise awareness of the current situation, teachers talked about the issue to high school students during an advisory. However, students felt that the issue was overshadowed by the vandalism issue involving the bathrooms.

10th grader, Cole Waters, says the cafeteria situation was “skimmed over by teachers”.

According to cafeteria staff, the issue is much deeper than stealing lunches. Students have been discarding reusable lunch trays and silverware instead of returning them to the cafeteria. These acts impact the efforts the cafeteria staff have made to become sustainable.

“If stealing continues we have to reduce choices, we don’t want to do that,” Czaja says. The cafeteria staff are urging students to keep in mind that each meal is handmade, taking time and money.

“The kitchen staff really care about the meals they’re serving students,” Cafeteria worker Dyan Hoehl says.

Federal funding for the cafeteria could be in jeopardy if they are no longer able to provide proper meals due to the cost of thefts. The cafeteria is reimbursed by the USDA for every complete breakfast and lunch that is served. When sandwiches or salads are stolen, it increases food cost for the cafeteria. In addition, the cafeteria does not get reimbursed for the products being stolen.

“The kitchen staff loves what they do and just want respect and a good relationship with students,” Czaja emphasizes.

“You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar, if you respect us, it’ll benefit everyone,” Hoehl adds.