Throughout the past few weeks, a trend has emerged in the Cafe. It seems there are not enough forks. It is a common sight to see students digging through silverware holders in search of a fork.
There is speculation about where all the forks have gone.
“I think the cause of the shortage is that people are taking the forks,” Ben Guhl said. “I think the cafeteria staff is trying to teach us a lesson by not supplying extra forks to make up the difference.”
Students have been affected in many ways by this apparent shortage. Some students feel strongly that something should be done.
Jenna Beeson said many of the meals she enjoys at the Cafe are traditionally considered “fork foods,” and the lack of forks has made eating meals difficult.
“The fork shortage is causing a lot of stress to already stressful lives,” Beeson said. “How are we supposed to eat the already ungraceful foods like salad with spoons and not look even more ridiculous than we normally do? I don’t think it’s possible.”
Hannah Shie, a work-study student in the Cafe, said that both the shortage and the reactions of various students have upset her.
“It’s frustrating to not be able to put out clean forks for everyone,” Shie said. “It’s also frustrating because people get mad at us for not having clean forks when there really isn’t much we can do. We work to get clean silverware and dishes to people as fast as we can.”
Last month, the Sodexo staff took more than 300 forks out of storage to add to the supply in circulation. Chef B.J. Whitmore suggested that perhaps students simply are not looking on all five silverware stations.
“I encourage students to check other silverware locations if they have trouble finding what they need,” Whitmore said. “Please inform a Sodexo employee so we can remedy the problem as quick as possible.”
Several students have thought of different solutions to the fork shortage. Kristen Schuler suggested that the Cafe serve pudding and applesauce for every meal so students do not have a need for forks. Beeson also came up with a possible fix.
“I feel like a simple solution would be for the Cafe to buy more forks,” Beeson said. “The student body can be proactive with this fork shortage and try to limit fork usage to one fork per person instead of getting a new fork for every dish.”
