
Student Fridges


We want boarding students of all grade levels to be able to keep fridges in their room! This year, most students can no longer bring back their meals from the dining hall to finish later. Due to the restrictions placed on the communal dorm fridges, seniors are the only students who can keep perishable food items. We can not buy food from the apple shed and save the rest. What often ends up happening is students will throw away any leftovers they have. Not only is this a massive waste of food and money, it also makes it especially difficult for vegan, gluten free, kosher keeping, and vegetarian students to be able to work with the dining options. Frequently, the only options for students with dietary restrictions are minimal and not fulfilling. It would help if students could keep their own food options at hand, for when the commons fall short.
Communal fridges are not clean or safe. Everyone is always touching the handles, and when people leave food to rot, other people end up having to clean it up. This past year, there was a massive food stealing problem in Reed and this year it’s becoming an issue in Wesleyan. Last year in Reed, when the fridge was locked up to prevent more stealing, students had nowhere to put their food and had to throw it all out. What was left in the fridge rotted, and the faculty members had to clean everything up.
Occasionally on weekends there is nowhere to get food after 12:00 until dinner, since the Student center closes. If a student oversleeps, they are unable to work with the brunch options. This is especially challenging for students that decide to work out and end up being hungry. For students at Kents Hill, athletics are required. This means that the students here require a higher amount of calories per day than a typical teenager. Foods recommended for athletic and growing adolescents are often perishable items: fruits, vegetables, etc. Students with a fridge in their dorm room would be able to keep healthy foods for longer, solving the hunger and proper diet issues in one go.
There is no reason to believe seniors are more capable fridge owners than students of other grade levels. All boarding students should be able to store their food safely without having to worry about missing and smelly food.
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