Mainz Uni: Fries Cut Due to Dish Theft

Of the 500 cake plates that the Mainz Student Union purchased for the university canteens, around 450 have disappeared within the last four weeks. The loss of chip trays is similarly drastic: of the 1,590 that were purchased last year, only around 100 are currently in use. This meant that fries could not be sold at times. According to the managing director of the student union, Alexandra Diestel-Feddersen, the “Bambus” cafeteria in the Georg Foster building near the central library is particularly affected.

But the cutlery is not spared either. Last year alone, the student union had to buy around 9,000 forks for the “Bambus” cafeteria. The ongoing replacement of the missing dishes represents a significant financial burden, said Diestel-Feddersen. It cannot therefore be ruled out that the costs could also have an impact on food prices in the canteens in the future, according to the student union. But we want to prevent that for now.

According to the Student Union’s assessment, the majority of the dishes are still on campus, for example in offices and tea kitchens. It is also assumed that numerous shared apartments are now equipped with cafeteria dishes. The student union is therefore calling for returns. “Around 50 cake plates and ten to 15 chip bowls have now found their way back into the bamboo,” reports Diestel-Feddersen – a start, but far from enough.

Further interventions were therefore discussed in a “Meet the Gastro” crisis meeting with students called this week. Among other things, a bi-annual “dishes back day” is planned, during which students and employees will be asked to collect and return borrowed canteen dishes. Since first-year students in particular often take dishes from the canteens to initially equip their kitchens, the idea of a “first-year tableware starter pack” comes up. The student union is considering buying dishes cheaply and selling them on in inexpensive starter sets for shared apartments.

However, the student union primarily relies on the personal responsibility of students and employees and appeals to leave the dishes in the canteens. If you want to eat your food outside of the cafeteria, you can use deposited reusable containers from the student union or your own containers. According to Diestel-Feddersen, dishwashing is also a known problem at other universities, but it has increased particularly sharply in Mainz.