Since Dartmouth Dining deployed 83 vending machines across campus last fall, the “Fresh Zone” depots have faced continuous theft and vandalism, according to Dartmouth Dining retail manager Joshua McGary. Dartmouth Dining has continuously submitted cases to the Committee on Standards, according to McGary.
According to McGary, the Fresh Zone vending machines were built to support “food security and food access.” The vending machines carry chips, candy bars and meals from the central production kitchen, according to McGary.
Since the installation of Fresh Zone machines, Dartmouth Dining has encountered theft and vandalism incidents, according to McGary. The actions included “shoving [goods] up their sleeves,” “physically damaging the credit card readers” and “prying the doors open,” according to McGary.
“On any given day, we have two to three thousand transactions out of the machines across all 83 units,” McGary said. “And I deal with anywhere from four or five to a dozen theft attempts a day.”
McGary added that in some incidents, students will eat part of a dish from the vending machine and then return the rest.
“I’ve seen people open up a sushi [box], take one roll and pop the thing back in there,” McGary said. “When we have to throw away perfectly good food, that feels incredibly wasteful.”
McGary said it is “frustrating” to encounter theft and vandalism at a “very prestigious university.” He added that the crimes have “a really drastic impact on access to food.”
“In some cases, the sabotaged machine had to be locked down for 10 or 12 hours,” McGary said. He explained that the monetary impact ranges from “a couple hundred dollars to replace a credit card reader” to, in some cases, $1,200 worth of food that had to be thrown out due to damages to machines.
Dartmouth Dining associate director Heather Lascelle added that Dartmouth Dining built the vending machines to accommodate students who “rely really heavily” on meal plans and DBA from the College.
“We don’t live in New York City, where you can go and get a piece of pizza at 3 a.m.,” Lascelle said. “[The vending machines] help supplement not just the meal plans, but 24-hour access to food, which is super important to students that don’t have access to groceries in their rooms.”
McGary acknowledged that because many of the machines are in dormitories, they create “a comfort level … that can be deceiving to students.”
Lascelle said that as dining credit “starts to run low, there’s that tendency to make some bad decisions.”
McGary added that for each offense, he has to go through a “full investigation process,” often outside of his regular work hours. These repeated offenses are “frustrating,” he added.
An anonymous student who has stolen from the vending machines and been through the disciplinary process said that they “regretted the act of stealing.”
“I stole because I was running low on DBA, and saw someone else steal, so I thought there would be little consequences,” the student said. “Now I realize that my damage to the machines greatly inconvenienced the students who rely on the machines for meals and snacks.”
The student said that they are thankful for the “meticulousness” and “empathy” of the disciplinary process, which gave them a chance to avoid suspension by paying fines and completing acts of service.
“You might think you can get away with no consequences, but you will regret it later,” the student said.
McGary said that students should respect Dartmouth Dining’s effort to expand food access.
“The Fresh Zone is about serving in your space, and I just asked them to respect that,” McGary said. “You wouldn’t go into your friend’s house and ransack their fridge — why would you do it on your own?”
