Letter to the Editors: Statement Regarding the Scrounge

By Milo Gardner-Stephens

Dear Editors,

I have come to the conclusion that the costs of the Scrounge outweigh its benefits. This might seem odd coming from me since I am one of the people who most enthusiastically promoted its resurgence. But I have found that the Scrounge in its current iteration is lacking in a few key areas.

First, the Scrounge is subject to a pileup of dishes. In the old system where the Scrounge had its own dedicated table, this wasn't a major issue: students who took part in the Scrounge would simply clear the dishes off at the end of the day. (It is worth noting that even this didn't necessarily happen – I've been told by Commons workers that students were not always the most diligent about keeping the scrounge tidy). However, under the current system, dishes crowd the dish return, and it falls on the Commons workers to put them onto the conveyor. As one of the primary beneficiaries of the Scrounge, I certainly do not mind moving the dishes myself, but I am often not in the dining hall.

Second, a lot of the best stuff on the dish return is not actually left on the Scrounge. Often I'll intercept fries, chicken tenders, and quesadillas on the conveyor, while the Scrounge will have nothing but a bowl containing three chunks of honeydew. To be clear: I'm nothing but appreciative of the people who choose to leave their food on the Scrounge. The willingness of the student body to come together and bring back an old Reed tradition (and feed me!) has been nothing short of inspiring. Even so, many of the items that I am most likely to go after are on the conveyor, and bringing the Scrounge back hasn't meaningfully changed that.

Barring a full reinstitution of the Scrounge à la Olde Reed, with its own designated table and clearly laid out commandments, I do not see it being worth it to keep scrounging around. I was finding food on the dish return just fine before we brought the Scrounge back, and the convenience of stationary dishes are outweighed by the inconvenience they pose to Commons staff. It is highly unlikely that the Scrounge as it was pre-pandemic will come back anytime soon, and until it does, it is not worth it on the whole.

I should note that this is just my opinion, and I am not the only scrounger on campus. Since I was one of the fiercest advocates for bringing the Scrounge back, I feel that it is appropriate to publicly state my views now that they have changed. However, I do not speak for every Scrounger at Reed. I have talked to one person who said that they see no reason the Scrounge should go away, and there may be others who feel the same way.