By Ayush Patel | Staff Writer

This school year, the lack of Irvington lunch staff caused a reduction of available food carts throughout the campus during lunch. Normally, there would be several carts spread out within the campus; however, this year, there are none available.

“The lack of lunch staff is caused by the large amounts of openings right now,” explained Lydia Williams, the head lunch lady. “It’s difficult to get people who want to work here.”

Currently, Williams is finding new ways to hire workers. She and her staff are publicizing available spots through flyers, approaching other campuses, and speaking to the PTSA.

“A lot of the positions are two hour positions,” Williams stated, “which makes it more difficult to fill as other people want more hours.”

Although there is not enough staff to work the lunch carts, Lydia feels certain that there will not be a projected decrease in sales.

“We’ve had an increase in sales due to the influx of students this year,” Williams said.  “However, that’s also the reason we’ve been unable to accommodate for the lack of staff because we need more people to manage the large amount of students.”

Various reactions regarding the disappearance of lunch carts have been displayed among Irvington students.

“It’s harder for me to get lunch every day,” said sophomore Sanika Gavankar. “If I go to the lunch cart, it’s easier to buy lunch that I want while if I go in the lunch lines in the cafeteria, I have to wait for a long time and in the end get stuck with choices that I don’t eat.”

On the other hand, sophomore Stacy Shen said that the lack of lunch carts does not affect her. However, she noted, “It would be convenient for there to be more lunch carts since I always see super long lines for the cafeteria.”