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"   More than 40 million Americans \u2013 that&amp;#039;s 13 percent of the country \u2013 rely on food stamps to help make ends meet. Figures like that underscore the wider economic malaise. If fewer people have the money to even buy food, it&amp;#039;s a likely bet they&amp;#039;re not eating out much, either.  Plenty of fast food chains \u2013 &amp;quot;quick service restaurants&amp;quot; is the preferred industry term \u2013 have attempted to make their selections more accessible to more people with less cash: dollar menus and various other specials have almost become the norm. The problem, of course, is the nutritional content of the value meals. There usually isn&amp;#039;t any. And eating lunch in a fast food joint is like, well, eating lunch in a fast food joint.  Those are just a couple of reasons why an experiment by a quickly growing chain, Panera Bread Co., is so interesting. With about 1,400 outlets in 40 states, Panera stepped outside the safety zone last spring when it opened St. Louis Bread Co. Cares Caf\u00E9 in Clayton, Mo. There&amp;#039;s no dollar menu here; instead, customers pay on the honor system. &amp;quot;This honor-based approach to selling fast food was launched a few months ago as a pilot scheme,&amp;quot; according to The Economist. &amp;quot;The goal is to let customers who are feeling the strain of the weak economy dine with dignity among regular customers, with none of the stigma of the soup kitchen.&amp;quot; Rather than paying set menu prices for salads, sandwiches, soups, and baked goods, customers pay what they can. Situating the caf\u00E9 in a well-to-do suburb of St. Louis, but easily accessible to less-well-to-do neighborhoods, has brought in a solid mix of people from both ends of the financial spectrum. &amp;quot;Its cashiers tell customers their orders&amp;#039; &amp;#039;suggested&amp;#039; price based on the menu,&amp;quot; reports Associated Press. &amp;quot;About 60 to 70 percent pay in full, [Panera Bread chairman Donald] Shaich said. About 15 percent leave a little more and another 15 percent pay less, or nothing at all. A handful have left big donations, like $20 for a cup of coffee.&amp;quot; Nearly six months later, the experiment seems to be working. The caf\u00E9 brought in $100,000 in its first month and has broken even since. Shaich is now talking about opening another caf\u00E9 in Detroit before the end of the year and another somewhere on the West Coast. Eventually, someday, he&amp;#039;d like to open similar ventures in every city where Panera operates its for-profit outlets. Given Panera Bread&amp;#039;s incredible success \u2013 especially in the face of the recession \u2013 it&amp;#039;s an enormous goal.  &amp;quot;In some ways, the cafe has become a refuge for people affected by the recession,&amp;quot; reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. &amp;quot;Employees can rattle off the stories. There&amp;#039;s the teacher who lost her job. The tech worker who got laid off and didn&amp;#039;t know how to feed his family. The single mother with two children who live in a shelter. There are hugs and tears from those down on their luck.&amp;quot; The concept isn&amp;#039;t new, however. One World Everybody Eats Caf\u00E9 in Salt Lake City has been in business since 2003 and has helped several similar ventures take off in cities from New Jersey to Washington state. Denise Cerreta, One World&amp;#039;s founder, consulted with Shaich as he began plans to open his Cares Caf\u00E9 in St. Louis.  &amp;quot;She says that Panera is about to take community cafes to the next level,&amp;quot; USA Today reported back in May. &amp;quot;&amp;#039;Ron Shaich is creating a tipping point of this movement,&amp;#039; [Carreta] says. &amp;quot;I think we&amp;#039;ll see a wave of people following.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.delish.com/food/news/a37292/panera-st-louis-bread-co-runs-on-honor-system/>