STA’s Bistro Kids lunch program has recently effected some changes in order to serve enough food for the students.

“Since I started here… knowing how much food to prepare on a daily basis has just kind of been a guessing game,” Bistro Kids chef Scott Brake said. “So there were some issues at the beginning of last semester where we had not enough food or way too much food.”

This issue has been imperative to the Bistro staff since an incident in November, according to Brake.

“We ran out of chicken noodle soup when I made it in November, and I know there were a lot of students who were upset,” Brake said. “And it upset me that people who were excited to get a good bowl of soup weren’t able to get it. So we want to make sure that we prepare enough food.”

This semester, Bistro has begun using a Google Form survey to gauge how many people will purchase hot lunch on a certain day and, subsequently, how much food to make.

“The school approached me last November and asked if we had any ideas [about food management] and what we could do to know how much food to make,” Brake said. “We started the form from scratch, so there might be some kinks, but hopefully we’re getting these all worked out.”

Some students, though appreciative of Bistro’s efforts, do not like the changes.

“My grade school, Our Lady of the Presentation, tried to do that ordering-before thing [for hot lunch], and it didn’t work at all, honestly,” freshman Olivia Matlock said. “We tried to order for the whole month. Nobody did it and it didn’t work… I don’t think it’s any better here than what happened [there].”

Others believe that adding the order form has improved the lunch program as a whole.

“A couple months ago, there were Friday pizza rolls [at Bistro], and I couldn’t get any,” senior Sabrina Saleh said. “I had to wait and wait with a whole bunch of other people, and then as [Brake] put more out, everybody grabbed some, but I didn’t get any because they were just completely out of dough… I think [the Google Form] is good because the quantity of food was not right. Now, it is, and I think that’s helped out because I can actually get a meal.”

According to Brake, he and the entire Bistro team have made adjustments to the program when necessary.

“[We’ve had to change] some of the access for students to be able to sign up [for lunch],” Brake said. “At the beginning, they could only just log in one time; now I believe they can edit their forms as well… We’re still monitoring it to make sure that things are still going well.”

Students and staff alike agree that the best strategy to prevent similar ordering issues is communication.

“I think what would really benefit Bistro is if they got a student’s point of view and asked us what kind of food would we like,” Saleh said. “[It would help] if they give us just a one-time survey once a year and they said to the whole student body, ‘What kind of food would you enjoy us making Farm to Fresh every year?’”

Above all, Brake and the Bistro team strive to satisfy students’ requests.

“The students don’t really tell me a lot of feedback,” Brake said. “So if there was a way that students wanted to give Bistro a bit of feedback, that would always be welcomed. I would love to know if people actually read my emails when I send them out. Are they signing up right then? Are they waiting? Are they looking at it with their parents? I’m just kind of curious to see who all is receptive to what we send out.”