Best Cafeteria Item – Chicken Strips
Students flock to school cafeterias for Tuesday chicken strips
More from the Student Choice Awards
Tuesdays are chicken strip days for junior Nathaniel Hoopes in the Free State lunchroom. Photo by Nick Popiel, The Free Press
Location: The lunch room
Hours: FS & LHS Lunch time
Total votes: 282
Best known for: Crunchy exterior
Almost every Tuesday, students crowd the lunch line waiting to pick up a serving of four chicken strips. Out of the wide variety of lunch foods, the chicken strips appeal to even the pickiest of eaters.
“Honestly, I think the chicken fingers are the best lunch,” Free State senior Andrew Boulton said. “I’m not really a fan of any other foods at school.”
According to district director of food services Paula Murrish, all of the lunch foods come from US Foods. The chicken strips are provided by Patuxent Farms in Rosemont, Ill. The farm endorses natural ingredients, minimal processing, and freshness, according to the US Foods website.
Overall, the chicken strips exceed students’ expectations of school lunches.
“I like the mixture…everything fits together because they supply mashed potatoes at the same time,” Lawrence High sophomore Griffin Nelson said. “It just seems to be a very popular dish because of that combo.”