Storms of people surrounded the gates, waiting for their opportunity to taste the amazing Orange Chicken –  covered in the tangy sauce that makes it delicious. The gates open, and mass amounts of people storm into the lunch line like people who first burst into the newly opened stores on black friday. With all of the buzz surrounding this meal, we can’t help but wonder where the “tasty” Orange Chicken comes from, and what is it that makes this meal so delicious.

We asked many students what they thought about the chicken, and surprisingly most of the feedback was negative. Many students commented with the “inside is gross” and the “appearance is nasty”.  One student even claims it made him sick. “During the class after lunch I did not feel good” he adds, “It was hard to concentrate too”.  However, there were some good reviews of the chicken. The students who liked the chicken said they are “obsessed with it” and it “tastes like Leeann-Chin”.

We then went to the faculty members to see what their opinion of the Orange Chicken was. We found that teacher, Kevin Overgaard said that he “hearts” the schools popular dish. When asked if he had heard of the allegations towards the chicken he said that he was “not concerned with the ‘grade D’ chicken, but that’s why I exercise.” Overgaard concluded with a small chant saying “fast food nation” and walked back into his classroom.

Finally we met with Rodney Moorehead our school’s Nutrition Supervisor and Jeff Chounard head chef and supervisor of Anoka-Hennepin Schools. We were pleasantly surprised with what they said and showed us.

The process of the chicken begins with putting the sauce packets in their steam kettles. While they are doing this they bake the chicken to at least 160 degrees for twenty minutes, and lastly they put the chicken into a container where they pour the sauce on it and stir it until it is finally ready to be left on a hot rack for the students to readily enjoy.

After the tour we went into the cafeteria where Jeff answered some of our questions about the chicken. They purchase the chicken from Sysco Foods out of St. Cloud. The chickens are raised by local farmers in the southern region of our country where they are “fed wholesome grain, free of artificial ingredients.” It’s then shipped to school in packagings of chicken and separate packagings of sauce.

From what we have gathered the school lunch of Orange Chicken is known to have many negative allegations, but they are all misconceptions. Blaine High School’s kitchen and food preparation processes are all excellent and safe with great staff standing behind it. So, “orange” you glad this is good chicken?”