It is common knowledge that the Cooper lunch menu often features some form of chicken. Six out of the 19 lunches served this month will include chicken, cooked and presented in diverse ways. This means that roughly 1 in 3 meals will be chicken-based in September, a ratio seemingly high enough for students to question the frequency of chicken dishes.

If you ask the student body, you’ll encounter various conspiracy theories about why we have chicken so often. Michael McGurk, a junior, holds the belief that “they have a chicken farm somewhere,” though he did not elaborate on who runs this farm or where it is located. The “chicken farm” is a common theory among the student body, with many speculating that the farm is somewhere on campus. However, Chef Ryan needs to make about 1,000 meals a day to feed the school. As chicken coops generally require 2 to 3 square feet per chicken, there is no location on campus where enough chickens could be raised to feed the school for even one day. This might lead one to believe there is a chicken farm somewhere off-campus, but there is currently no evidence to make this assertion. Aware of this, some students have turned to less imaginative theories. Sebastian Vaughn said that perhaps chicken was “easier to cook”, and others have decided that it must be simply the cheapest option. The kitchen staff, however, denies these theories, claiming that perhaps chicken is not as common as one might think.

In an interview with Nikki Purnell, Sous Chef in the kitchen, the influence of crowd mentality was brought up. Chicken will be served only one third of the time in September; though possibly lower than other months, the frequency of chicken in September is relatively low. It is possible that the effect of crowd mentality has skewed people’s perceptions on the frequency of chicken dishes. A small sampling of students shows that we tend to greatly overestimate how often chicken is served- students typically guessed that it was served at least 60% of the time, when in reality it’s closer to 30%.

Interviews with Mrs. Purnell and Chef Ryan revealed that chicken is “very high in quality proteins, is organically raised,” and is one of the most versatile meats. Chicken can be served in practically a thousand different ways, and each way can be delightful and delicious. Chef Ryan also stated that chicken is a “universally loved” item and “cannot be served wrong.” The moral of the story? There’s no need to ruffle your feathers over suspected fowl play.