Community & Alumni Blog
Chicken fingers and fries: ‘It has always been a popular meal’
It doesn’t make sense.
People today usually say they want healthy, locally sourced food. While the kitchen staff at Canadian Mennonite University does its best to provide that, the most popular meal in the six-week meal plan is, hands down, chicken fingers and fries.
“It’s the opposite of what everyone (says they want) to eat, yet it’s THE meal,” says Ted Dyck, Director of Food Services at CMU.
He adds that when chicken fingers and fries are being served, between 30 and 40 more people than usual show up in the dining hall.
“People plan their schedules around it.”
Alumni can relive the chicken fingers and fries experience on Friday, May 30 when CMU hosts Dinner with Ted. The low-key event will take place in CMU’s Dining Hall. Ted will serve chicken fingers and fries, as well as his famous conference cookies, between 5 PM and 7 PM. Alumni are invited to come and go as they please.
Ted says the May 30 event started as “a goofy idea” in his head, and when he ran it by a few people, they decided to run with it.
“Because of how popular chicken fingers and fries have always been on campus, it seemed worth doing.”
Chicken fingers and fries were already on the menu when Ted started working at the university on Sept. 1, 1996, back when it was still CMBC.
“It has always been a popular meal,” he says, laughing. “There is a buzz around campus on chicken fingers and fries day.”
So if you ever ate chicken fingers and fries in the CMBC/CMU Dining Hall, relive the experience one week from today.
“Dinner with Ted” is free. If you feel like bringing a donation, CMU will gratefully accept it and put it toward the Annie Janzen Bursary.
This bursary was established in 2003 with the help of Annie Janzen, who worked for 27 years in the kitchen at Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC), one of CMU’s predecessor colleges. The bursary helps international students study at CMU.
See you May 30, and don't forget to bring your appetite!
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