Chicken Meal Ruffles Some Feathers

Gov. Henry Bellmon, a beef rancher, gently chided the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce for serving chicken and rice in a state where the cow is king.

“I want to tip off some of you city dudes,” Bellmon, who raises wheat and cattle on his northern Oklahoma farm, said in jest at the chamber’s luncheon last week. “We in Oklahoma grow wheat and beef. I would think you could figure out something, like steak-and-tabouli-something.”

Bellmon, whose remarks were met with laughter and applause, said serving chicken in Oklahoma “is like having a rancher drive to Dallas to buy a Toyota.”