Even chicken nuggets are off-limits at times during Lent, according to the Catholic Church. Credit: Courtesy Photo / Tyson

Fewer than 24 hours into this year’s Lenten season, the phrase “is chicken meat” has emerged as a breakout search term on Google in Texas. Not to mention the state’s top-trending search term related to Lent.

You read that right: Texans are asking Google if chicken is considered meat.

Summed up succinctly, folks practicing Roman Catholicism must fast and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday — Feb. 22 — and Good Friday, April 7. They also must abstain from meat all Fridays during Lent, the 40-day season of prayer leading up to Good Friday, according to the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

So, are Texans looking for a spiritual loophole? Or do some just need a refresher on what they’re allowed to consume during Lent? Google Trends data suggests it’s the latter, since the top related queries include, “can you eat chicken during lent” and “can you eat chicken on Ash Wednesday.”

Google Trends data is an anonymized sample of Google search data that measures interest in individual topics across the widely used search platform.

According to the real-time numbers, Corpus Christi is the Texas metro area that’s searched this topic the most in the past day. The San Antonio and Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen metro areas follow closely behind.

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This article appears in Feb 22 – Mar 7, 2023.

Nina Rangel uses nearly 20 years of experience in the foodservice industry to tell the stories of movers and shakers in the food scene in San Antonio. As the Food + Nightlife Editor for the San Antonio...