So Long, Crispitos: Alabama School Lunches Say Goodbye To A Favorite

Crispitos, a cheesy, greasy, bright orange staple of Alabama school lunches, were served Monday for the last time this school year in Jefferson County cafeterias.

“Today is a very sad day for many of our school cafeterias,” Jefferson County Schools Child Nutrition posted on its Facebook page Monday. “This will be the last Crispito they will eat for the foreseeable future.”

See also: Will Crispitos return in 2022?

Tyson, which produces Crispitos, will not be making any more Crispitos for the rest of the year due to a shortage of tortillas and workers, JCSCN explained.

Those words launched social media reminisces and some debate. At least one TikTok offered a musical tribute to the Crispito.

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@sillymepterodactyl ♬ I'll Be Missing You (feat. Faith Evans & 112) [Remastered] [2016 Remaster] - Puff Daddy & The Family

“I know a little girl who won’t be happy” was a common refrain on Facebook and Twitter. One parent is plotting to keep the tragic news from their child. “I’m gonna let this just ride out a while, I don’t want to hear it.”

“Will there be grief counselors at the school in the coming days?” another parent asked.

Some adults asked their spouses if they could learn to make them at home.

“Crispitos are the main reason people choose to become teachers,” one person said.

“Today was crispito day and I didn’t eat! If I had known it would be the last for a while I would have totally eaten,” another lamented.

In north Alabama, Marshall County schools have one remaining case and will be giving it away to whoever creates the best video, poem, letter, etc. about their love of Crispitos.

So many of our staff and students are sad about the news that crispitos are no longer available due to production...

Posted by Marshall County Child Nutrition Program on Tuesday, August 24, 2021

But as with all things social media, there were the inevitable trolls: “I must be the only person on the planet that thinks those things are disgusting I have never and will never eat one,” one helpful soul chimed in.

So, what is a Crispito?

One post described it as “a larger taquito with more meat.”

The Tyson website describes them as fully cooked tortillas packed with chicken and cheese. In most lunchrooms they come covered in a radioactive orange cheese sauce. I think that is a legal requirement.

“They were are always made with love, fluorescent lighting, and a styrofoam tray,” one person posted before launching into Ecclesiastes 3:4.

“There is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance....This is not a good bye, this is a “see you later.”