Chicken can easily be considered the most popular choice among non-vegetarians. With myriad dishes made using a plethora of methods and recipes, people consume chicken in abundance.
But not many might pay heed to how this huge consumption might have changed the quality of chickens that made it so popular in the first place. And the change arrived post World War II. The entire transformation and the effects of the massive increase in size were explained in a Twitter thread by a user named Sollozzo.
“The chicken you are eating has increased 364 percent in size over the last 50 years,” the first tweet states.
The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years.
Here is what this means for your health.
THREAD 🧵 pic.twitter.com/65EX4Rr7bB
— Sollozzo 🥩⚡️ (@MrSollozzo) April 16, 2022
The chickens used to be a delicacy and cost more. However, during World War II, meat was rationed and the consumption of chickens proliferated. Multiple corporations laid their nets of monopoly over poultry. After the war, fearing the decrease in demand, it was decided that these birds will be cultured in a way so that it does not burden the pockets of the consumers.
This transformed it all. Poultry farming started witnessing bulk being added to chickens. The user compared the sizes and weight of the chickens from various points in the timeline.
As you saw in my first tweet, the Chickens of the early 1900’s were vastly different birds that the chickens of today.
The average broiler chicken in the 1940s was around 3 pounds and it took a few months to get to that size. pic.twitter.com/wjwzU3UkBW
— Sollozzo 🥩⚡️ (@MrSollozzo) April 16, 2022
The size increased due to the dietary changes that were made. Chickens grow in a natural environment eating grass, bugs, mice, frogs, etc. However, now, chickens are fed mostly corn and soy, in an effort to make them fat as quickly as possible.
In addition to this, we are basically eating gigantic baby birds.
For centuries, it has been known that a mature, adult bird is what creates the best flavor. In the early 1900s, chickens would be slaughtered around 4+ months.
Today’s broiler is getting slaughtered at 47 days pic.twitter.com/95rc6HhzYL
— Sollozzo 🥩⚡️ (@MrSollozzo) April 16, 2022
The user also mentioned that earlier chickens used to be slaughtered after raising them for more than 3 months, since an adult chicken was more delicious and nutritious. But now, the chickens are slaughtered in just 45-47 days to maintain the demand-supply ratio.
“We are basically eating gigantic baby birds,” the user writes.
Contrast this to today, where chickens now are primarily fed corn & soy with the sole intention to get them fat as quickly as possible.
Carbs are now the sole focus of the Chicken’s diet, which we refer to as the “High-Energy Diet.”
Hint: This also works with humans. pic.twitter.com/fHBCoUy7uJ
— Sollozzo 🥩⚡️ (@MrSollozzo) April 16, 2022
These practices have made chickens taste bland and less nutritious. What these chickens are fed also affects humans. For instance, a grain-fed chicken has a high Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio, whereas, the ratio in pasture-raised chicken is much lower.
We the consumer, are the ones that ultimately suffer from this.
Conventional Grain-Fed birds have an Omega-6 to Omega-3 ratio that can be as high as 17:1.
Contrast this to a pasture-raised chicken, which has an Omega 6 to Omega-3 ratio of 6:1. pic.twitter.com/tcLJYrzQqo
— Sollozzo 🥩⚡️ (@MrSollozzo) April 16, 2022
Industrialisation of food is slowly ruining the essence of food that lies in its taste and nutrients.
