Why did the chicken cross the world?

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Guest: Andrew Lawler, Dan Charles

The average American eats close to 100 pounds of chicken a year. There are three times as many chickens as people on Earth. But the fowl didn’t always play such a central role in dinner or in the world’s food supply. For most of civilization, chickens were valued more in religion, sport, medicine, even fashion than on our plates. ANDREW LAWLER tells the history of the chicken; from the shy bird of the South Asian jungle to the domesticated plumped-up poultry in today’s factory farms. Marty talks with Lawler about his book Why Did the Chicken Cross the World? The Epic Saga of the Bird that Powers Civilization. Then, NPR food and farming correspondent DAN CHARLES discusses some of the current controversies in modern chicken farming.

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