End your September on a high-protein high note.
Hooray for National Chicken Month!
Over 20 years ago, the National Chicken Council organized all the major United States chicken producers for one giant, chicken mega-sales promotion during the month of September.
Today that means that – well past the summer grilling season in many parts of the country – the month of September makes for some of the hottest chicken sales all year.
How fortunate it is that Southerners eat tons of chicken no matter what month it is.
For a great recipe for traditional chicken and dumplings, read the list.
GJE breaks down some chicken facts
The cultivation of poultry, specifically chickens, in the US dates back to at least the 1800s.
Oddly enough, production of chicken meat for mass production grew out of the egg industry.
What to do, what to do, what to do with the hens who under-produced in the egg department?
Answering this question led to the development of the broiler chicken as a cultivar – a domesticated animal bred for a set of specific genetic traits – to be raised for meat.
Mrs. Wilmer Steele of Sussex County, Del., is often cited as the pioneer of the commercial broiler industry.
In 1923, she raised a flock of 500 chickens to be sold for meat and was so successful that by 1926 her business could house and raise 10,000 chickens.
As a consequence of Mrs. Steele’s early efforts, the modern chicken industry produces nutritious, high-protein meat that is also inexpensive to produce and to buy.
This makes the chicken industry in the United States one of the most successful sectors in agriculture.
Ever.
In Broiler Chicken Production Year 2013-14, on average each of us in the United States will eat 83.3 pounds of chicken.
That’s 83.3 pounds times over 300 million people, or about 25 billion pounds this year.
According to the National Chicken Council’s “Chickopedia,” that’s all different manners of broiler chicken cultivars, be they:
- Free Range – Chickens have access to the outdoors for at least some part of the day
- Natural – Is raised with no artificial ingredients, coloring ingredients, or chemical preservatives, and is minimally processed
- Organic – Must be certified by the USDA and also be free-range
- Antibiotic-Free – Raised with no antibiotics used for animal health maintenance, disease prevention or treatment of disease
- All-Vegetable Diet – Raised on poultry feed made primarily from corn and soybean meal
Chicken Month bar trivia
- Almost all United States chicken and chicken products are made in the USA. Each year small portions are imported from Canada which has food safety and quality standards equal to our own.
- In 1952, specially bred meat chickens (“broilers”) surpassed farm chickens as the number one source of chicken meat in the United States.
- In 1985, the United States ate more chicken than pork for the first time.
- In 1992, consumption of chicken surpassed consumption of beef for the first time.
- Three ounces of chicken (a piece about the size of a deck of cards) has about 25 grams of protein. That’s about a third of the protein we need every day.
- Buying chicken is easy on your wallet – on average $1.25 per pound versus $3.03 per pound for beef.
- Take the skin off your skin to go low-fat. There’s only 3 grams of fat total (including saturated fat) in a three-ounce portion.
- Even with the skin on, there’s only about 8 grams in the same three-ounce portion.
- Chicken meat – white or dark – is naturally low in sodium (70 milligrams in three ounces) and a good source of iron.
About the National Chicken Council (NCC)
Established in 1954 in Richmond, Va., The National Chicken Council is the national, ono-profit trade association representing the United States chicken industry dedicated to promoting and protecting the interests of the industry.
Now based in Washington, D.C., the NCC is the industry’s voice before Congress and federal agencies. The producers, processors and other industry workers of the NCC’s membership provide approximately 95% of the chicken raised in the United States
National Chicken Council
- 1152 Fifteenth Street, NW, Ste. 430
- Washington, D.C. 20005-2622
- Contact: Tom Super, Vice President of Communications
- Email: tsuper@chickenusa.org
- Phone: 202-296-2622
- Fax: 202-293-4005
www.nationalchickencouncil.org/
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©2013 All rights reserved.
OFFICIAL BIO: K Truitt is a second-generation, native Floridian born in Jacksonville. Truitt worked in public higher education for 25 years and knows newspaper publishing, printing and graphic design. Contact: kt.4examiner@yahoo.com
