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The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years

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Re: The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years

#31

Post by emerongi »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #11

When I was a kid we raised chickens for a long time and they were pretty small. I remember getting a new variety that were huge in comparison (they finished around 8lb sometimes!) and they ended up looking great but being incredibly disappointing to eat. They tasted a lot like store-bought chicken. Big chickens are definitely less interesting on the plate in my experience. As I recall my dad picked them because the f…

Similar story with strawberries. The huge ones are quite bland, whereas the small ones pack a punch. I imagine it's mostly the water content that makes them bigger, but at the same time it dilutes the taste.

Same for tomatoes as well. Homegrown tomatoes have a strong taste, whereas store-bought ones are quite weak in taste (as well as weirdly plastic).

Pretty much anything that is produced for profits will be optimized for weight and minimal production costs. Nobody cares about taste.

Re: The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years

#32

Post by ComradePhil »

eimrine wrote: post #25

What was the 364% grows caused by? Is this due to selection (like a modern corn we have) or antibiotics being fed to the livestock? (of course, the answer is both but maybe I am missing something). And a question to a no-tasty-chicken-in-markets adepts, have you (or your farmer/supplier) ever tried to take a modern-genetics chicken and feed them with no antibiotics or other grow-stimulators - what is the taste?

Antibiotics doesn't lead to growth, it prevents infection and diseases.

Re: The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years

#33

Post by chmod600 »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #15
steve_adams_86 wrote: post #11

When I was a kid we raised chickens for a long time and they were pretty small. I remember getting a new variety that were huge in comparison (they finished around 8lb sometimes!) and they ended up looking great but being incredibly disappointing to eat. They tasted a lot like store-bought chicken. Big chickens are definitely less interesting on the plate in my experience. As I recall my dad picked them because the f…

I'm betting they are probably less nutritious too.

I've suspected for a long time that we are missing major stuff from out diet due to changes in both the plants and animals we eat. I look at fruit in the grocery store and it just looks unnatural to me.

Re: The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years

#34

Post by refurb »

mostertoaster wrote: post #3

I’m assuming this keeps chicken prices lower. Is this a bad thing? I guess it could be if it is because of gnarly things they’re doing, but if it is primarily breeding larger chickens, well, that sounds ok.

It is a bad thing. We should go back to where only the middle class can afford quality protein like chicken.

Let the poor eat beans I always say!

Re: The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years

#35

Post by juki »

ComradePhil wrote: post #32
eimrine wrote: post #25

What was the 364% grows caused by? Is this due to selection (like a modern corn we have) or antibiotics being fed to the livestock? (of course, the answer is both but maybe I am missing something). And a question to a no-tasty-chicken-in-markets adepts, have you (or your farmer/supplier) ever tried to take a modern-genetics chicken and feed them with no antibiotics or other grow-stimulators - what is the taste?

Antibiotics doesn't lead to growth, it prevents infection and diseases.

They are/have been also used to promote growth. That's banned in the EU at least, but I think American producers still do it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_use_in_livestock#Gr...

Re: The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years

#36

Post by throwuxiytayq »

mostertoaster wrote: post #3

I’m assuming this keeps chicken prices lower. Is this a bad thing? I guess it could be if it is because of gnarly things they’re doing, but if it is primarily breeding larger chickens, well, that sounds ok.

There are quality issues with these chickens: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3277097/

Probably doesn't make a huge difference for your health, but it's not a very nice culinary experience to find a dead/diseased muscle in the chicken you're eating. Consume enough KFC and it will happen.

It looks green, by the way.

Re: The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years

#37

Post by hackernewds »

nsteel wrote: post #26

This is also part of Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me 2. Which I didn't realise existed until last week. I found it and an enjoyable/uncomfortable watch although The Guardian were less keen. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Size_Me_2:_Holy_Chicke... ! https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/09/super-size-me-2... Edit: I've just discovered I probably didn't know about it because the distributor (youtube) pulled…

The Spurlock demise is a rather strange down spiral. He imploded his own company voluntarily based on conjecture

https://www.indiewire.com/2019/09/morgan-spurlock-metoo-conf...

Re: The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years

#38

Post by phreeza »

steve_adams_86 wrote: post #11

When I was a kid we raised chickens for a long time and they were pretty small. I remember getting a new variety that were huge in comparison (they finished around 8lb sometimes!) and they ended up looking great but being incredibly disappointing to eat. They tasted a lot like store-bought chicken. Big chickens are definitely less interesting on the plate in my experience. As I recall my dad picked them because the f…

I would say there is a place for both. The "village chicken" I have eaten was indeed quite flavourful, but also had a lot of tendons and generally more chewy meat, while "broiler chicken" have more, blander but also more tender meat.

Re: The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years

#39

Post by hackernewds »

nwah1 wrote: post #24

Also chicken meat generally has high estrogen levels in the US, which might promote cancer. https://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/jco.2010.28.15_suppl.15...

Chicken meat in the West also tastes a lot more blander than Asian "boiler" chicken. Try McDonald's nuggets in Brazil or the Middle east or India. Doesn't need as much frying or saucing - much of which is needed for having any decent flavor and leads to obesity

Re: The chicken you are eating has increased 364% in size over the last 50 years

#40

Post by GrumpyNl »

deltille wrote: post #27

It always feels weird when I pull a chicken breast out for dinner and it is bigger than my own breast muscle; I grew up with chickens and long intuited something was up but didn't know the numbers were that striking. Parallels to what has happened over the past several decades in the vegetable crop; nutrition, flavor and quality vs. sheer quantity.

Chicken breast are injected with lots and lots of water.
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