Includes bibliographical references (pages 323-389) and index.

"Americans eat chicken more than any other meat. But our nation's favorite food comes with an invisible cost: its insidious effect on our health. In this extraordinary narrative, acclaimed journalist Maryn McKenna reveals how antibiotic use has altered the way we consume industrially raised meat, and its impact on our daily lives. Drawing on decades of research, as well as interviews with entrepreneurs, epidemiologists, and other specialists, McKenna spins an astonishing story of science gone wrong. In the middle of the last century, antibiotics fueled the rapid rise of chicken from local delicacy to everyday protein source. But with that spectacular growth came great risk. As resistance to new wonder drugs crept into the farming process, bacterial outbreaks became harder to treat. And the consequences-to agriculture, to human health, and to modern medicine-were devastating. Beginning with the push to make chicken the affordable entrée of choice and tracing its evolution to a global commodity and carrier of foodborne illness, McKenna shines a light on the hidden forces of industrialization, the repercussions of runaway antibiotic use, and the outcome for future generations. Taking readers from the first poultry farms on the Delmarva Peninsula to the little-known lab where the chicken nugget was invented and into today's factory farms, McKenna reveals that the history of chicken is as much about economics, politics, and culture as it is about what we eat. In these vivid pages, she gives voice to a vanguard of farmers, chefs, and activists who are seeking to return poultry to an honored place at the table-and are changing the way we think about food. Incisive and beautifully written, Big Chicken is a cautionary tale of an industry that lost its way-and shows us the way back to healthier eating"--Back cover.

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