Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-05-18)

64

ILLUSTRATION

BY

GEORGE

WYLESOL.

DATA:

U.S.

DEPARTMENT

OF

AGRICULTURE

Beefandporkhavebeenpriceyand,attimes,scarcein

theU.S.thisspringamidoutbreaksofthecoronavirus

atslaughterhousesaround thecountry. Chickenhas

remainedwidelyavailableandcheap.Whythedifference?

Onereasonis thatmostslaughteringofchickens,unlike

thatofcattleandhogs,is automated.Deboningandcutting

chickenintopiecesis oftendonebyhand,whichis why

therehavebeensomeshortagesofbonelesschicken.But

machinesarenowavailabletodothatwork,too,andpro-

cessorswillsurelybuymoreoftheminthecomingyears.

Chickenfarminghaslongbeenthemostindustrialized

ofAmericanagriculturaloperations,andit keepsgetting

moreso.Thebirdsarebredformaximummeatproduc-

tionandraisedina matterofweeksincontrolledindoor

environments byfarmersundercontracttothelikesof

Tyson Foods Inc.andPilgrim’sPrideCorp.Theanimals’

small, uniform sizelendsitselftofactory-styleslaughter-

ing and processing.

Not coincidentally,poultrycostsU.S.consumers62%

less in inflation-adjustedtermsthanit didin1935,whichis

how far back theBureauofLaborStatistics’pricedatago

and was also justa fewyearsafterDelawarefarmerCecile

Steele pioneeredraisingchickensbythethousandsfor

their meat. (Beforethen,farmerskeptchickensprimarily

for the eggs.) Pork,nowalsoraisedmostlyatfactoryscale

indoors, is 12% cheaper.Beef,whichisn’t,costs63%more.

“Factory farming”is,withreason,a pejorative,butit’s

enabledchickentobecomethemostconsumedmeatinthe

U.S.—passingporkinthe1990sandbeefa decadeago—and

it seemstobehelpingtheindustryweatherthecrisis.<BW>

�Fox is a columnistforBloombergOpinion

◼ LAST THING

●JOBCREATORS

U.S.poultry

processorsemploy

248,600people,

accordingto

theU.S.Bureau

ofLaborStatistics.

Slaughterers

andprocessors

ofothermeats

employ286,900.

Bothnumbersare

upabout5%since

2000,whilepoultry

productionhas

risen32%andred

meatproductionis

up12%.

With Bloomberg Opinion

● WE’RENO. 1

TheU.S.is the

world’stopchicken

producer,with

43b

poundsin 2018

toNo.2 Brazil’s

33 billion,according

totheUnitedNations

FoodandAgriculture

Organization.

● GROWING APPETITE

Along with price, health concerns have driven

some of beef’s decline and chicken’s rise, though

recent research disputes that red meat is riskier.

● GLOBAL REACH

Several Caribbean

nations top the world

rankings for chicken

consumption per

capita. Among

countries with more

than 5 million people,

Israel is No. 1, at

138 pounds per year.

By Justin Fox

Why There’s Enough

Chicken for Every Pot

●U.S.consumptionofbonelessmeat,

poundspercapita

Chicken Beef and veal Pork

1909 2019

90

45

(^0) Bloomberg Businessweek (USPS 080 900) May 18, 2020 (ISSN 0007-7135) E/A Issue no. 4657 Published weekly, except one week in January, February, March, May, July, August, September, October,November
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