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With breast meat so chunky it could feed the whole family, and drumsticks so small you could carve straight past the bone, the \u2018chicken of tomorrow\u2019 envisaged by U.S. retailer A&P inspired a national competition that reached its culmination on 24th June, 1948 - and changed the way that the world ate chicken forever.\nEntrants were submitted whilst still in egg form, hatched at specially built facilities, raised in controlled conditions and on a standard diet, tracked and monitored for weight gain, health and appearance. Then, after 12 weeks, the birds were slaughtered, weighed and judged for their edible meat yield.\xa0\nIn this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the success of the competition led to widespread use of antibiotics in poultry-rearing; gasp at the crowning of \u2018Miss Chicken of Tomorrow\u2019,\xa0\nNancy McGee; and explain how the competition ultimately led to the eradication of over a thousand species\u2026\xa0\nFurther Reading:\n\u2022 \u2018How the 'Chicken of Tomorrow' Contest in 1948 Created the Bird We Eat Today\u2019 (National Geographic, 2018): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/poultry-food-production-agriculture-mckenna\n\u2022 \u2018The Chicken of Tomorrow: Mankind's Quest For A Better Hen\u2019 (Flashbak, 2016): https://flashbak.com/the-chicken-of-tomorrow-1948-mankinds-quest-for-a-better-hen-62821/\n\u2022 \u2018The Chicken of Tomorrow\u2019 (Prelinger Archives, 1948): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVY68VR_4Bg\nFor bonus material and to support the show, visit\xa0Patreon.com/Retrospectors\nWe'll be back on Monday! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts:\xa0podfollow.com/Retrospectors\nThe Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.\nTheme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham.\nCopyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2022.\xa0\n Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices