{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"Andrew Lawler","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content","author_name":"AndrewLawler","author_url":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/author\/andrewlawler\/","title":"How the Chicken Became Our National Bird","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"UWjpqpDq9t\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/america-in-the-age-of-broiler-business\/\">How the Chicken Became Our National Bird<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/america-in-the-age-of-broiler-business\/embed\/#?secret=UWjpqpDq9t\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;How the Chicken Became Our National Bird&#8221; &#8212; Andrew Lawler\" data-secret=\"UWjpqpDq9t\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/www.andrewlawler.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/saveur-1.jpg","thumbnail_width":620,"thumbnail_height":411,"description":"An obscure poultry scientist from Iowa named Howard Pierce did more to change our daily eating habits\u2014for good and ill\u2014than perhaps any single person in human history. Because of Pierce, chicken is now the American meat of choice: Today, we each eat more than 80 pounds of chicken every year. That is four times as much as we did in 1950, when chicken was a distant third behind beef and pork. How that dramatic switch took place is one of the great but largely forgotten origin tales of American cuisine."}