If you think raising farm animals on antibiotics is no big deal, health journalist, National Geographic contributor, and author Maryn McKenna may just change your mind. In her 2017 exposé, Big Chicken: The Incredible Story of How Antibiotics Created Modern Agriculture and Changed the Way the World Eats, she documents how antibiotics transformed chicken from local delicacy to industrial commodity – and human health threat.
Chicken is consumed more than any other meat in the U.S., and in her book, McKenna reveals that chicken is also emblematic of today’s mass food-processing practices and their profound influence on our lives and health. She reveals the astounding role of antibiotics in industrial farming, documenting how and why “wonder drugs” revolutionized the way the world eats—and not necessarily for the better.
Listen to an interview with the author here.