
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


We're a planet addicted to chicken and our appetites fuel a massive global industry, but is it one we should support?
While some cite it as a shining example of a super-efficient food production system, one that could help drive food security around the world, others say it is a cruel, destructive and outdated structure that makes a few people richer while exploiting others – along with animals and the environment.
In Brazil, one of the world’s biggest chicken and soya producers, our reporter Leonardo Milano hears accusations of threats and pollution relating to the feed sector; while in Africa, Dr Chris van Tulleken learns about poultry-farming initiatives helping to make struggling nations more food-secure.
There are also other challenges that the industry is wrestling with: from antimicrobial resistance to the threat of another major global pandemic - bird flu. So is there a ‘big business bad guy’ to blame – or does responsibility lie closer to home, with unquestioning consumers like Chris?
By BBC World Service4.4
939939 ratings
We're a planet addicted to chicken and our appetites fuel a massive global industry, but is it one we should support?
While some cite it as a shining example of a super-efficient food production system, one that could help drive food security around the world, others say it is a cruel, destructive and outdated structure that makes a few people richer while exploiting others – along with animals and the environment.
In Brazil, one of the world’s biggest chicken and soya producers, our reporter Leonardo Milano hears accusations of threats and pollution relating to the feed sector; while in Africa, Dr Chris van Tulleken learns about poultry-farming initiatives helping to make struggling nations more food-secure.
There are also other challenges that the industry is wrestling with: from antimicrobial resistance to the threat of another major global pandemic - bird flu. So is there a ‘big business bad guy’ to blame – or does responsibility lie closer to home, with unquestioning consumers like Chris?

7,727 Listeners

1,068 Listeners

5,478 Listeners

1,816 Listeners

969 Listeners

1,781 Listeners

1,041 Listeners

2,077 Listeners

606 Listeners

767 Listeners

90 Listeners

404 Listeners

426 Listeners

826 Listeners

738 Listeners

232 Listeners

333 Listeners

359 Listeners

477 Listeners

244 Listeners

3,226 Listeners

741 Listeners

113 Listeners

1,041 Listeners