It's usually around Thanksgiving
that most Americans encounter a relatively whole bird creature that they're
about to devour. Gone are the days when little Billy was sent into the backyard
to behead one of the farm chickens and hand it over to Ma to pluck and fry for
dinner.
Turkey looks kind of whole and its
body cavity often contains mysterious bits identifiable as having once come for
the turkey body. Necks and organs, like liver and kidneys, affectionately known
as giblets. As for chicken, these days most folks buy that in a bucket.
So where do the other chicken parts
go? In a recent issue National Geographic had a graphic on it. 90% of US
chickens are cut into pieces before they hit the market. But American chicken
tastes are kind of bland. In order to utilize the whole chicken and get
complete chicken sell-through profits a lot of stuff is exported.
Not to mention the political
benefits of a little chicken diplomacy.
China, for example, imports 118,980
tons of chicken wings, although the buffalo wing craze domestically has clipped
some of those overseas revenues.
Indonesia imports some 210,000 tons
of feathers to use, which they grind up for animal feed and use as plastic fortifiers.
I love feather-fortified plastic. Great for toy airplanes.
South Africa is a big importer of
chicken viscera. Again, ground up and used for fertilizer. Also for pet food.
"Fifi? Would you like some chicken viscera?"
Russia gobbles up over 2 million
tons of leg quarters. Apparently, they got a taste for them during the food
shortages of the USSR breakup. The first President Bush donated chicken legs to
help. Russians now call them Nozhki Busha. Or Bush's Legs.
Talk about an historical
accomplishment. Or is that legacy...
America, ya gotta love it.
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