Dead Sea Herbs

So what accounts for the hike? Obesity, heart disease, diabetes—you name it. As studies began linking fatty diets to a litany of maladies, meat eaters started looking for an alternative to beef, and chicken farmers began cranking out the birds. Not long after, pork was relegated to its inferior position as “the other white meat.”

But as chicken sales took flight, there was another trend dominating American eating habits. That was the growth of a monolithic restaurant industry that now pulls in about half of our total food dollars. And the battle to get the biggest share of those dollars led to some unsettling practices. Innovative restaurateurs began adding flavor by injecting salt and monosodium glutamate. They rolled chicken in breading, dropped it in hot grease, marinated it in oil, and smothered it with cream and butter—all the while still promoting the idea of a “healthy” alternative to beef. 

Looks like we should have listened to Alfred Hitchcock. When he filmed The Birds in 1963, just as chicken sales were starting to climb, he must have been trying to warn us about what we were up against: killer birds. Don’t believe it? Take a look at the sorry state of chicken today, compliments of Eat This, Not That! and the new New York Times bestseller Cook This, Not That!
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