Fed: Big Chicken

Loading player...
We're a planet addicted to chicken - and our appetites fuel a massive global industry... but is it one we should support?As Chris wrestles with how he personally feels about this weird and wonderful bird, he decides to take a look at the business as a whole: a global industry that's cited by some as a shining example of a super-efficient food production system, one that could help drive food security around the world.But others say it’s a cruel, destructive and outdated structure that makes a few people richer while exploiting others – along with animals and the environment.In Brazil, one of the world’s biggest chicken and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, Chris learns about poultry-farming initiatives helping to make struggling nations more food-secure.And then there are the other challenges that the industry is wrestling with: from antimicrobial resistance to the threat of another major global pandemic, potentially stemming from chicken farms…So is there a ‘big business bad guy’ to blame – or does responsibility lie closer to home, with unquestioning consumers like Chris?
5 Aug 2024 English United Kingdom Science

Other recent episodes

How does heat affect our health?

What effect will warming temperatures have on health? One place to look for answers is Bulgaria. In the summer of 2023, Bulgaria experienced numerous heatwaves, leading to the country experiencing one of the highest rates of heat mortality in Europe. But how are these numbers calculated? How exactly does heat…
3 Jun 49 min

Unstoppable: Inge Lehmann

From growing up in a progressive Denmark to studying mathematics at a gender-segregated Cambridge University, Inge Lehmann had to power through the shock of cultural change to pursue her love of mathematics. Whilst managing several seismological stations, Inge notices the peculiar readings in the data she was collecting. Was the…
12 May 28 min

Unstoppable: Tebello Nyokong

Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber are both scientists, but it turns out there’s a lot they don’t know about the women that came before them. In Unstoppable, Julia and Ella tell each other the hidden, world-shaping stories of the scientists, engineers and innovators that they wish they’d known…
5 May 26 min

Unstoppable: Kura Paul-Burke

Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber are both scientists, but it turns out there’s a lot they don’t know about the women that came before them. In Unstoppable, Julia and Ella tell each other the hidden, world-shaping stories of the scientists, engineers and innovators that they wish they’d known…
28 Apr 27 min

Unstoppable: Jocelyn Bell Burnell

Dr Julia Ravey and Dr Ella Hubber are both scientists, but it turns out there’s a lot they don’t know about the women that came before them. In Unstoppable, Julia and Ella tell each other the hidden, world-shaping stories of the scientists, engineers and innovators that they wish they’d known…
21 Apr 31 min