Per capita chicken consumption, measured on a boneless weight basis, surpassed beef consumption for the first in 2010, according to a report in the September 2012 edition of Amber Waves from USDA’s Economic Research Service.  Fifty-eight pounds of chicken per person on a boneless, edible basis were available for Americans to eat in 2010, compared with 56.7 pounds of beef. Beef availability has been declining since peaking at 88.8 pounds per capita on a boneless, edible basis in 1976. Chicken began its upward climb in the 1940s, overtaking pork in 1996 as the second most consumed meat. Since 1970, U.S. chicken availability per person has more than doubled, ERS reported.

The rising per capita availability of chicken stems from many factors, including the increased convenience of chicken products, such as skinless, boneless breasts; breaded chicken nuggets; and pre-cooked, pre-seasoned, and ready-to-serve offerings, such as rotisserie chicken. Chicken’s lower price relative to beef and pork may have also contributed to chicken’s growing popularity. In 2010, the wholesale and retail prices for chicken, weighted to account for prices and amounts sold of whole chickens and parts, were $1.67 and $2.64 per pound lower, respectively, than beef prices and $0.67 and $1.36 per pound lower than pork prices.

Chicken’s relatively lower price may, in part, reflect efficiencies in chicken production that have led to lower bird mortality rates and a higher average live weight per broiler–5.8 pounds today versus 3.4 pounds in 1960. Chicken consumption has also benefited from health-related concerns about fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol. On a per-ounce basis, chicken has less total fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol than beef, the report explained.  The article “U.S. Per Capita Availability of Chicken Surpasses That of Beef” can be viewed here.