Quote below from the article, just below the animated weight graph:
"The trend started with the 1948 contest that invited farmers nationwide to develop the “Chicken of Tomorrow” with specific goals — bigger, meatier, faster growth. As a result, Arbor Acre breed, the crossbreed of the two winners, has become the grandparents of most commercial meat chicken we eat today worldwide."
I know, but the article didn’t really give the scale or scope of the contest, which was nationwide, and a very big deal because chicken farming was so decentralized. A&P was huge at the time, which is why I compared it to Walmart today.
Imagine the press today, if Walmart sponsored a “Who wants to be a billionaire” contest?