No mention of the great 1948 A&P Grocery Chicken of Tomorrow contest. A&P was the Walmart of yesterday.
http://modernfarmer.com/2014/05/today-eating-winners-1948-chicken-tomorrow-contest/
“So who won? Arbor Acres White Rocks’ white feathered birds beat the competition in the purebred category, but Red Cornish crosses from the Vantress Hatchery definitely outperformed them. And as it happens, those two breeds would eventually be crossed and become the Arbor Acre breed — whose genetics now dominate poultry farms worldwide.
“By 1964, Arbor Acres was producing chickens cheaper and faster than anyone in the world — and Nelson Rockefeller noticed. He bought the company, and the cycle seemed complete. It went global, and as of 2013, over half the chickens raised in China have a genetic link to the Arbor Acres stock.
“But what about the thousands of famers who lost the Chicken of Tomorrow contest in 1948? At least half of their farms are gone, along with their ancestral chicken breeds. Purdue University cites the greatest decline in diversity coincided with the rise of industrial chicken production in the 1950s.”
However, it should be noted that the chicken of today has much less flavor, and is so over-bred that it could likely not survive long after the time it is to be harvested.
But there are still farms that raise “heritage” chickens of different stock, sold at premium prices for those who want the “authentic” chicken taste of yesterday.
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."