Big Chicken: The Incredible Story of How Antibiotics Created Modern Agriculture and Changed the Way the World Eats

In this book, Maryn McKenna delves into the history of how antibiotics revolutionized the chicken industry, turning it from a local delicacy into an industrial commodity.

She documents how the widespread use of antibiotics as growth promoters and disease preventatives led to the development of concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and the subsequent rise of antibiotic-resistant infections.

The book also discusses recent reforms and alternative farming practices that aim to reduce antibiotic use and improve animal welfare and public health.