What Americans Eat: Chicken Overtook Beef on the Plate
What's on the American plate has changed dramatically over the past 60 years. Chicken consumption has tripled and overtaken beef, beef has fallen from its 1970s heights, and the total calories available per person have climbed by a third. This guide charts U.S. per-person food supply since 1961 — how much meat Americans eat by type, and how the daily calorie count has grown.
How much meat do Americans eat?
The chart tracks pounds of meat available per person per year, by type. The headline story is the crossing lines: poultry (mostly chicken) climbing relentlessly while beef declines from its mid-century peak. Pork has stayed roughly flat, and lamb has dwindled to almost nothing. Americans remain among the world's biggest meat eaters overall — but the kind of meat has shifted profoundly toward chicken.
Chicken overtook beef on the plate
In the 1960s and 70s, beef reigned — Americans ate roughly two to three times as much beef as chicken. Then chicken began its long climb and beef started a long slide, and the two lines crossed around 2010. Today the typical American eats far more chicken than beef. The reasons mirror the production story: chicken got much cheaper, and decades of health advice steered people away from red meat toward leaner poultry.
Americans eat more than ever
The second chart shows daily calories available per person, which has risen by roughly a third since 1961 — from under 3,000 to nearly 4,000 calories a day. (This is food supply, which runs higher than what people actually eat because it includes waste, but the upward trend is real.) More abundant, cheaper, and more processed food has steadily increased the calories within reach of the average American — a key backdrop to the rise in obesity over the same period.
Why the shift to chicken
Chicken's takeover of the American diet came down to price and health. Industrial poultry farming drove the cost of chicken far below beef, making it the budget protein of choice. At the same time, decades of dietary guidance warned against the saturated fat in red meat and promoted lean white meat, nudging shoppers toward chicken breasts. Versatile, cheap, and seen as healthier, chicken fit the modern American kitchen — and the numbers show the result.
Frequently asked questions
Do Americans eat more chicken or beef?
Far more chicken. Poultry consumption tripled and overtook beef around 2010; today the typical American eats considerably more chicken than beef.
How much meat do Americans eat?
Americans are among the world's biggest meat eaters, eating well over 200 pounds of meat per person a year across chicken, beef, and pork combined. The latest figures are shown above.
When did chicken overtake beef?
Around 2010, when decades of rising chicken consumption and falling beef consumption caused the two to cross. Chicken has pulled further ahead since.
How many calories do Americans consume?
Daily calorie supply per person has risen about a third since 1961 to nearly 4,000 — though that's food supply including waste, so actual intake is somewhat lower.
Why do Americans eat so much chicken?
Chicken became far cheaper than beef through industrial farming, and decades of health advice steered people toward lean white meat over red meat.