The U.S. chicken industry is committed to environmentally and socially sustainable production practices to ensure a healthier planet. This report is the culmination of that commitment, but it is also the starting point for many more years of collective effort by the U.S. chicken industry to continuously improve and build a more sustainable food system.
The report features new broiler life cycle assessment (LCA) data commissioned by NCC. The Broiler Production System Life Cycle Assessment: 2020 Update reveals the broiler industry achieved significant improvements in key sustainability intensity metrics (environmental footprint per kilogram of bird) between 2010 and 2020:
Land use:
down 13%
Water
consumption:
down 13%
Greenhouse
gas
emissions
(carbon footprint):
down 18%
Fossil resources
use:
down 22%
Particulate
forming
emissions:
down 22%
The report features the U.S. chicken industry’s collective accomplishments, including:
- Decreased broiler chicken on-farm mortality rates by 72% since 1925.
- Defined the essential elements of broiler chicken care with NCC’s Welfare Guidelines.
- Donated more than $133 million and 20 million meals to local communities at the height of the pandemic in 2020.
- Bolstered global food security with broiler exports totaling 7.4 billion pounds in 2020.
- Provided Americans and people across the world – throughout all life stages – with affordable, nutritious protein.
- Achieved an 86% decline in Occupational Safety and Health Administration recordable injuries and illnesses in the poultry processing sector over the past 25 years.
Explore the 2020 U.S. Broiler Chicken Industry Sustainability Report
The 2020 U.S. Broiler Chicken Industry Sustainability Report was submitted to the Scientific Group of the U.N. Food Systems Summit 2021, ahead of the U.N. Food Systems Summit to be held September 23, 2021 in New York City. Guided and inspired by the call to action in the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the report is also intended to complement the important work being done by the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Poultry & Eggs, which is developing a framework for collecting data to further innovation, drive improvements and support communication about the measured and verified sustainability of U.S. chicken.
