Chicken Wing Shortage Predicted! Everybody Panic!
A chicken wing shortage in 2013 is said to be on the horizon, so can we ditch the expensive gas talk for a bit and get down to what really matters here? They are coming for our wings, people.
As the Superbowl rapidly approaches, the chicken wing shortage predicted in 2013 becomes a stark and depressing reality. The reasons are legion, but the devastating effects are clear: chicken wings can be had, but it’s gonna cost ya.
The chicken wing shortage follows a predicted bacon apocalypse last year, but the shortfall in what was once the least desirable part of a bird was set into motion by many factors.
And while the humble wing was once a less-valued bit of poultry, in recent years the carbless wonder has soared in popularity — and now has reached a record high price in certain areas of the country.
Bill Roenigk is chief economist and market analyst at the National Chicken Council — a group, we should note, that may benefit from higher wing prices — and he says the chicken wing shortage has been caused by weather and regulatory factors.
“Chicken companies produced about 1 percent fewer birds last year, due in large part to record high corn and feed prices … Corn makes up more than two-thirds of chicken feed and corn prices hit an all-time high in 2012, due to two reasons: last summer’s drought and pressure from a federal government requirement that mandates 40 percent of our corn crop be turned into fuel in the form of ethanol. Simply put, less corn equals higher feed costs, which means fewer birds produced.”
Cynically, one might say a threatened chicken wing shortage just ahead of football’s biggest event is a ploy to loosen regulations and charge more, but who can risk such a rumination when the national chicken wing supply is on the line?
Have you been socked right in the pocketbook by the chicken wing shortage of 2013? Have you envisioned an America where we are forced to dip only celery and carrots into blue cheese filled ramekins, or worse, use our fingers as a dip-vehicle in a new, wing-free dystopia?
