One of our favorite foods is being celebrated — it’s National Chicken Month, nicely complementing September’s Mushroom and Rice Month. The versatility of chicken — served in numerous ways ranging from Southern fried style to sandwiches to salads — drives a demand that has reached over 8.5 billion birds a year in the U.S. alone. This is almost a 50 percent increase from the broiler production in 1990. Americans eat about 56 pounds of chicken per capita annually, at a cost of around $155 for all poultry. Georgia is the top producer — followed by Arkansas and Mississippi. The result is certainly not chicken feed but a nearly $24 billion a year industry. You can find current data on the country’s economy by downloading the new America’s Economy mobile application at <www.census.gov/mobile>.