>>...most Americans don’t eat their birds au naturel.

I've spent time in a few nudist camps. For something like chicken, you need to be wearing at least a napkin. :-)

Snark aside, I'd agree that a lot of the chicken being consumed is processed or ultra processed (e.g. McDonald's chicken nuggets which are extruded chicken bone/gristle/skin mixed with texture and flavoring agents and then deep fried - and I won't get into the witches' brew of chemicals they've swapped to in place of tallow).

Personally, I put pasture-raised chicken ahead of farm-raised salmon, but behind the wild oily fishes for health. I'd guess that stearic acid heavy beef is actually a bit healthier to consume in moderate amounts than chicken, but that's where ecological concerns change what's on my plate (ditto farmed salmon).