In Gainesville, the heart of the Poultry Capital of the World, people are encouraged to eat fried chicken with their fingers. In 1995, the Georgia General Assembly declared Georgia the official Poultry Capital of the World, and Governor Zell Miller signed the legislation on April 8, 1995.
Additional revenue comes from numerous poultry industry meetings, seminars and conventions.
Georgia farmers produce 15 percent of the nation's chickens at an average of nearly 23 million pounds per day. Georgia and bordering states account for 42 percent of national poultry production. Georgia alone is the fourth largest poultry producing region in the world. While per capita chicken consumption has doubled since 1978, Georgia's production has tripled. There are more than 12,000 chicken houses and more than 40 processing plants in the state.