A worker checks on the army of frogs in amphibian farmer Fenxiang Xie’s ponds, which cover 13 acres in China’s Jiangsu Province. Frogs, also known as “field chickens,” have been on the menu in China since at least the fourteenth century, but it wasn’t until 1962 when Fidel Castro sent a gift of four hundred Cuban bullfrogs to Mao Zedong, as well as a few experts in frog breeding, that frog farming begin to flourish. Lower in fat and cholesterol than beef and with more of some nutrients, bullfrogs are having a bit of a moment in China, with fast-food joints like Kung-Fu Froggy turning frog cultivation into a nearly $10 billion industry. It takes about eight months for the newly hatched frogs to grow to 8.8 ounces on a mix of pelleted fish and grain, and the farm slaughters, skins, and guts the frogs on-site, selling some 550 tons each year.
