FOOD NEWS
Why You Should Think Twice About Having Chicken For New Year's
By Nick Johnson
For many people, New Year's represents a fresh start, and ensuring a year of prosperity requires you to avoid several different comestible pitfalls. Eating chicken on New Year's, for example, can leave you spending the year desperately clawing for good fortune.
The superstition draws its inspiration from the bird's method of searching for food. When chickens scratch the ground, they do so backward — which is the wrong direction to go in the New Year — and you may find yourself similarly forced to scratch for scraps if you eat one.
The misfortune also stems from the fact that chickens have wings, so having chicken on New Year's Day could make your good fortune fly the coop. That said, eating pork has the opposite effect of eating chicken, as pigs move forward while scrounging around for food.