Egg prices - OMG!

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rodentraiser

Head Chef
Joined
Jan 16, 2016
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2,181
Location
Puget Sound, WA
I'm seeing up to and over $10 per dozen. Tonight I paid almost $8 for a dozen jumbo eggs (and like an idiot, I got two cartons). If eggs didn't last me two months, I'd never get them. I get $23 a month in food stamps and two cartons of eggs, some tomatoes, and celery totally wiped that out.

I keep being told it's because of bird flu but you know, I haven't noticed any sign of chicken breasts and drumsticks running out and I saw a ton of split breasts at Winco the day before. Honestly, I think they know that eggs were the last cheap food that hadn't gone through the roof yet, so that's why the price on them is raised so high. I'm not disbelieving the thing about bird flu, but let's just say I am a little skeptical that it's causing the shortages it is.
 
One store around here has had a deal on 30 eggs the last few weeks, using digital coupons. It was $4.69 when I stocked up for cookies, then up to $4.99, last week, and only up to $5.99/30 this week. Despite most things costing more in that store.
 
Bird flu is a minor problem, right now (probably more on the West coast, because I believe that is where it is centered, for now), but could get bigger soon. Greedflation still figures into it. Potential new government policies in the next few months could have big negative consequences.

Don't expect inflation to magically go away, in fact we may see it accelerate over the next year, maybe two. Plan now. High grocery prices won't affect me at all. But, I'm buying other things I want now, before they get too expensive. There's not much I need/want, so not a big deal.

I can't explain why I (and many Nobel Prize winning economists and the Wall Street Journal) think it will go up, without getting into trouble with the mods.

CD
 
@rodentraiser so I guess your next project is to convert one of those dollhouses into a chicken coop?
I suggest getting 5. Yes, 5 eggs a day is a bit much for a single person, but you have neighbours who will love the excess. So when you lose 2 to some disaster you will still have 3 that will keep you very happy.
or you get 7 or 10 and the extra's you sell to your neighbours will pay for their feed. Not accounting for initial cost, you now have your eggs for free. :mrgreen:
 
@rodentraiser so I guess your next project is to convert one of those dollhouses into a chicken coop?
I suggest getting 5. Yes, 5 eggs a day is a bit much for a single person, but you have neighbours who will love the excess. So when you lose 2 to some disaster you will still have 3 that will keep you very happy.
or you get 7 or 10 and the extra's you sell to your neighbours will pay for their feed. Not accounting for initial cost, you now have your eggs for free. :mrgreen:

If eggs get to 10 bucks a dozen, I'll just stop buying and eating eggs. If enough people do that, then the price will have to come down, or eggs in grocery stores will end up in dumpsters. The only power we consumers have over inflation is to say, "I'm not going to buy that."

When I shop for anything, I ask myself two questions... 1. Can I afford it? Most of the time, the answer is "Yes." 2. Am I willing to pay that much for it? Sometimes I am, and sometimes I'm not. $10.00 a dozen for eggs is a definite "NO!"

CD
 
I paid $3.00 for half dozen the other day.

I find myself being so careful using them that I get close to the expiration date and have to scramble to use them up. 😉🤭😂

It’s interesting to me how sensitive we are to the price of certain foods. We’ll pay for a good steak, premium seafood, a mediocre delivery pizza or meal but we balk at the price of other things that we take for granted.

By the time this shortage ends it may result in people learning to use less eggs permanently in the same way that the beef boycott of the 70s changed the way Americans shop and eat.
 
Excuse me while I go out and kiss our hens! We have three hens who lay enough eggs to satisfy our (two people) needs. Australorps are good layers. Some breeds not so much.
Prices of eggs here have gone up a little but the local grocery knows that they are in a farming community, and if the price of eggs gets exorbitant, the farmers will have flocks and not buy eggs.
 
Excuse me while I go out and kiss our hens! We have three hens who lay enough eggs to satisfy our (two people) needs. Australorps are good layers. Some breeds not so much.
Prices of eggs here have gone up a little but the local grocery knows that they are in a farming community, and if the price of eggs gets exorbitant, the farmers will have flocks and not buy eggs.
I have no doubt that the quality of your eggs are superior to supermarket eggs but I’m curious about how much of an investment and ongoing cost is involved in providing a steady supply of eggs for two people.

I admire your efforts but I would give up on eggs and many other foods if I had to raise them myself.

I’m just too spoiled and lazy.
 
There were NO eggs at Publix when we went earlier this week. By no, I mean absolutely none, zilch, nada. Not even quail eggs or the pricy free range, organic eggs.

So, went to Winn Dixie. They only had a few, the store brand and some other Florida based brand. I honestly didn't look at price. Went to the WD liquor store next door afterward. I always chat a little with the clerk because it's usually slow, she's generally alone, and she's really sweet. She knows I don't shop much at WD anymore for several reasons, and neither does she for the same, so she made a comment about the few things I had. Told her Publix didn't have any eggs or fresh mozzarella. She said a man had just been in and was complaining about the cost of eggs. I pulled out my receipt and they were $6.69 for the dozen!
 
Aunt Bea, when you think of the nutrition/protein in an egg you could easily do without some meats before doing without your eggs.
Although we do have cases here in Ontario - it certainly hasn't affected our egg suppliers - yet.
Most eggs are in the $6.00 Cdn range. I get them from No Frills or Sobey's for about $3.69. Mid December just found a bill where I got extra large for $3.99 at Freshco.
 
Walmart: Great Value Cage-Free Large White Eggs, 18 Count $9.52
(52.9 ¢/count) price when purchased online

Amazon: 365 By Whole Foods Market, Eggs Large Brown Grade A, 18 Count $5.49 ($0.31 / Count)

BTW, according to the USDA, eggs are good for at least 9 weeks past the expiration date.
 
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Eggs at Aldi are $3.95 today. Aldi is my go-to for cheap basics: Milk, eggs, sugar, etc. For comparison, Aldi was less than $2 bucks a few weeks ago.
 
there is no "expiration" date on eggs.
USDA does not require dates, except for the batch info, which is usually "coded"

the USDA regs apply only to eggs bearing the USDA seal. one of our local places has only eggs with no USDA seal.... I have bought eggs there and been 'not happy' with them....

the USDA regs provide for two plain date options, if dates are used:
"sell by" date - this is 30 days from the date of inspection/packing
"best by / use by" date - which is 42 days from the date of inspection/packing

and as mentioned, eggs well past the "best by / use by" dates are perfectly safe to eat.

and then there's the famous 'floating egg' thing . . .
a truly 'bad' egg will float.
however, not every egg that floats is bad.
 
there is no "expiration" date on eggs.
USDA does not require dates, except for the batch info, which is usually "coded"

the USDA regs apply only to eggs bearing the USDA seal. one of our local places has only eggs with no USDA seal.... I have bought eggs there and been 'not happy' with them....

the USDA regs provide for two plain date options, if dates are used:
"sell by" date - this is 30 days from the date of inspection/packing
"best by / use by" date - which is 42 days from the date of inspection/packing

and as mentioned, eggs well past the "best by / use by" dates are perfectly safe to eat.

and then there's the famous 'floating egg' thing . . .
a truly 'bad' egg will float.
however, not every egg that floats is bad.

Yes, I rarely finish a carton of eggs before they have "expired." Older eggs are better for hard boiling. They tend to peel easier. That's what the TV chefs say.

CD
 
I just bought eggs at Costco as well, and paid $2.49/dozen for large cage-free white eggs... I took a dozen over to Mom.

Egg farms are everywhere, so it is possible to have bird flu in a limited area, which would cause a shortage in that limited area. Once you add in the extra profits the agri-corporations can make off the shortage, prices can get pretty high (the actual egg farmer pays for all the chickens that have to be destroyed).

CD
 
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