On February 10th, the eggs were sold for 66 cents each from a supermarket in Monterey Park, California. Frederic J. Brown/AFP hides captions via GettyImages
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Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images
Eggs have become a staple of food products that Americans can’t stop talking. It’s whether the fear of widespread avian flu is exacerbated, or whether many chickens dying from illness due to outbreaks or are culled dramatically increase the cost of eggs.
This week, the USDA announced a $1 billion plan to tackle the crisis.
Three things you need to know:
1. Egg prices rose more than 15% last month, and panicked buyers have empty store shelves as fears of a wider shortage looms.
2. In its plan, the USDA said it would spend up to $500 million to promote biosafety precautions on egg farms. Another $400 million will be sent to accelerate the exchange of lost birds, but raising productive laying chickens can take six months to a year.
3. The plan calls for $100 million to explore ways to temporarily increase the supply of imported eggs. Vaccination efforts can pose challenges as they can make exports of chickens grown for meat more difficult.
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Is it all just bird flu?
Avian flu can be held responsible for an immediate lack of eggs, but some are beginning to question what other factors are.
Advocacy groups like Farm Action and a handful of Democrats are calling for a deeper look into whether industry concentration and practices are behind this price surge.
