Eggs used to be something you could rely on, a faithful stalwart, always there to boil or fry in moments when my wallet was light and more expensive kitchen staples like beef felt out of reach.
Simpler times. Anyone’s who’s tried to make an omelette recently knows that egg prices are through the roof. In California, unfortunate shoppers have to shell out a stunning $7.37 for a dozen eggs on average, three times what they paid last year, according to the Washington Post. The rest of the country isn’t doing much better, with grocery stores charging Americans an average of $4.25 per dozen eggs. That’s a clucking 120% increase year-over-year. You’re better off buying a living chicken.
A combination of factors are turning yolks into a luxury item. Across the board, an inflation-driven spike in food prices has started to ease, but eggs are an exception. You can thank holdover supply chain and worker shortages from the pandemic, but the bigger culprit seems to be an outbreak of avian flu, which has been ravaging hen houses since an outbreak early last year.
Frugal foodies can’t count on eggs right now, but memes are another story. The internet is always here to turn a crisis into an ironic celebration. Check out these examples of grade-A egg content to keep you occupied while you avoid the grocery store.
