Have you bought eggs lately?

Thought for the day

Despite the fact Mark Zuckerberg attended last week's inauguration, I still check my Facebook page 2 or 3 times a day.

Besides keeping up with news about my friends, I am fascinated by the number of posts there are blaming Donald Trump for the high cost of groceries. The latest is a photo of the president playing golf with the following disclaimer: "Isn't it great. He's fighting to lower the cost of eggs."

Campaign promises aside, my guess is the price of eggs won't be coming down any time soon. In fact, they could be going up for some time to come. To understand why, here's some food for thought (no pun intended):

Volatile egg prices are partly due to inflation, but also because an avian influenza, or bird flu, has now made its way to the US. Since 2022, more than 130 million birds have been infected or killed.

As bad as that's been, the outbreak seems to be intensifying. According to Expana, a company that tracks the price of eggs, "To prevent the spread of disease, 30 million chickens — roughly 10 percent of the nation’s egg-laying population — have been killed in just the last three months."

The steep drop in the number of healthy, egg-laying chickens has caused a sharp spike in wholesale egg prices. Grocery stores and restaurants are now paying around $7 for a dozen eggs — a record level, up from $2.25 last fall, according to Expana.

Here’s what one friend, who bakes and sells cookies, told me: "The high cost of eggs is no joke. I've had to rethink how I can continue to make a high quality product without pricing myself out of the market."

Another friend, who owns a small diner, had this to say: "My customers are like family. I am very concerned about the cost of eggs right now. Basically, if the price goes up any higher, I will lose money on every plate of scrambled eggs I serve."

So what are the prospects you and I will see the price of eggs drop soon? Not likely. According to Eggs Unlimited, a wholesaler based in California, “It could take six months for the market to stabilize."

I don't know about you, but I used to like my eggs sunny side up. For the foreseeable future, I’m not sure there are many "sunny egg days” ahead. What do you think?

-DF