There was a time when buying a dozen eggs was easy and inexpensive. It may still be easy but it’s no longer inexpensive. The avian flu has killed millions of chickens and other birds in the United States since December, driving up egg prices across the country.
The average price for a dozen eggs in June in the U.S. was $2.57, a 31 percent increase from May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. fact, eating eggs is now more expensive than eating the chicken, which means the incredible, edible egg is now the incredible edible, expensive egg.
A USDA large egg, about 56 grams, has about 7 grams of protein, and 280-grams of chicken breast contains a little over 69 grams of protein, according to the USDA.
Wrap your mind around this.
The retail price of chicken in has fallen in recent months, to about $3.175 per pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts, according to the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The average price of a dozen eggs is averaging $2.47 meaning that 10 dozen eggs would cost $24.76, but seven pounds of chicken breasts would cost $22.23.
More than 48 million infected chickens have died or been destroyed this year in 15 states as the flu virus spread from the Pacific Northwest into Midwest farms, disrupting egg supplies.
Nationwide, the number of egg-laying chickens has been dropping this year, from nearly 364 million chickens in January to 358 million chickens in April.
No new cases of the virus have been detected for more than a month, but U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said this week that he was not ready to declare the crisis over.
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