How do El Pasoans deal with the soaring prices of egg cartons in grocery stores?
By sharing and posting yokes, or jokes rather, on social media. And with Easter on April 9, you can bet people will be cracking more than a dozen of them.
Prices continue to be high, and El Paso is no exception. The price for a dozen large Grade A eggs at Walmart is 5.87.
Some people are already wondering how they will afford eggs for their favorite holiday traditions, such as painting or making cascarones. Around the border, many people clean and save empty eggshells to paint and fill with confetti. On Easter day, the kids run around cracking the cascarones on their heads.
High egg prices inspire memes
Most parents want to have at least a couple dozen for each child. But with eggs costing more, people are making jokes about buying potatoes instead. At least, potatoes still run less than $4 for a pound.
Other popular memes depict chickens walking around with Louis Vuitton handbags and fancy hats, implying they are raking in the dough for their product. There are also memes equating eggs being sold on the black market.
Among our favorites is a meme saying that people who are unfortunate enough to be the recipients of ‘el mal del ojo’ (kind of like being put under a spell) have to deal with it. Typically, the belief is that a curandera can remove any streak of bad luck with a raw egg.
Others have been posting alternatives to using eggs in recipes, such as unsweetened applesauce in place of one egg and supplemented with a teaspoon of baking powder. Of course, foodies recommend knowing what the egg does in the recipe – bring moisture, leavening or texture – before finding a suitable substitute.
Here’s what to know about the egg shortage.
Why are eggs so expensive?
Last year, the average price for a dozen large Grade A eggs in the U.S. was $1.93 in January. By December, when egg demand peaked, the price surged to $4.25.
The reasons are that there was an increase in holiday demand, higher production costs for farmers, and an outbreak of bird flu, a highly contagious virus that can be fatal to poultry such as chickens and turkeys. As of December, more than 43 million egg-laying hens have been lost since the outbreak began in February 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Can we bring eggs from Juarez?
Wondering if it’s a better deal to have your tia or abuelita bring some eggs from Juarez into El Paso?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Website says meat, milk, egg, poultry, and their products, including products made with these materials, are prohibited or restricted from entering the United States.
As far as eggshells go, shells with the egg white and egg yolk removed may enter passenger baggage if they are decorated, etched or painted, the website states. They must be clean and dry, and passengers may not bring back more than 12 per person.
María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150, mcortes@elpasotimes.com and @EPTMaria on Twitter. USAToday contributed to this report.
