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Why American Eggs Got So Damn Expensive
The flu was convenient. The scarcity? Designed.
In a country where bacon cheeseburgers are cheaper than fruit, the working-class protein—scrambled, boiled, cracked into boxed ramen—has somehow become a luxury item. And not just a luxury. A political landmine.
Yes, we’re talking about eggs leading to U.S. Congressional antitrust hearings, Department of Justice investigations, and even the very Donald Trump himself throwing down an egg mandate in his State of the Union: “Prices must come down.” Then, within days, the market cracked — Humpty Dumpty fell from a cliff and prices plummeted from a historic eight-plus dollars per dozen to around three dollars, exactly where they were a year ago. Not over a quarter. Not over a month. Just over two weeks.
So, what really happened here?
For decades, eggs were an invisible backbone — the protein of the broke, the bulking, the blue-collar. Cheap, consistent, cultural. Rocky drank them raw. Diners built breakfast around them. Then, in January 2025, prices surged 15% in a month, and retailers were charging between $4 and $9 a dozen, even as the actual production cost hovered around 80 cents.
