US imports eggs from Korea, Turkey to help ease prices

The United States is importing Turkish and South Korean eggs to ease an avian flu-fuelled supply crunch that has pushed up prices across the country, Donald Trump’s agriculture secretary confirmed on Friday.

Brooke Rollins told reporters in Washington that imports from Turkey and South Korea had already begun and that the White House was also in talks with other countries about temporarily importing their eggs.

“We are talking in the hundreds of millions of eggs for the short term,” she added.

The cost of eggs has skyrocketed due to multiple bird flu outbreaks in the United States, forcing farmers to cull at least 30 million birds and sharply constraining supply.

Egg prices became a rallying point for Trump in last year’s presidential election campaign as he sought to capitalize on voters’ frustrations with the rising cost of essential items during his predecessor Joe Biden’s presidency.

After returning to office in January, Trump tasked Rollins with the job of boosting the supply of eggs, and bringing down prices.

In the weeks since, producers in several countries have reported American interest in their produce, with the Polish and Lithuanian poultry associations telling AFP that they had been approached by US diplomatic staff on the hunt for fresh eggs.

“There is a shortage of eggs in many countries,” Katarzyna Gawronska, director of Poland’s National Chamber of Poultry and Feed Producers, said recently. “The key question would be what financial conditions would be offered by the Americans.”

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently noted that wholesale egg prices have fallen by almost 50 per cent since late February, which suggests that consumer prices could soon start to fall.

“The downward trend underscores the effectiveness of USDA’s approach,” the agency said in a statement. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Rollins said that the imports of eggs would stop once US poultry farmers were able to ramp up supply.

“When our chicken populations are repopulated and we’ve got a full egg laying industry going again -- hopefully in a couple of months -- we then shift back to our internal egg layers and moving those eggs out onto the shelf,” she said.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people lined up on Friday morning at three sites in New York City, some arriving more than an hour early, for the opportunity to snag one of the nation’s hottest commodities: a dozen free eggs.

People were bundled up against the windy cold as they stood outside a Harlem restaurant, patiently waiting to be handed a carton. Less than 10 minutes later, the 100 cartons were gone, leaving many empty-handed.

“I heard from the news that they will be giving around, like, 1,500 eggs, or something like that. OK? And I just came because I needed some eggs, and then I’m waiting here in the line, and I don’t see anything,” said Jackeline Tejava, who was in a line that stretched around the block. “They say that the eggs are gone, but it hasn’t been not even more than 20 people, so I don’t know what happened.”

Trying to find eggs on grocery store shelves in New York City can be hit or miss. When they are in stock, they can be pricey.

Friday’s giveaway was organized by FarmerJawn, a 128-acre (52-hectare) Pennsylvania farm that’s focused on providing organic food to underserved communities. FarmerJawn held other egg giveaways Friday in Brooklyn and Queens. The group also handed out free cartons in New York last month.

“We’re doing this egg giveaway because, as food producers, we believe it’s our responsibility to support the communities that support us,” the group said in a written statement. It partnered with a local butchery and a upstate New York farm to organize Friday’s events.

“Food is medicine, and everyone - especially the often-forgotten middle class - deserves access to it,” Farmerjawn said.

Other organizations, including churches, have recently held egg giveaways in New York and elsewhere around the country, including Las Vegas, Chicago, Philadelphia and Richland County, South Carolina.

The US Department of Agriculture expects egg prices to rise 41% this year over last year’s average of $3.17 per dozen. A carton of eggs in New York City can often run twice or three times that amount, depending on the store.

Marion Johnson, who waited more than two hours at the Harlem giveaway but didn’t get a free carton, said she can’t afford eggs.

“They’re so expensive,” she said. “This is not fair. ... They know everybody gonna be on line like this.”

Agencies