Joe Warren of San Francisco took one look at the empty shelves on Saturday and cracked it all up: “No weirdo eggs!”
Not at Safeway on Monterey Boulevard where Warren had hoped to find them, nor at Trader Joe’s on nearby Winston Road.
“This is madness!” Megan Berry said, staring at the barren counters at Trader Joe’s where the eggs were supposed to be. She was hoping to stock up after returning from a trip to Missouri and Florida for the holidays. But what was in front of her were just a few open cartons, stained with cracked contents.
In fact, customers all over California are scrambling to find eggs, and the problem has gotten worse in the last week or so. It’s as if they were all caught.
Megan Berry of San Francisco was hoping to stock up on eggs at Trader Joe’s on Winston Dr.
Nanette Asimov“Due to a nationwide egg shortage and to support all customers, we are limiting egg purchases to two packages per customer,” said a notice at Whole Foods on 20th Avenue in San Francisco. The store had cartons for sale, but the shelves looked like insufficient omelettes, with empty spots.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that nearly every state has had at least one outbreak of bird flu over the course of the year, with hundreds of cases affecting nearly 58 million wild and domestic birds.
On Saturday, representatives from Whole Foods, Safeway and Trader Joe’s did not respond to requests for comment.
In San Francisco, a Trader Joe’s customer named Tom stared at the shelves empty like a chicken house at feeding time. A reporter said bird flu was the obvious cause of the egg loss, but Tom called that an exaggeration.
In fact, he said, “It’s an excuse to kill chickens.”
Why do chicken farmers want to kill their chickens?
“That’s the trillion dollar question, because of the political situation,” said Tom, declining to give his last name. He compared the lack of eggs to the war in Ukraine and the epidemic. His girlfriend gave him a look indicating that it was time to go.
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You want to buy eggs,” Tom added, looking longingly at the sign touting cage-free, extra-large eggs for $3.99. “I’d probably go to Whole Foods, where they’ll be three times the price.”
not exactly. They were $10.49.
Gian Lopez of Dali City loaded two allowed cartons into a cart.
“Eggs are part of a healthy diet,” he explained.
The Whole Foods on 20th Avenue in San Francisco limits egg sales to two cartons per customer.
Nanette AsimovBut Lopez wasn’t about to think imperfect. He shrugged, “Things happen.” “They will eventually bounce back and get things back right. That is their job.”
It was not clear if he meant farmers or chickens.
Over at Safeway, Melissa Le Biafant of San Francisco said she and her husband enjoy eating eggs in the morning, and she’s been thwarted twice recently when trying to buy them.
It’s not only disturbing, she said, but scary, when you think about bird flu. “It makes me want to have chickens of my own.”
Whole Foods, located on 20th Avenue in San Francisco, limits egg sales to two cartons per customer.
Nanette AsimovMost stores, including Safeway, were offering egg substitutes, such as “Just Egg”, for sale. The yolk-colored container says it’s “made with plants.” Ingredients include mung bean protein isolate, expeller-pressed canola oil, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, salt, and sugar.
Warren, who was shopping for a brunch, said he wouldn’t spend a dime on the product.
“Fake eggs? He said no, thank you. “I guess I’ll just have some wine, instead.”
Nanette Asimov is a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]
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