Are Cage-Free Laws To Blame for High Egg Prices?
America’s current spike in egg prices has quickly become one of the central public policy issues of early 2025. But while the emphasis in much of the media and amongst policymakers has focused on the epidemiology patterns of the avian flu, the government itself also bears much of the responsibility for our current national egg panic.
The federal government is now forecasting that egg prices will rise by 41 percent this year—more than double the government’s prior predicted annual increase that was put out just last month—and stories abound of outrageously priced eggs in grocery stores across America. Eggs in California are approaching $10 a dozen, while the national average is just under $5 a dozen.
In raw numerical terms, eggs cost 53 percent more today than they did at this time last year. But it’s important to also conceptualize what that means on the ground: A family-owned café in Florida is reportedly spending $1,500 a week just on eggs—a threefold increase from last year—while chains such as Denny’s and Waffle House have started implementing a surcharge for dishes made with eggs.Â
Most stories on soaring egg prices have concentrated on the spread of the bird flu since 2022 and whether any president can influence the price of eggs. Largely overlooked is the impact government regulations are having on the current price spike—namely, state-based “cage-free” laws that ban the sale of any eggs within state boundaries that are not laid by cage-free hens.Â
Since 2018, California, Massachusetts, and close to a dozen other states have adopted cage-free laws. Banning caged eggs is a classic example of a supposedly altruistic government policy resulting in detrimental unintended consequences.Â
Given that over 60 percent of the nation’s eggs are still laid by caged hens, resident
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