Decision to use real eggs for WH Easter egg roll gets mixed reaction from farmers

The White House's decision to use real eggs for its annual Easter egg roll tradition

is getting mixed reaction from farmers amid a strain on supply and concern over prices

President Trump addressed the choice Wednesday while announcing his new tariffs. They were saying that for Easter, please don't use eggs

Could you use plastic eggs? I said, we don't want to do that. It's not clear who the president is referencing when he mentioned being told not to use real eggs

But the White House does have support from the American egg. board, a group which has provided eggs for the event for nearly 50 years through donations from

farmers across the country. This year's Easter egg role is set for April 21st and will feature

30,000 eggs to use in games and for decorating. The American Egg Board's president, Emily Metz

released a statement saying the eggs required for our national tradition represent a very small

percentage of the nearly 9 million dozen eggs sold at grocers and other retailers across the

country each day. Additionally, the eggs used for the White House Easter egg roll will be in sizes

small and medium, which are not meant for the retail and grocery channels. Some egg farmers share

the same view including Marty Thomas co of cockadoodle egg farm in Illinois who told NBC News I don think that they should use fake eggs for it adding it not like they using millions of eggs for this egg roll It a fun thing

Cockadoodle Egg Farm won't be able to donate eggs to the event after losing its 3,000

hen flock to bird flu in January. According to the Agriculture Department, bird flu has

impacted 168 million birds across the U.S. since the outbreak began in February

2022, leading to shortage of hens, contributing to higher egg prices. NBC News also spoke with farmer Vanessa Frias from Willowbrook Farms in Michigan

who doesn't think the White House should use real eggs for the egg roll event

Quote, because of the shortage, I don't think it makes sense to waste our eggs on an event

that isn't giving anything. I could see if the eggs were going to a cause or going to feed people

but to roll them across the lawn, I don't think that makes any sense

since it's a waste. According to Agriculture Department data, egg prices have dramatically decreased

recently with the average cost of a dozen large white eggs now priced at $3 compared with an all-time

high of $8.64 on March 5th. For Straight Arrow News, I'm Kara Rucker. For all your latest news

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