In English, a good egg is someone who is good and kind. On the opposite, a bad egg is someone who is bad and dishonest. This is what I learn through reading. Eggs are common in English idiom mainly because of its wide availability in our daily life. What if eggs are not available in our community store? What could be the best replacement for eggs?
Since the H5N1 bird flu was first detected in U.S. poultry in February 2022, the virus has led to the loss of a record 58.6 million poultry across 47 states. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a weekly update on the affected birds. The severity of the bird flu epidemic is comparable to that of the COVID-19 pandemic among humans.
In Europe, more than 48 million domestic birds in 37 countries were slaughtered in 2022 in order to contain H5N1 avian influenza. Two reported cases in Cambodia are linked to bird flu. However, scientists clarified recently that a teenager who died after being infected with bird flu did not have the widely circulating variant that causes mass deaths in wild and domestic birds globally. How can we not raise higher awareness of the zoonotic diseases? They are infections that are spread between people and animals.
Covid-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been classified as a zoonotic disease. The World Health Organization has stated some key facts about avian flu on its website. Humans can be infected with avian, swine and other zoonotic influenza viruses. Climate change and rising temperatures can lead to the spread of zoonotic hosts and vectors, increasing the risks for human population to infect zoonotic diseases.
All viruses mutate but not always at the same rate. Which goes faster—virus or vaccine? If bird flu poses a risk to our consumption of poultry and eggs, will humans next invent vaccines for animals and food as well? Will you eat eggs that are vaccinated?
Farm birds in U.S. are vaccinated against other infectious poultry diseases, such as fowlpox. But to vaccinate hundreds of millions of birds against bird flu, how many humans will get involved? I’m sure they are good eggs who fight for the poultry kingdom. But I also know these humans have bills to pay and food to buy. With the increase of the egg price, will some families feel burdened as their selection of food become fewer? I learned early this year in some parts of America a dozen eggs cost near five dollars.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of eggs was up 138% in December 2022 from a year prior, to $4.25 a dozen. For that, I wonder if the price gouging is the result of bad eggs. Or is it the true reflection of the equilibrium of demand and supply in the market?
As author David Graeber wrote in his book “Debt: The First 5,000 Years,” “Commercial profit was seen as legitimate only as compensation for the labor that merchants expended in transporting goods from one place to another, but never as fruits of speculation.” Eggs are considered locally produced goods. How far are our eggs transported from poultry farms to our dining table? I doubt the bad eggs in price gouging are chicken-hearted if regulations are weak.
The Covid-19 pandemic surely becomes a good excuse for suppliers to raise prices. Perhaps the increasing extreme weather patterns, too. Who knows the next mega-storm will be the blame for a price hike on some necessity goods? In the end, all consumers have to bear the cost of higher production costs, inventory, shipping and business overheads. Well, if that’s the case, be a smart consumer; and don’t put all your eggs in one basket.