Reply #4: Almost four bucks a dozen for free range eggs here. [View All]

I've started using powdered eggs in cooking and baking. It's funny how a more highly processed food turns out to be cheaper in the long run than the natural food, but that's how it's going.

Part of the reason eggs are more expensive is energy cost. It costs to run feeder belts, it costs to keep the temperature optimum, it costs to keep lights on a timer so hens will be fooled into laying year round, it costs to gather, sort and grade, and it costs to chill and transport. Plus, there is the inevitable cost when fresh foods pass their use by date.

Back in the 70s, war inflation plus OPEC inflation were felt in food costs, first. Eventually the inflation found its way through the whole economy.