Chickens That Lay Organic Eggs Eat Imported Food, And It's Pricey : The Salt : NPR

Dan Charles at The Salt:

The other morning, I found myself staring at something strange and unfamiliar: empty grocery shelves with the word "eggs" above them. The store, a Whole Foods Market in Washington, D.C., blamed, in another sign, the dearth on "increased demand for organic eggs."

This scene is unfolding in grocery stores across the country. But Whole Foods' sign wasn't telling the whole truth. Demand for organic eggs is indeed increasing, but production is also down.

The reason behind that shortfall highlights an increasingly acute problem in the organic industry.

Most chickens eat feed made from ground-up corn and soybeans, but America's farmers are not growing enough organic corn and soybeans — especially soybeans — to feed the country's organic animals.

"We continue to be frustrated finding enough domestic production to meet domestic demand," says Lynn Clarkson, a grain trader in Cerro Gordo, Ill., who buys and sells organic soybeans...

@ Chickens That Lay Organic Eggs Eat Imported Food, And It's Pricey : The Salt : NPR:


The Pundit: Maybe supply economics is the problem?