Shortage triggers egg smuggling at the US-Mexico border

First modification: 02/17/2023 – 02:57

Buy a food as basic as the egg It has become very expensive in the United States. Behind the price increase is the bird flu that has plagued the North American country since last February and that has spread through 46 states killing more than 44 million chickens.

Another reason is the war in the Ukraine, a country considered the most important breadbasket in Europe that also supplied large amounts of grain to feed American chickens.

In addition, inflationary pressure (which has also increased the prices of packaging and fuel for the transport and delivery of eggs) and the obstacles with which supply chains still grappling with the legacy of the pandemicfurther aggravate the problem that directly affects the pocket of consumers (who now pay almost $10 in some border towns for a carton of 12 eggs), the market and the diet of the most disadvantaged.

Egg trafficking on the border with Mexico

In recent months the raw egg has become smuggled on the border with Mexico. It is the effect of the rapid and sustained increase in the price of this food in the United States since last November.

“We are seeing an increase in people trying to cross eggs from Juárez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas, because they are significantly less expensive in Mexico than they are in the US. This is also happening more frequently at other border locations. southwest,” he explains to French 24 the specialist Roger Maier, in charge of communication of US Custom and Border Protection in El Paso, Texas.

A carton of 30 eggs in Juárez (Mexico) costs $3.40 according to Border Reportwhile the dozen eggs in the supermarkets of border towns are already around 10 dollars.

Authorities warn that the feat could be expensive because entering the country of undeclared agricultural items can result in a fine of up to $10,000.

In most cases, travelers they end up declaring they carry eggs and the fine is forgiven, but yes, the product stays at the border. Others, however, try to hide them and end up paying a $300 penalty., in addition to giving up the merchandise. Only between December and January were collected 120 kilos of eggs at the San Luis port of entry, where seizures have skyrocketed by more than 100%.

Change of menus due to the lack of protein in soup kitchens

The phenomenon extends throughout the country and affects the most disadvantaged, a situation that executive chef Rafael de Palma, in charge of food service at the non-profit association, knows first-hand. The Mission Bowery. “Of course we have noticed it,” he explained to France 24. “Yesterday we were supposed to have received 180,000 eggs, but we only received 120 from one of our donors in Pennsylvania.”

The lack of this basic and fundamental food has led Rafael to have to change his menu. “If you look at it,” he says, pointing to a huge blackboard on the wall where the week’s menu is posted, “there are boiled eggs on Tuesday, and we make scrambled eggs on Sunday. We used to cook eggs 3 times a week, but now we’ve had to cut back because we have to make sure that all our farms have eggs.

Rafael is referring to the other three centers that depend on them and with whom they have to share the food they receive from donors every day, or that they have to buy, because as donations decrease, they have to use money from their own pockets. “Yesterday I had to buy eggs and we spent $340, which could have been used for something else to help the people who come here.”

Given the lack of the star ingredient, Rafael and his team compensate with other foods that continue to provide the necessary protein to the homeless people who pass through here every day for breakfast, lunch or dinner. “I’m preparing something I haven’t tried before, oatmeal with jam and peanut butter”. Another of the trays ready to be served for breakfast has a good portion of bacon, a less healthy food, but cheaper and above all available in the market.

“I had to drive several kilometers to get eggs for my restaurant”

Supermarkets are also noticing the lack of eggs, and many have increased their prices to the point of asking $8.60 for a carton of 12 eggs in cities like New York.

The ones that are having the most trouble are the restaurants that need to buy large quantities. Let’s not forget that, in the United States, the egg is the star ingredient. That’s why Benjamin Shu, owner of Between the Bagelsa trendy venue in the Queens neighborhood famous for its brunchincludes it in most of its sandwiches with bagel. “It’s the center of our business. A few days ago we had a really bad time because there was nowhere to go,” says Benjamin. “I had to drive to different places on Long Island, Upstate NY, just to find eggs.”

When he found them, Benjamin bought enough to last a few more weeks. “Because it’s not just food itself, we also use it to cook other items on the menu.”

The situation has reached such a point that at the end of February he will raise the prices of his restaurant, because experts agree that it will still take several months for prices to stabilize.