You know the situation is becoming dire when staple food items are no longer on the shelves. France is currently experiencing an egg shortage, and it is the largest egg producer in the Eurozone. The 1,500 billion eggs seen in production in 2021 are expected to decline for the first time on record this year. Reuters estimates that egg production will decline 8% in France, 3% in the EU overall, and 4.6% in the United States.
The bird flu crisis caused tens of millions of poultry deaths this year. I reported in May 2021 that there was a chicken shortage. The animal activists and climate change crowd, two groups that usually overlap, are completely at odds. Farmers are deemed the enemy by the climate change crowd who feels the need to reduce farming to eliminate carbon emissions. Northern Ireland was considering murdering over one million cattle and sheep to meet emission targets by 2050. Other countries are looking at doing the same, as it is expensive to host livestock. Feed and fertilizer are under fire, and farming, already a difficult career, has become less lucrative.
Eggs were previously a favorite staple, especially in economic hardships, as it is a cheap source of protein. French groceries have reported up to a 20% rise in egg prices since the start of the year. CNPO deputy chairman Loic Coulombel told Reuters that France would have previously looked to import food, but all of its trading partners are also in a shortage. Coulombel explained that companies have begun to change their recipes or halt production entirely as eggs have become too expensive, and this issue will only worsen global food shortages.
