Farm fresh eggs sold at two Buckeye homes help ease inflation worries
BUCKEYE, Ariz. - Egg carts placed at two Buckeye homes have many skipping the grocery store and saving money.
What we know:
One of the owners sets out eggs each morning and within 15 minutes, they're gone.
She's selling them for just $3.
"My dream was to open something like this to be an asset to the community, which is why I sell my eggs for pennies," Diana Scianimanico said.
She's the owner of Bellview Acres and started raising chickens a year ago.
"I started with four, and now I have anywhere between 50 and 60," she said.
As her chickens started laying more and more eggs, she set up a self-serve farm stand to help neighbors find affordable eggs.
"When I started it, we were having bird flu back then, too. I think eggs were going for about $8 a dozen, and I've always sold them for $3," she said.
Big picture view:
The average price for a dozen eggs hit $4.15 in December, and the United States Department of Agriculture predicts prices will rise another 20% this year.
Egg prices are putting a strain on shoppers, restaurant owners, stores and farmers
Egg prices have shoppers and restaurant owners flabbergasted and thinking about creative ways to work around the un-egg-norable high prices.
Some grocery stores are now even limiting egg purchases.
Dig deeper:
"Completely crazy," Scianimanico said. "I get a text or two or five almost daily. Someone looking for eggs."
Down the road from her stand, Linda Whitehead owns a similar business, the Lil Red Barn Ranch.
You'll find a cabinet stocked with local jam and honey and, of course, eggs.
Marked at $5 a dozen, Whitehead says she's not changing her prices regardless of what a dozen costs in stores.
"Why gouge people? I don't like being gouged. I don't like the prices in the stores right now, so I'm not doing that to my customers," she said.
Neighbors who sell farm fresh eggs use the honor system. They list their prices and accept electronic payment.