Egg prices are still high. A Colorado professor says avian flu is only part of the problem

Egg prices in Colorado and across the nation remain stubbornly high. If you’ve been grocery shopping lately, it won't come as a surprise that the cost of eggs shot up 40 percent over the last year. 

Some experts have blamed outbreaks of avian flu, which forced farmers to cull millions of chickens and turkeys across the country. And while that is certainly one factor, a Colorado professor says that the systems we use to produce and deliver eggs are actually the root of the problem.  

Jack Buffington teaches supply chain management at the University of Denver. In a recent article, he wrote that those high egg prices are an avoidable problem – but fixing it will require the U.S. to think differently about egg production. 

He spoke with Erin O’Toole about why we’re seeing cracks in the U.S. egg supply chain – and what a more resilient system might look like.

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Host and Producer: Erin O'Toole
Producer: Ariel Lavery
Executive Producer: Brad Turner
 
Theme music by Robbie Reverb
Additional music by Blue Dot Sessions
In The NoCo is a production of KUNC News and Community Radio for Northern Colorado.