While the cost of food is on the decline, breakfast lovers continue to reel from their dented wallets as the price of eggs and orange juice remain up.
Inflation has not been kind to the egg aficionados with prices as high as $7.37 for a dozen in states like California as recently as December and there are currently no signs of reprieve. Elsewhere, prices are cheaper than those in the Golden State but still expensive relative to the area. In December, the average U.S. price of eggs was $4.25
Supply chain disruptions have been identified as at least one of the issues causing prices to remain high but the avian bird flu has really wreaked havoc on the poultry industry. Right now, the market is experiencing the worst cases of bird flu and as a result more than 44 million egg-laying hens have died.
The issue is compounded when chickens that are at risk of contracting bird flu are euthanized in an effort to mitigate the spread. The New York Times reported that the depopulating of healthy birds on top of those that have succumbed to illness has slashed the nation's egg supply by more than 7 percent.
With egg demand peaking in December, customers could see a dropoff in price in the coming months.
While your scrambled eggs might cost a little less in the future, if you want to wash them down with some OJ, it will cost you.
Florida is currently experiencing its smallest citrus crop since the 1936-1937 season and it all started in early 2022. A January deep freeze in the sunshine state stunted growth of fruits, then Hurricane Ian bombarded the state and it was hit with another major hurricane in Nicole two months later in November.
The biggest culprit in the rise in cost of Florida oranges is the ongoing citrus tree disease. The disease, which causes leaves and fruit to drop prematurely, is typically spread via major rain events like hurricanes or through insects.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture anticipates around 20 million boxes of oranges to be produced this year, which is a 51 percent drop off from 2022.
Jared C. Bass, senior director for Higher Education at the Center for American Progress, joins Cheddar News to discuss how schools are navigating the Omicron variant.
Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the advocacy group GLAAD, joined Cheddar to discuss the organization's Accelerating Acceptance report that examines how welcoming the general public is toward members of the LGBTQ+ community. Ellis noted that while visibility and representation is up in media, video games, and on social media, it has conversely opened the door for increased targeted harassment on the street, particularly for transgender and gender non-conforming people. "I go to the school board meetings, I hear the homophobia and the transphobia in-person, in real-time, and so, we're seeing that more and more at the local level across the country," Ellis said. "And we're going to see that play out in the midterm elections, especially the local elections."
Steve Patton, EY Americas Mobility Sector Leader, joins Cheddar News to discuss what can be done to speed up the adoption of EVs, and how infrastructure can be scaled up to support this transition.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is ramping up a civil investigation into The Trump Organization. The AG's office has subpoenaed Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. They have refused to comply with the subpoenas. Bradley Moss, national security attorney, joins Cheddar News to discuss the next steps in this investigation.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis has officially reduced the 110-year prison sentence of truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos to 10 years, calling the initial lengthy sentence “unjust.” Dan Gilleon, constitutional attorney at Gilleon Law Firm APC, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
LG announced its latest cooking appliances including its ThinQ Recipe service. The app allows people to choose from up to 10,000 recipes and have the ingredients delivered to their doorstep. LG Electronics executive Brandt Varner joins Cheddar News to talk about the products.
Former Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams was sworn in as the newest Mayor of New York City. Adams is now expected to work on a number of issues such as crime and coronavirus. Erin Durkin,, reporter at PoliticoNY, joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
The six-month trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes has come to an end with the former tech startup star found guilty of four out of 11 counts of fraud. Michael S. Weinstein, Esq, chair of the white collar criminal defense practice at Cole Schotz, and former Department of Justice trial attorney, joined Cheddar News Wrap to discuss what happens next for the former mogul. "Do I think it's going to be more than five or seven years? Probably yes. I think that's probably a fair range at this point," he said about her potential prison sentence.
We are just one day away from what has been called the most influential tech event in the world. CES 2022 will officially kick off on Wednesday in Las Vegas, but the annual tech summit is being impacted by COVID-19, like so many other recent events. The Consumer Technology Association originally planned for a hybrid event to take place from January 5-8, with some in-person events and some virtual; however, a few big-name companies announced they will not be attending in-person, so the CTA decided to shorten the event by one day, with it now ending on Friday. Consumer electronics senior analyst Will Greenwald joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.