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What’s this got to do with the price of eggs? Everything.
As the cost of America’s favorite breakfast food flips into the unreal — with little relief in sight, industry analysts and insiders warn — price hike-weary grocery shoppers are once more left scrambling to stretch household budgets.
“Not to be the bearer of bad news, but we’re in this for a while,” Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board, told CNN — blaming bird flu for the latest assault on food affordability.
“Until we have time without a detection, unfortunately this very, very tight egg supply is going to continue,” she said.
For scrimpers and savers, no workaround seems too far-fetched now — from New Yorkers turning backyards into chicken coops, to the exceptionally hungry Pennsylvania poachers who recently made oeuf with a whopping $40,000 worth of liquid white and gold.
But there’s a simpler solution to beating egg-flation that won’t potentially land you in jail, nutrition experts suggest — hang up the frying pan and switch to a wide range of other protein-packed foods that are, for now anyway, far more affordable.
Writing for EatingWell, one dietitian recently suggested a radical rethink of the way we work protein into our diets.
“Eggs aren’t the only good source of protein,” said Lisa Valente. “In fact, many amazing vegetarian and vegan sources often get overlooked when people think of protein.”
According to the USDA, adult women should be getting at least 46 grams of protein per day, while adult males should be aiming for 56 grams — the bare minimum, some experts say.
However you crack it, that’s a lot of eggs, at 6 grams of protein apiece. Plenty to be wrapped into such a small package, sure, but there are cheep-er, easier foods that can do the same thing, the pros point out.
For breakfast, there’s always a good tofu scramble (7 grams of protein in a 3 oz. serving), a cup of Greek yogurt (20 grams in 7 oz.) or, even more cost-effective, a steaming bowl of fiber-rich oatmeal (6 grams in a 1 cup serving).
Valente recommends some other, equally economical ways to get your grams in — from easily cooked-up grains and legumes to excellent value snack foods.
For example, just two tablespoons of peanut butter delivers 8 grams, two more than one egg will give you. The low-effort food delivers “a nice boost of protein to toast, noodles, smoothies and oatmeal,” the expert said.
Not a PB person? Try pumpkin seeds (9 grams per oz.), almonds (6 grams per oz.) or almond butter (7 grams in two tablespoons).
For the rest of the day, get comfortable with the idea of dirt-cheap black beans (8 grams per half-cup cooked) and lentils (9 grams in the same serving size) as diet staples, as well.
“Beans offer a protein-fiber, one-two punch and since most of us aren’t eating enough fiber, eating more beans is an excellent place to start,” Valente said.
