The recent volatility of egg prices in the United States has been a hot topic. Media coverage has consistently made the connection between supply problems and virulent strains of avian flu that has been afflicting poultry birds since 2022.
Many articles have indicated that, in addition to millions of birds dying from avian flu, infected flocks have widely been killed en masse in an attempt to contain its spread. The livestock industry euphemistically calls this killing of infected animals “depopulation,” and around 150 million birds have been depopulated since the current crisis began.
I have studied industrial livestock production for many years and have seen its myriad problems flash in and out of the media — such as greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution, food-borne illnesses, labour exploitation, and animal suffering. But it’s rare for the sector to stay in the media for long.
