3 million eggs to be distributed to North Carolina food banks as part of settlement

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Millions of free eggs will be distributed all over North Carolina for struggling families.

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North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson secured this settlement after a lawsuit against some of the top egg farms in the country.

Cal-Maine Foods, Hickman’s Family Farms, and Versova are accused of working together to intentionally hike up egg prices, which caused prices to skyrocket last year.

“The full consequences involve fines for them to pay 53 million eggs for the entire country and a new level of oversight,” Jackson said.

According to local food banks, 1.7 million people in the state are struggling to put on the table. Three million free eggs will make a huge impact.

Ann Edmonson, the executive director with Feeding the Carolinas, said more families are turning to food banks every year. Based on their findings, one in six people in the state need these types of services.

“We’re going to be able to provide protein to families across the state,” Edmonson said. “That’s one of the largest asks when we have our neighbors come to use local food pantries or no cost food markets.”

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“People who come out are employed, but they just can’t make their budget stretch to pay the rising costs and fuel, groceries, housing and all the other items that they’re having to deal with,” she said.

Edmonson stood alongside Jackson during the first egg drop off at the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina on Tuesday afternoon.

“Behind me is 270,000 eggs,” Edmonson said. “This is step one. These eggs will be going to food banks all across the state to feed tens of thousands of North Carolina families for free.”

The egg donations will happen over the course of six weeks.

According to Jackson, this will be a huge job, but leaders at Feeding the Carolinas are delighted to take on this statewide distribution.

These eggs will go to all seven of the Feeding the Carolinas foodbanks, which provide food to all 100 counties in North Carolina.

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