KALISPELL - A national egg shortage due to increased mortality rate in chickens from the avian flu is causing grocery store shelves to be empty and prices to soar, but a business in the Flathead is combating this shortage by sourcing its eggs locally.
MTN News stopped by Withey’s Health Food in Kalispell and asked if they were experiencing any kind of egg shortage.
“No, the only thing we did was we ran out of brown eggs and there is no difference between brown and white eggs except for the breed of chicken, like a breed of dog. No, we're not having any issues. Never have,” said Withey's Health Food employee Deb McAdams.
Getting goods from local suppliers not only softens the blow when a shortage occurs, but it also helps to ensure the quality of the product.
“I go to check to see where they’re raised and other things. Our egg supplier is going to be out of Columbia Falls. She has a farmer next to her. That's where she gets her grain and has it ground into feed, so she doesn't buy commercial. I mean, it's very, very clean,” said McAdams.
Buying locally sourced eggs is just one way to promote ‘the Montana way of life.’
“We’ve got to support each other. You know, we come first in Montana. They do it all the right way and the old-fashioned way, the way it should be done,” said McAdams.
Other stores that source local eggs are not having an issue.
But the bigger stores MTN News spoke with, such as Super 1 and Albertsons, are saying that getting eggs on the shelf has been difficult.
