The Daily Populous Saturday April 19th, 2025 evening edition
Authored by cbc.ca and submitted by Leeming

Hippity, hoppity, Easter's on its way, but people in the U.S. may have to think outside the basket this year.

Eggs tend to be a staple for Easter celebrations, whether they're being decorated with bright paints, rolled across the lawn of the White House, deviled and displayed on a platter, or baked into quiches and served with brunch.

But with U.S. egg prices still stubbornly high amid an outbreak of bird flu in laying hens that led to a severe egg shortage , many Americans are looking for alternatives to some of their favourite traditions. Last month, U.S. egg prices increased again to reach a new record-high average of $6.23 US per dozen, or $8.73 Cdn.

Luckily, influencers have stepped up to the challenge when it comes to decorating eggs, dyeing everything from marshmallows to potatoes.

One popular TikTok video by lifestyle and home design site The Spruce offers five alternatives to decorating real eggs, including painting pasta shells, painting potatoes, and painting clay.

In other videos that bemoan the current price of eggs, influencers decorate egg-shaped brownies, they dye marshmallows, and they paint rocks.

"Small potatoes or baby potatoes have sort of an egg shape and and they're a lot of fun to look at! So let's colour potatoes for Easter!" writes Rose Atwater on her website Rose Bakes.

"Eggs are way too expensive right now," explain the food bloggers behind Crowded Kitchen in a video for peanut butter eggs with more than one million likes on Instagram.

"I actually enjoyed dyeing marshmallows more than eggs," wrote influencer Rachel Anderson in a viral Instagram video where she dips jumbo marshmallows in food colouring before displaying them on a platter.

Three videos posted to social media show alternatives to decorating Easter eggs. On the left, @athomewithshannon dyes marshmallows in this March 25 post on TikTok. Centre, @thekrazycouponlady paints potatoes in this April 5 Instagram video. Right, @crowded_kitchen shares peanut butter eggs in a March 20 Instagram video. (@athomewithshannon/TikTok, @thekrazycouponlady/Instagram, @crowded_kitchen/Instagram)

With Easter just days away, the U.S.'s most recent egg price increase comes at a tough time. The March record of $6.23 US per dozen is up from about $5.90 US per dozen in February, and about $4.95 in January.

By comparison, Canada's average retail price for a dozen eggs in February was $4.91 (or around $3.50 US), according to the most recent figures from Statistics Canada — roughly 40 per cent cheaper than if you bought them south of the border.

The U.S. increase was reported last Thursday in the consumer price index . Overall, the index for food increased 0.4 per cent in March, which includes a 5.9 per cent increase in the index for eggs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the last 12 months, the index for eggs increased by 60.4 per cent.

And while there is evidence that wholesale prices are falling, those haven't necessarily reached store shelves yet.

"Even though shell egg demand is improving into the final marketing week ahead of Easter weekend, it continues to lag behind current expectations and past Easter trends," the U.S. Department of Agriculture wrote in its most recent weekly egg markets overview.

"Retail grocers are largely opting out of running their usual annual holiday shell egg promotions this year as supplies have only recently recovered sufficiently to maintain a consistent offering; (it's) a situation few are willing to jeopardize through feature incentives."

Still, it seems you can't stop some traditions, even if it means getting creative.

Craft retailer Michaels told The Associated Press their craft egg kits are flying off the shelves, with sales of two of the kits up 20 per cent compared to the same time last year.

Walmart, the U.S.'s largest retailer, declined to comment on sales of dyeable plastic eggs and other alternatives, but said it wasn't the first year it carried them. Among some options for shoppers: a carton of 12 plastic eggs that include four liquid dye packets and four egg-dyeing bags and Play-Doh Easter eggs.

Trays of coloured Easter eggs are displayed during the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on April 18, 2022. This year, despite the price of eggs, U.S. President Donald Trump has said he plans to still use real eggs. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Paas, a supplier of egg dyeing kits, shared an Instagram video earlier this month demonstrating how to dye marshmallows that give "major spring vibes ... no eggs required."

And of course, some people are finding their own solutions online, where potatoes seem particularly popular.

"Are potatoes the answer?" writes Orlando news site WESH 2.

"Skip those expensive eggs and dye potatoes for Easter instead!" writes The Craft Patch on Facebook.

And in a TikTok video set to It's the Hard Knock Life from the musical Annie, a mom heaves a bag of potatoes in her grocery cart, then shows her children colouring them with markers.

"With egg prices, we might be dyeing Easter potatoes again," she wrote.

Check_Ivanas_Coffin on April 19th, 2025 at 14:42 UTC »

Okkkkayyy, no one is actually doing this besides maybe rage bait accounts on TikTok. And the article is using the same strategy.

badwolf1013 on April 19th, 2025 at 14:22 UTC »

The photo that accompanies this article looks a bit photoshopped, and while I suppose that there may be a few Paas-junkies out there who've got to get their dye on at least once every spring, I suspect most people just went down to their local dollar store and bought plastic eggs at 5 for $1 for their Easter Egg hunts.

This just feels like the Canadians taking the colored piss out of Americans. (Which -- in fairness -- we totally deserve.)

TheSeekerOfSanity on April 19th, 2025 at 13:56 UTC »

Times like these are when I think about purchasing “I did that!” Trump stickers.