The White House will maintain its tradition of using real eggs for the annual Easter Egg Roll despite ongoing concerns about egg prices and supply shortages caused by avian flu. The decision has sparked mixed reactions from American egg farmers, according to NBC News.

“They were saying that for Easter ‘please don’t use eggs. Could you use plastic eggs?’ I say we don’t want to do that,” President Trump stated Wednesday while announcing new tariffs.

The April 21 event will feature 30,000 eggs donated by farmers through the American Egg Board. The organization deliberated about the optics of providing thousands of eggs during a shortage but ultimately decided to proceed as usual.

“The heart of this event is about bringing joy to children and families, and in these difficult times for egg farmers, it’s important to celebrate wherever we can,” said Emily Metz, president and CEO of the Egg Board.

Farmers remain divided on the decision. Marty Thomas, co-owner of Kakadoodle egg farm, supports using real eggs, noting, “It’s not like they’re using millions of eggs for this egg roll. It’s a fun thing.”

However, Vanessa Frias of Willowbrook Farms disagrees. “Those eggs need to go in people’s bellies, and it needs to feed our families here in the United States, not to be played with,” she argued.

Small Eggs Used to Minimize Impact

This year’s event will exclusively use small and medium-sized eggs not typically sold in retail markets. The 2,500 dozen eggs represent “a very small percentage of the nearly nine million dozen eggs sold at grocers and other retailers each day,” according to Metz.

While egg prices reached an all-time high of $8.64 per dozen in March, they have since decreased to around $3, though still higher than normal. The Trump administration has implemented measures to address egg supply and cost issues.

Read more at NBC News