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EAT THIS: EGGS FROM GLAUM EGG RANCH
Over the past month, I’ve noticed that every other time I visited my neighborhood grocery store, it was out of eggs. We eat at least a dozen eggs a week in my house, so it was a noticeable absence. When my friend told me that Costco was also occasionally out of eggs, I looked into the reason and asked local businesses how they were grappling with the shortage.
A nationwide outbreak of avian flu is the culprit. Infected birds have to be euthanized, and a decrease in the number of laying hens is causing a shortage. California is currently the hardest-hit state and has lost 4.6 million hens. Grocery stores sourcing from producers like Clover Sonoma are getting a limited number of eggs and are selling out more quickly, hence the empty shelves.
But when I called local businesses that I know use a lot of eggs, including Galye’s Bakery & Rosticceria in Capitola, Santa Cruz-based Companion Bakeshop, Mad Yolks, a downtown Santa Cruz restaurant that specializes in breakfast sandwiches, and locally-owned market Shopper’s Corner, they all asked me the same question – what egg shortage?
It turns out, they all source from Glaum Egg Ranch in Aptos, a local, family-owned business that has been producing eggs since the 1950s. Glaum did not return my calls and emails for this story, but their customers told me that they take great care to insulate their flocks from disease, and so far haven’t been affected by the national outbreak of flu.
While writing an explainer on a national issue, I unintentionally cracked open a story about a local farmer who is supporting dozens of local businesses, and keeping countless Santa Cruz County customer’s fridges stocked with eggs – and pastries, and breakfast sandwiches.
You can purchase Glaum Egg Ranch eggs at 50 locations in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. But if you can, stop by their farm store at 3100 Valencia Road in Aptos, if only to experience its infamous animatronic chicken show.
BEST OF THE WEEK AHEAD
Below, find a curated list of the best food and drink events in Santa Cruz County for the coming week. At the top, I share my picks of unmissable local happenings.
The Lookout Santa Cruz app is available now in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Learn more here.
NEWS OF THE WEEK
ICYMI – here are the food news stories from Lookout that you might have missed, plus important news from beyond our borders picked by yours truly.
More mocktails, vegetables and takeout: Six local chefs share their restaurant predictions for 2025 (Lookout)
New luxury hotel La Bahia includes 2 restaurants, 2 bars open to the public (Lookout)
Craft distillers’ push to ship directly to customers faces legal and political hurdles (Lookout)
