The prices on two grocery staples is finally returning to normal in Arizona.
A year ago shoppers from the Arizona Farm Bureau Federation found the average cost of whole milk was nearly $3 a gallon. And eggs? Forget about it. They topped $3.20 a dozen.
Peggy Jo Goodfellow, the federation's marketing director, said that price was shocking to a lot of shoppers— herself included. "It was. It really was," she said. "And it made me not make egg salad for quite a while."
The latest survey from the group has milk down to under two bucks. And the cost of those dozen eggs now is about half of what it was last year.
"I think eggs are back to what we're used to seeing," Goodfellow said. "It was unusual to see them so high."
The price of eggs skyrocketed last year amid the avian flu scare, with producers, particularly in the Midwest, killing tens of millions of laying hens. Fewer chickens translated to fewer eggs. And, supply and demand being what it is, those who still wanted them had to dig a little deeper into their wallets.
Not all prices are down. The federation finds the cost of chicken breasts up sharply, though Goodfellow said she is at a loss to explain exactly why.
