The Joy of Eggs
Yes, ok, it’s probably a hackneyed headline used by journos for many, many years but the simple fact is that the versatility and nutritional content of eggs makes them a highly prized food stuff in anyone’s pantry (do pantries still exist outside of Downton Abbey?)
When I say versatile I’m not referring to the fact they can be used for parents’ egg and spoon races or the ‘egging’ of politicians but they can take on so many different forms and appear to be able to feed more hungry mouths than would first appear possible. Unfortunately, and particularly right now in light of the recent bird flu crisis, they are prohibitively expensive for many and up until recently were actually relatively scarce compared to ‘normal’ times, whatever they are these days.
So it is for these reasons that went on our very own egg hunt to try and secure a reliable egg supply that we could distribute to food pantries and food banks so that their clients would receive a, possibly unexpected, treat when they arrive to collect supplies.
The value placed on eggs had first come to our attention when we visited The Bread and Butter Thing in Manchester, an organisation who run mobile food hubs that help feed thousands of people per week. We helped with the food distribution at one particular hub and were told that if and when eggs were actually offered as part of the food package the clients would applaud and were so very grateful that they were available.
Subsequent visits to various food hubs, pantries, community shops and food distribution centres has clarified the rarity of eggs as a regular offering and so this became a mission to hunt down a significant number of these that we could distribute. Attempting to do this during a bird flu crisis with supply levels very low proved extremely challenging but eventually we were very grateful to Creed Food Services who were able to supply us a few thousand that we could distribute to the wonderful people at St. Albans Community Pantry and St. Albans District Foodbank (Trussell Trust).
