Easter Eggs Are So Expensive Americans Are Dyeing Potatoes

With costs high and supplies short, people are getting creative with Easter egg traditions.

For John Young, the fourth generation to work at Young’s Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Easter means lots and lots of eggs. In years past, on the week leading up to the holiday, the team at this family-owned farm and amusement park buys 10,000 of them for their annual Easter egg hunt. They are then baked in standing ovens — “It’s much quicker than boiling that many” — and cooled before being hand-dyed by the dozens in big steel bowls.

In February, though, Mr. Young and his family began mulling the event, which is usually attended by more than 2,000 people. The state of the egg market in the United States made them wonder if the hunt still made sense.

This year will look different. For the first time in the 40-year history of the hunt, the eggs laid on the green grass of the farm will be made of plastic, filled with a coupon for a free ride on their carousel.

“The responses have been pretty positive," Mr. Young said of the social-media posts the company has put out to let customers know about the change. “I think people were quietly scared we’d cancel the event because of egg prices currently. So they’re glad we’re still doing it.”

Chicken eggs, the stars of Easter baskets and Easter egg hunts and rolls across the country, are going to cost more than in years past. Even as egg prices are dropping nationwide the anxiety about the cost persists, and many consumers are getting creative at finding substitutes. Videos on how to dye marshmallows, potatoes and even onions have begun to circulate on social media and news websites.