FISH HAWK, Fla. (WFTS) — If you've been to the grocery store lately, you know the price of eggs is still through the roof.
A dozen eggs now cost 96% more than this time last year. Some shoppers are seeing prices double in the last six weeks.
That's on top of the gamble that your grocer of choice will even have eggs in stock.
The egg shortage is due to the spread of bird flu. There are several states with confirmed outbreaks on both the east coast and west coast, causing prices to rise.
However, some in the Fish Hawk community don't have to worry about the price of eggs.
That's because middle school students at Randall Middle School are making sure their community has their fix of protein.
"Basically, every morning, around 8:50, we come here to the Land Lab, and we take care of our chickens," said one of the middle schoolers. The land lab consists of goats, pigs, sheep, and chickens.
"I like to come in every morning, replace the water and replace the feed, and make sure they have everything they need for the next day," said another student.
The chicken coop is the hot topic right now amid the egg shortage.
While the price of eggs at the grocery store keeps going up, that's not the case in this community.
"We have always kept it at $4 a dozen for the teachers because, honestly, teacher budget," said Brittany Andrews, the teacher over the agriculture program.
Every dollar Randall Middle teachers and parents spend on these eggs goes right back to the program, funding food and supplies to keep it going.
The students are completely responsible for taking care of the livestock.
Each student has an animal of their own, save for one student with two chickens under his care. And the kids love it to the point that their parents can see a difference at home.
"Some of them come up to me and say, this is the only reason why my kid wants to go to school. Yeah, they want to come to school to take care of their animal," said Andrews.
And the students are proud to show off their animals.
"I'm the first one to go into agriculture in my family. My mom was like, 'Huh? You want a chicken?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, I just want to express my love to them,'" said one of the students.
It's also showing off the lifelong lessons and responsibility tending to livestock can teach.
"The thing I like most is all the leadership and all the friends you can make here and to be able to learn stuff about, like, different animals," one student said.
"I like to take care of something other than myself each morning. It makes me feel good," another student added.
The kids harvest, wash, and package eggs four days out of the school week. They deliver their weekly spoils to teachers and parents who signed up for the eggs on Friday.
There's even technology in the lab to find eggs that aren't suitable for eating, either they're cracked, or their air bubbles are too large.
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