White House Egg Roll Highlights Egg Industry
Today, the American Egg Board will continue its nearly four decades of support of the White House Easter Egg Roll with the 39th Commemorative Egg presentation to First Lady Michelle Obama on behalf of America’s egg farmers. Honoring the final Easter Egg Roll of the Obama Administration, this year’s theme is “Let’s Celebrate.” The event will feature live music, sport courts, cooking stations, storytelling, Easter egg rolling, and the first-ever White House Fun Run. Chris Pierce, member of the American Egg Board, says the event is a unique promotional and educational opportunity for the egg industry, “American egg producers donated 15,000 hardboiled eggs for the egg roll plus an additional 15,000 eggs for egg pops, an egg treat that will be available for all participants.”
American presidents and their families have celebrated Easter Monday by hosting an “egg roll” party for over a century. Some historians note that First Lady Dolley Madison originally suggested the idea of a public egg roll. Others tell stories of informal egg-rolling parties at the While House dating back to President Lincoln’s administration. Today, more than 35,000 attendees participate in a number of fun activities.
Eggs are more popular than ever among Americans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They are on trend with Americans’ appetite for more protein. In fact, egg sales are the highest they’ve ever been, according to Nielsen, growing by $1.4 billion to $7.3 billion in 2015. Easter is an especially important time of year for the egg industry, as the average U.S. household consumed 4 dozen eggs at Easter in 2015, a 5 percent increase over 2014. Price said, among the displays at the White House today, will be a hands-on activity that will trace the production and processing of eggs from farm to plate.