Action Alert: Call your Texas Senator NOW for more access to locally raised eggs!

Egg prices are skyrocketing. Locally raised eggs are in high demand. But did you know that the current regulations are keeping all of us from having more access to locally raised eggs?

The problem:  Unless eggs are “graded,” our farmers are not allowed to sell their eggs to restaurants or grocers.

Grading eggs involves weighing and measuring each egg, sorting them by size, obtaining a license from the Texas Department of Agriculture, and paying fees. What grading does NOT do is provide any health or food safety benefits.

Grading is just a marketing program that Big Agribusiness uses as a tool to keep small farmers from being able to sell their eggs to the co-ops, mom & pop grocers, and local sourcing restaurants where consumers want these eggs!

What can you do about it?

The Texas Legislature is considering a bill to allow farmers to sell ungraded eggs to restaurants and grocers (who could then sell them to you).  The Texas Senate Health and Human Services committee is holding a hearing on Tuesday, April 8, and we need your help!

1. Can you make it to Austin in person on Tuesday? The more people who register, the better its chances, even if you don't testify! The Senate doesn’t accept online comments, so the only way to be on record in support of the bill is to register in person!

You can register starting at 1 pm on Tuesday; find instructions on how to register here and we have more details below.

2. Call your Texas Senator and urge them to co-author SB 1864. Find your senator here.

Tell them why you – as a farmer or consumer – want to see locally raised eggs in your local grocer and restaurants, without the barrier created by a grading license. Be sure to specifically ask them to co-author SB 1864 by Senator Johnson.

• Farmers can sell ungraded eggs of all kinds directly to consumers, and there have been no reported problems with them.
• Farmers can sell ungraded duck or quail eggs to restaurants and grocers.
• All the bill does is allow small farmers to sell those same ungraded eggs, that they’re already selling to consumers, to restaurants and retailers who can then sell them to consumers!

If you can’t speak to a staffer, leave a voicemail. Thank you for adding your voice in support!

More information about the bill and how to register in support is below…

In solidarity,

Judith McGeary
Founder and Executive Director

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MORE INFORMATION ON THE BILL & REGISTRATION:

You can read our fact sheet about the bill here: Fact-sheet-ungraded-eggs-3.20.25.pdf

How to register in support of the bill:

Registration opens about an hour before the scheduled hearing time, and you can register until the bill is actually heard. The best information we can give you is that you can definitely register anytime between 1 pm and 3 pm, and most likely will be able to register for several hours after that. We will try to update our facebook page to let people know when registration closes.

 Come to the Capitol and go to the 2nd floor.  On the hallway to the east of the center rotunda, you’ll see the door to the Senate chambers - and before that, several kiosks.

 Click on Start and select the Health and Human Services Committee.

 Select SB 1864 by Johnson.

 Then fill in your contact information and indicate that you are FOR the bill and NOT TESTIFYING (unless you have prepared a 2 minute statement that you wish to share).

Make sure to go all the way through to click the affirmation and hit submit – you should see a confirmation screen confirming that you have registered.

And that’s it!  If you want to stay and watch the hearing, you can.  Or you can head out and go on with your day.  Either way, your name is now on the official list of people registering in support of the bill … a list that the Senators and their staff look at when they are deciding their position!

You can watch a video on how to register here.  It’s for House committee registration, but the process is almost identical – the only difference is that you’ll need to use the kiosks that show the Senate committees. The easiest ones to find are on the 2nd floor of the Capitol.

Haven’t been to the Capitol before?  Here are maps and information about parking.

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