Some bad eggs ruining egg stands’ honor system

By Victoria Anderson

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    MOORE, Oklahoma (KOCO) — As egg prices continue to break the bank, some locals are resorting to breaking the rules.

Local egg stands, like one in Moore, have run on respect for decades now, but as egg prices continue to skyrocket and demand increases, some stands are having to up their security measures.

At Lost Creek Urban Farms’ stand, the rules are pretty clear.

While everyone might take their eggs differently, some people just straight up take them.

“I would probably say you are supposed to pay for the eggs,” said Eric Goforth, the owner of Lost Creek Urban Farms.

“He took four cartons of eggs. Ugh, just again? You know,” Goforth said.

A costly crime played out on Goforth’s Ring Camera this week. Footage shows a man stealing 48 eggs from the farm’s self-service stand.

And while it might not be the crime of the century, in times like this, every egg matters.

“So, you know, to get that end product stolen, you know, that’s all your profit,” Goforth said.

With the recent rise in bird flu, demand and cost have never been higher, spiking costs in every step eggs make from the chicken to your plate.

“You have a lot in feed. You do have a lot you are paying for even before you sell the eggs,” Goforth said.

He said this is a battle he and other farmers have fought before, but in this economy, it’s hard to ignore.

“To be on the honor system, it makes everything efficient,” Goforth said.

But he said one bad egg won’t ruin his stand.

“Having a loss every once in a while, it’s still worth trusting people,” Goforth said.

So, now customers will be able to take their eggs with a side of surveillance and an extra order of instructions.

“I might change my sign and make it clear, ‘self-serve,’ maybe it needs to say ‘self-checkout,’” Goforth said.

And though Goforth hopes to hike up security measures, he told KOCO 5 that he will not be filing a police report against the man seen in the video.

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