America's egg farmers contribute to First Lady Jill Biden's Commemorative Egg and White House Easter Egg Roll

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For over 40 years, the American Egg Board — on behalf of U.S. egg farmers — has presented the annual First Lady’s Commemorative Egg "in a time-honored Easter tradition celebrating America’s first ladies and the causes and initiatives close to their hearts," the organization said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. 

This year, for the first time ever, a "Colonnade of Eggs" will be revealed in the White House's East Wing, displaying the Commemorative Eggs from every presidential administration since the time of Jimmy Carter's White House (Jan. 1977-Jan. 1981). 

"You cannot have Easter without eggs," said Emily Metz to Fox News Digital.

Each First Lady's Commemorative Egg is an actual chicken egg that's been decorated by a specialized egg artist, the organization also said.

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"This is a 45-year-old tradition that America's egg farmers have been honored to present to the first ladies. The Commemorative Egg celebrates Easter and spring and all that goes with it every year," Emily Metz, president and CEO of the American Egg Board, which is based in Chicago, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. 

Shown here is a view of the First Lady's 2022 Commemorative Egg, to be presented to Jill Biden on Monday, April 18, 2022, at the White House Easter Egg Roll event on the White House lawn. (American Egg Board)

The first ladies "are the unsung heroes of the White House," she added, "and we wanted to celebrate their service and commitment to our nation." 

Also, "you cannot have Easter without eggs," she said. "It's our holiday, our proverbial Super Bowl — and we wanted to combine the two and start this tradition of honoring the first ladies."

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Metz said the first Commemorative Egg was given at that time, in 1977, to Amy Carter, the first daughter.

"This year, the theme of the White House Easter Egg Roll is ‘egg-ucation,’ focused on the theme of education, with Dr. Jill Biden, of course, being a teacher," said Metz, and her "commitment to lifelong learning." 

This First Lady's Commemorative Egg for 2022 will be given to Jill Biden on Monday, April 18, 2022. It's been hand-decorated by an egg artist. (American Egg Board)

"We wanted to honor that with this year's egg. So that saying is actually one of her sayings, ‘Education is possibility set in motion.’" 

Also on the egg, Metz added, "are peach blossoms, American holly and a tiny ladybug. Peach blossoms are the Delaware state flower, American holly is the Delaware state tree, and the ladybug is the Delaware state bug. All of that is a nod to the Bidens' home state, and we wanted to make this really personal egg for her."

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All of the eggs given to America's first ladies over time "are blown-out eggs," said Metz. 

"These are produced by egg artists, called eggers, who are part of the International Egg Guild."

This year's First Lady's Commemorative Egg will be presented to Jill Biden on Monday, April 18, 2022, at the White House Easter Egg Roll. (photo on left, courtesy of American Egg Board)

Metz said there are about 80 of these artists across the U.S. 

"We work with selected artists each year," she said, to produce the uniquely decorated Commemorative Eggs for America's first ladies.

She said a number of the Commemorative Eggs — including Laura Bush's decorative eggs and Michele Obama's decorative eggs — "have ended up in the presidential libraries," she said. 

President Joe Biden is shown above with First Lady Jill Biden and the Easter Bunny on the Blue Room balcony at the White House on April 5, 2021, in Washington. The White House Easter Egg Roll is returning on April 18, 2022, after a 2-year hiatus because of the COVID pandemic.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

"They're part of the gift of the presidential libraries, that they've tended to hold onto, to be part of their libraries."

She said the American Egg Board keeps many of them and preserves them carefully from year to year.

For this year's White House Easter Egg Roll, America’s egg farmers have donated all of the eggs to be used on the South Lawn for hunting, decorating, snacking and the iconic egg roll itself, the organization explained.

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Americans are on track to buy more than 3 billion eggs during the Easter holiday, the AEB said in its statement. 

Also, America’s egg farmers are also meeting their 2021 Easter pledge of donating over 90 million eggs to local food banks, as a collective industry, given the rise in food insecurity across the nation, said Metz. 

America’s egg farmers are meeting their 2021 Easter pledge of collectively donating over 90 million eggs to local food banks given the rise in food insecurity across the nation, said Emily Metz of the American Egg Board. (iStock)

"Our farmers quite literally feed people," she said.

Eggs are among the most sought-after food at food banks, she said. "They're very comforting to people."

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The American Egg Board, in a statement, said that "America's egg farmers remain committed to fighting hunger in 2022 through generous donations of eggs to their communities and food banks year-round. In the spirit of Easter, America's egg farmers once again are donating every egg used at this year's White House Easter Egg Roll for hunting, decorating and the iconic egg roll. More than 100,000 eggs will be donated to the event and to the Maryland Food Bank."