PEORIA, Ill. – After a three-year pandemic hiatus, the Peoria County Farm Bureau (PCFB) finally was able to present their 20th Farmers Share of the Food Dollar Breakfast for around 1,150 consumers who lined up to pay $1.25 for a hot breakfast prepared fresh by local volunteers.

The popular breakfast, held at Peoria’s Exposition Gardens on March 11, provided locals an opportunity to meet the farmers that raise their food. They also received a lesson on how much money actually goes to the producer of the commodities that make up the breakfast of two whole hog sausage patties, two buttermilk pancakes, two scrambled eggs, Prairie Farms milk and Florida orange juice.

The estimated restaurant value of the 2023 breakfast was $10-$12 per plate. When the breakfast was last held in 2019, the estimated farmers’ share of the plate – and the cost of the PCFB breakfast – was just 70 cents.

“The purpose of the breakfast is to educate. Less than 2 percent of the population come from a farm, and this is our opportunity to teach them the connection from our farm to the dinner table,” said Patrick Kirchhofer, PCFB manager. “While they are waiting in line, we’ve got a lot of farm pictures for them to look at, farm toys to identify, and we’ve got Ag in the Classroom here, our equine committee, and we’re selling local (ag-related products) including candles made from soybeans. We want people to understand that farm commodities are not only used for our food, but for a lot of our (non-food) products.”

Kirchhofer explained that the majority of the additional cost for the breakfast since 2019 comes from the unprecedented rise in the cost of eggs at retail. “Last time in 2019, we paid around a dollar for a dozen eggs. This year, we paid $3.30 for a dozen eggs, so we had to incorporate that cost into the cost of the breakfast. But still, at $1.25 it’s a great deal,” Kirchhofer said.

“This is the farm value of the menu items that’s based on the value of the wheat in the pancakes, what the farmer receives for the pigs used to make the sausage, and the other costs involved. There is labor, packaging, transportation, advertising and so many other costs you have to factor into the cost of food at the grocery store or a restaurant.”

In addition to the tripling of the cost for eggs, other commodities that saw significant price increases included orange juice, which formerly cost around $1 for a pound of solids and now costs $2 per pound. Sausage and milk also saw price increases, though not to the extent of eggs and orange juice, according to Kirchhofer.

A more detailed breakdown of the farmers’ share of the breakfast looked like this:

Corn, at $6.67 per bushel, used to make maple syrup: 2 cents

Wheat, at $7.70 for a 60 lb. bushel: 8 cents

Milk, at $19 for 100 lbs.: 12 cents

Oranges, at $2 for 1 lb. of solids: 13 cents

Pig, at 62 cents per pound: 35 cents

Eggs, at $3.30 per dozen: 55 cents

(Breakfast included 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 sausage patties, syrup, butter, 8 oz. milk, 8 oz. orange juice.)

“Farmers don’t generally control what they are paid for their products,” Kirchhofer said. “They receive what the market offers at the time they sell.”

The event, sponsored by the PCFB Public Relations Committee, also featured a silent auction to raise money for the PCFB Foundation literacy fund. The fund provides scholarships for students pursuing a degree in an agriculture-related field. 

For the fifth year, the breakfast was “green” using all-recyclable tableware, plates, cups, knives, forks, placemats and garbage bags. The waste from the breakfast will be composted at BetterEarth Compost in Peoria County.