Prior to the price spikes, it was relatively easy to find a dozen eggs for around or below $2.

In what conditions are these eggs being produced?

Are these also codes 0 - 3, similar to the European ones, with different classes of the chickens living conditions?

$2 per dozen eggs is cheaper than in the poorest countries in Europe.

Honestly, terrible conditions. Factory-farmed style eggs. The “better” eggs were already at the $3-7+ price point depending on the feature set you’re looking for. Organic pasture raised eggs? Closer to the $7+. Plain brown organic eggs were closer to the $3 mark.

The egg industry in the US is a mess of marketing words that aren’t really regulated. Words like free-range, cage free, “access to the outdoors” often have little impact on the well-being of the chickens.