The US government currently stores 1.4 billion pounds of cheese in caves located hundreds of feet below the ground in Missouri1. The cheese is stored in converted limestone mines, which are kept at a temperature of 36 degrees Fahrenheit to maintain freshness1. The government began stockpiling cheese in the 1970s in response to a national dairy shortage and 30% inflation on dairy products1. The government’s intervention resulted in prices falling drastically, which motivated dairy farmers to produce as much dairy as they could1. Farmers knew that whatever was not sold on the market could likely be purchased by the government, and it was. By the early 1980s, the government owned over 500 million pounds of cheese1. The reason the dairy product was converted to cheese was because it has a longer shelf life than other dairy products1. The government distributed the cheese through the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in 19811. The cheese was given away for free by pickup to people at food banks, community centers, and so on1. The government is currently storing cheese to the tune of 1.4 billion pounds amid trade disputes and declining dairy consumption nationally1.
www.farmlinkproject.org
Cheese Caves and Food Surpluses: Why the U.S. Government currently stores 1.4 billion lbs of cheese
Hundreds of feet below the ground in Missouri, there are hundreds of thousands of pounds of American cheese. Deep in converted limestone mines, caves kept...
www.farmlinkproject.org
