Tag: Commodity cheese

By the early 1980s, the US government had stockpiled over 500 million pounds of cheese, a surplus that gave rise to the now-famous commodity distributed to low-income families. But the lingering question remains: is government cheese good to eat? The answer is complex, with its quality and desirability varying depending on the specific product, time period, and personal taste.

Between the 1970s and 1990s, the U.S. government distributed millions of pounds of surplus cheese, a program born from agricultural subsidies meant to stabilize dairy prices. This historical context naturally begs the question: what were the ingredients in government cheese, and was it a special recipe or just standard dairy fare? The answer lies in the history of U.S. dairy policy and the simple composition of a mild cheddar cheese.