Y'all remember that government cheese from the 80s....it may come back!

geechiedan

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
gettyimages-543376694_wide-1d9ac57f947f60506d6490d7b3d948cc8e45d7d7-s800-c85.jpg



Nobody Is Moving Our Cheese: American Surplus Reaches Record High


It's a stinky time for the American cheese industry.

While Americans consumed nearly 37 pounds per capita in 2017, it was not enough to reduce the country's 1.4 billion-pound cheese surplus, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The glut, which at 900,000 cubic yards is the largest in U.S. history, means that there is enough cheese sitting in cold storage to wrap around the U.S. Capitol.

The stockpile started to build several years ago, in large part because the pace of milk production began to exceed the rates of consumption, says Andrew Novakovic, professor of agricultural economics at Cornell University.

Over the past 10 years, milk production has increased by 13 percentbecause of high prices. But what dairy farmers failed to realize was that Americans are drinking less milk. According to data from the USDA, Americans drank just 149 pounds of milk per capita in 2017, down from 247 pounds in 1975.

Suppliers turn that extra milk into cheese because it is less perishable and stays fresh for longer periods. But Americans are turning their noses up at those processed cheese slices and string cheese — varieties that are a main driver of the U.S. cheese market — in favor of more refined options, Novakovic tells Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson. Despite this shift, sales of mozzarella cheese, the single largest type of cheese produced and consumed in the U.S., remain strong, he says.

"What has changed — and changed fairly noticeably and fairly recently — is people are turning away from processed cheese," Novakovic says. "It's also the case that we're seeing increased sales of kind of more exotic, specialty, European-style cheeses. Some of those are made in the U.S. A lot of them aren't."

Novakovic also notes that imported cheeses tend to cost more, so when people choose those, they buy less cheese overall. The growing surplus of American-made cheese and milk means that prices are declining. The current average price of whole milk is $15.12 per 100 pounds, which is much lower than the price required for dairy farmers to break even.

"It's the same as it is for everything else: If you've got too much of something, the price has to go down until consumption rises," Novakovic says.

Some analysts have raised fears that U.S. trade disputes with China and Mexico could also negatively impact the dairy industry. But according to the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the impact of retaliatory tariffs on American dairy products has been relatively small, not to mention that the U.S. exports only about 6 percent of its cheese.

That is to say that the price of letting pounds of cheese sit idle in cold storage comes back to dairy farmers. Since the 1970s, the industry has consolidated with more cows housed on larger farms, but now even those farms can't compete. In Wisconsin alone, hundreds of farms closed in 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"A lot of farmers would say, 'Well, make it stop.' But the fact of the matter is we're still pushing out a little bit more milk than we know what to do with," Novakovic says. "And really, it's not a big number, but until those two numbers get reconciled, we're going to continue to see these low prices."


https://www.npr.org/2019/01/09/6833...B680CG_PcqYaHrpG0knhfsJ0lacNqo6Wt4LHuJ9x0EE9o

:giggle: don't act like some of ya'll didn't get that cheese back in the day:blush:
 

DEETZ181

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
gettyimages-543376694_wide-1d9ac57f947f60506d6490d7b3d948cc8e45d7d7-s800-c85.jpg



Nobody Is Moving Our Cheese: American Surplus Reaches Record High


It's a stinky time for the American cheese industry.

While Americans consumed nearly 37 pounds per capita in 2017, it was not enough to reduce the country's 1.4 billion-pound cheese surplus, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The glut, which at 900,000 cubic yards is the largest in U.S. history, means that there is enough cheese sitting in cold storage to wrap around the U.S. Capitol.

The stockpile started to build several years ago, in large part because the pace of milk production began to exceed the rates of consumption, says Andrew Novakovic, professor of agricultural economics at Cornell University.

Over the past 10 years, milk production has increased by 13 percentbecause of high prices. But what dairy farmers failed to realize was that Americans are drinking less milk. According to data from the USDA, Americans drank just 149 pounds of milk per capita in 2017, down from 247 pounds in 1975.

Suppliers turn that extra milk into cheese because it is less perishable and stays fresh for longer periods. But Americans are turning their noses up at those processed cheese slices and string cheese — varieties that are a main driver of the U.S. cheese market — in favor of more refined options, Novakovic tells Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson. Despite this shift, sales of mozzarella cheese, the single largest type of cheese produced and consumed in the U.S., remain strong, he says.

"What has changed — and changed fairly noticeably and fairly recently — is people are turning away from processed cheese," Novakovic says. "It's also the case that we're seeing increased sales of kind of more exotic, specialty, European-style cheeses. Some of those are made in the U.S. A lot of them aren't."

Novakovic also notes that imported cheeses tend to cost more, so when people choose those, they buy less cheese overall. The growing surplus of American-made cheese and milk means that prices are declining. The current average price of whole milk is $15.12 per 100 pounds, which is much lower than the price required for dairy farmers to break even.

"It's the same as it is for everything else: If you've got too much of something, the price has to go down until consumption rises," Novakovic says.

Some analysts have raised fears that U.S. trade disputes with China and Mexico could also negatively impact the dairy industry. But according to the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the impact of retaliatory tariffs on American dairy products has been relatively small, not to mention that the U.S. exports only about 6 percent of its cheese.

That is to say that the price of letting pounds of cheese sit idle in cold storage comes back to dairy farmers. Since the 1970s, the industry has consolidated with more cows housed on larger farms, but now even those farms can't compete. In Wisconsin alone, hundreds of farms closed in 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported.

"A lot of farmers would say, 'Well, make it stop.' But the fact of the matter is we're still pushing out a little bit more milk than we know what to do with," Novakovic says. "And really, it's not a big number, but until those two numbers get reconciled, we're going to continue to see these low prices."


https://www.npr.org/2019/01/09/6833...B680CG_PcqYaHrpG0knhfsJ0lacNqo6Wt4LHuJ9x0EE9o

:giggle: don't act like some of ya'll didn't get that cheese back in the day:blush:

Man that was the best grilled cheese I ever had.:lol:
 

34real

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Can we trust the cheese of today?

I grew up on that free cheese, shit was so damn good!!

5lB block of orange gold!!!

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That's the cheese I remember was the one that came in that shoe box and it had the best shelf life ever.....it seems like it never went bad as long as you kept it wrapped.
We would have a frig full of the stuff and it made the best sandwiches,it just melted perfectly....

Bring it on back,I'll get a box from somewhere.....
 

pookie

Thinking of a Master Plan
BGOL Investor
That's the cheese I remember was the one that came in that shoe box and it had the best shelf life ever.....it seems like it never went bad as long as you kept it wrapped.
We would have a frig full of the stuff and it made the best sandwiches,it just melted perfectly....

Bring it on back,I'll get a box from somewhere.....

:lol::roflmao::roflmao2:Yeah the unwrapped part that caught air would dry out quick but that part still in the wrapper stayed fresh
 

blackbull1970

The Black Bastard
Platinum Member
You old heads remember this stuff from the 70's and early 80's.

In the grocery store they had the "Generic Aisle". All the stuff was in white cartons,cans, etc and had black letters. t wasnt no different than the name brand shit, but it looked ghetto as hell.

You would be in fear if friends came over to your house and saw your cupboards full of that stuff...but then you realized they had the same shit too.

The US Govt kept these generic foods in stock in giant warehouses across the country. They kept food stock in case of a Nuclear attack, Great Depression or large scale natural disaster.

They would rotate stock when it got near its expiration date and ration it out to welfare recipients, food stamp folks and working poor families.

They had everything in a can, box or carton. My mother one time got the Govt handout and she had a couple of cans of whole chicken and a big can with half a turkey one time.

And then you had the infamous Government Cheese.

That shit was in a class by itself.

HaHa!

That all ended when Pres. Reagan got in office and eliminated it.

Socialism at work, it actually happened here in America.

And all you younguns', don't go saying you wouldn't eat it....cuz thats all you had back then or your ass would starve.

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Shaka54

FKA Shaka38
Platinum Member
You old heads remember this stuff from the 70's and early 80's.

In the grocery store they had the "Generic Aisle". All the stuff was in white cartons,cans, etc and had black letters. t wasnt no different than the name brand shit, but it looked ghetto as hell.

You would be in fear if friends came over to your house and saw your cupboards full of that stuff...but then you realized they had the same shit too.

The US Govt kept these generic foods in stock in giant warehouses across the country. They kept food stock in case of a Nuclear attack, Great Depression or large scale natural disaster.

They would rotate stock when it got near its expiration date and ration it out to welfare recipients, food stamp folks and working poor families.

They had everything in a can, box or carton. My mother one time got the Govt handout and she had a couple of cans of whole chicken and a big can with half a turkey one time.

And then you had the infamous Government Cheese.

That shit was in a class by itself.

HaHa!

That all ended when Pres. Reagan got in office and eliminated it.

Socialism at work, it actually happened here in America.

And all you younguns', don't go saying you wouldn't eat it....cuz thats all you had back then or your ass would starve.

28hzhtx.jpg


chips.jpg


a19557d5f12fb7cc89c6c960c6623a3c.jpg


Pork_Beef.jpg


generic-beer1.JPG


usda_commodity_beef_canned.jpg


da1cac144d3e22efeadf26fb72446500.jpg


1437717205123.png


generic2.jpg


b3b2fb5cf9ebb332c6b2953264aef1ea.jpg


0ea4bd3ea0dbe387e2652a3d3d574053.jpg


BTBvVVdIEAArxvu.jpg


household-milk-carton.jpg


cheese.jpg


90f964041ecf1b2cf305fee10612bf13.jpg

I remember all uh dat.:lol: I forgot about the chicken, beef, and pork in the can and that pic of Ice Cream is a first form me.
That MRE Peanut Butter and Cheese spread DOES fit, because all of those other products came before them.
All of the generic products spawned the "Store" brands too. It's like an expired patent where it's Game On! and grocers are permitted to infringe upon other products. The thing is, most of the major brands/labels make the generics FOR the lessor brands. "Distributed by...":lol:
 

blackbull1970

The Black Bastard
Platinum Member
I remember my mother bringing home these big cans full with a whole chicken in it.

The chicken was pre-cooked and ready to eat, you just had to warm it up. She had a few cans of raw chicken that were pre cut with wings, legs and thighs in them.

That was Socialism.
 

RAY V.

AP 2nd Team All-American
BGOL Investor
Those were some fun times, man we used to make the hell out of cheese bread toasts back in the day,
me and my brother and lil sister used to watch them mutherfuccas bake in a see through glass oven :lol:
 

Shaka54

FKA Shaka38
Platinum Member
I remember my mother bringing home these big cans full with a whole chicken in it.

The chicken was pre-cooked and ready to eat, you just had to warm it up. She had a few cans of raw chicken that were pre cut with wings, legs and thighs in them.

That was Democratic Socialism.

That business was Contracted out, just like it is for MREs, LRPs, C Rations, T Rations, and everything else. Private Companies were awarded the Contracts to produce these food products. The only thing about it is it's State sponsored and paid for. The Government has NO ownership of these companies. There is a huge influence of Capitalism/Croneyism involved.
They are Military Contractors not unlike Boeing or GM. One makes cash off of Aircraft, another from Vehicles, and the other off of Food.

It was simply a SOCIAL program of distribution.
rationMCW.jpg

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C Rations complete with Cigarettes
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T Rations
HeaterMeals%20Plus%20Zesty%20BBQ%20Sauce%20Potatoes%20and%20Beef.jpeg

Heater Meals...a Lunchable for Soldiers

There is NO US GOV facility that manufactures this shit, its all Govt. handout cash to Private Enterprises. These muhfuckas are printing money hand over fist just as long as there is a WAR going on.
 

Kemo07

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
You old heads remember this stuff from the 70's and early 80's.

In the grocery store they had the "Generic Aisle". All the stuff was in white cartons,cans, etc and had black letters. t wasnt no different than the name brand shit, but it looked ghetto as hell.

You would be in fear if friends came over to your house and saw your cupboards full of that stuff...but then you realized they had the same shit too.

The US Govt kept these generic foods in stock in giant warehouses across the country. They kept food stock in case of a Nuclear attack, Great Depression or large scale natural disaster.

They would rotate stock when it got near its expiration date and ration it out to welfare recipients, food stamp folks and working poor families.

They had everything in a can, box or carton. My mother one time got the Govt handout and she had a couple of cans of whole chicken and a big can with half a turkey one time.

And then you had the infamous Government Cheese.

That shit was in a class by itself.

HaHa!

That all ended when Pres. Reagan got in office and eliminated it.

Socialism at work, it actually happened here in America.

And all you younguns', don't go saying you wouldn't eat it....cuz thats all you had back then or your ass would starve.

28hzhtx.jpg


chips.jpg


a19557d5f12fb7cc89c6c960c6623a3c.jpg


Pork_Beef.jpg


generic-beer1.JPG


usda_commodity_beef_canned.jpg


da1cac144d3e22efeadf26fb72446500.jpg


1437717205123.png


generic2.jpg


b3b2fb5cf9ebb332c6b2953264aef1ea.jpg


0ea4bd3ea0dbe387e2652a3d3d574053.jpg


BTBvVVdIEAArxvu.jpg


household-milk-carton.jpg


cheese.jpg


90f964041ecf1b2cf305fee10612bf13.jpg
Damn those pics bought back memories. It feels so good not to have to live off that shit anymore....and that’s no shade to anyone who still has to....I just know what my childhood was like and appreciating my journey
 

blackbull1970

The Black Bastard
Platinum Member
Damn those pics bought back memories. It feels so good not to have to live off that shit anymore....and that’s no shade to anyone who still has to....I just know what my childhood was like and appreciating my journey

There was no shame in eating that food.

And back then, that was real food. No GMOs and other crazy shit pumped into it like nowadays.
 

ankhheru

Well-Known Member
BGOL Investor
They still give out that cheese. In fact they never stopped. If you got elderly family members that get meals on wheels and food boxes they put those cheese blocks in the monthly food boxes.
 

HotNixon36

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
You old heads remember this stuff from the 70's and early 80's.

In the grocery store they had the "Generic Aisle". All the stuff was in white cartons,cans, etc and had black letters. t wasnt no different than the name brand shit, but it looked ghetto as hell.

You would be in fear if friends came over to your house and saw your cupboards full of that stuff...but then you realized they had the same shit too.

The US Govt kept these generic foods in stock in giant warehouses across the country. They kept food stock in case of a Nuclear attack, Great Depression or large scale natural disaster.

They would rotate stock when it got near its expiration date and ration it out to welfare recipients, food stamp folks and working poor families.

They had everything in a can, box or carton. My mother one time got the Govt handout and she had a couple of cans of whole chicken and a big can with half a turkey one time.

And then you had the infamous Government Cheese.

That shit was in a class by itself.

HaHa!

That all ended when Pres. Reagan got in office and eliminated it.

Socialism at work, it actually happened here in America.

And all you younguns', don't go saying you wouldn't eat it....cuz thats all you had back then or your ass would starve.

28hzhtx.jpg


chips.jpg


a19557d5f12fb7cc89c6c960c6623a3c.jpg


Pork_Beef.jpg


generic-beer1.JPG


usda_commodity_beef_canned.jpg


da1cac144d3e22efeadf26fb72446500.jpg


1437717205123.png


generic2.jpg


b3b2fb5cf9ebb332c6b2953264aef1ea.jpg


0ea4bd3ea0dbe387e2652a3d3d574053.jpg


BTBvVVdIEAArxvu.jpg


household-milk-carton.jpg


cheese.jpg


90f964041ecf1b2cf305fee10612bf13.jpg
 

ronmch20

Rising Star
BGOL Investor
Ate that government cheese and pork and gravy many a time. Hate to think what was in it but it sure beat those missed meal cramps. :rolleyes:
 
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