On Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:14:39 -0500, Janet Wilder
> wrote:

>Michel Boucher wrote:
>> Bobo Bonobo® > wrote in news:00914dcc-6809-4f2b-b2cb-
>> :
>>
>>> and none of that government cheese either
>>
>> You have no idea how ridiculous that sounds. In Canada, the only
>> government cheese we get are the cock-ups from our non compus mentis
>> gummint of fools, like the recent series (in and out, Cadman, Couillard...)
>>
>> So what exactly *is* government cheese?
>>
>The United States government pays producers to make "surplus" cheese.
>It's falsely orange. It's salty as heck. It tastes vile. It is some form
>of processed cheese that is wannabee American cheese. It's even worse
>than Velveeta and a lot harder.
>
>The cheese is packaged in huge loaves that are reportedly stored in
>caves that only the Federal Government is aware of.
>
>Government cheese is given away to schools and other institutions that
>get funding from the government. Government and chartable organizations
>will give it away to poor people.
>
>Many years ago I was raising my 3 kids alone and was out of a job. The
>township gave me some of that cheese. Thank goodness they also gave me
>government powdered milk so I could dilute the cheese and make the kids
>mac and cheese for supper.
>
>(Glad I said "dilute" the cheese. I almost used a different phrase <g>)

o.k., here's the dope, per wikipedia:

Government cheese, or "Pasteurized Process American Cheese for Use in
Domestic Programs" is processed cheese that was provided to welfare
and food stamp recipients in the United States during the 1980s. (The
style of cheese predated the era, having been used in military
kitchens since the Second World War.) It was commonly associated with
Reaganomics[citation needed].

The cheese was bought and stored by the government's Commodity Credit
Corporation. Direct distribution of dairy products began in 1982 under
the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program of the Food and
Nutrition Service. According to the government, it "slices and melts
well." The cheese was provided monthly, in unsliced block form, with
generic product labeling and packaging.

Currently, the USDA provides a subsidized food program for specific
classes of foods in the United States known as the Women, Infants and
Children program, as well as other programs such as The Emergency Food
Assistance Program (TEFAP).

Like all American processed cheese, it consists of a variety of cheese
types blended together, and may be made of any of cheddar cheese,
Colby cheese, cheese curd, or granular cheese. The cheese was often
from food surpluses stockpiled by the government as part of milk price
supports. Butter was also stockpiled and then provided under the same
program. Though the efficacy may be disputed by economists,
politically the stockpiling was meant to bolster demand for milk,
making dairy production more profitable. Government cheese was
required to be made of Kosher products. This cheese product is also
distributed to victims of a natural disaster following a State of
Emergency declaration.

(cites, etc. at:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_cheese> )

your pal,
blake
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **