And it's the most government packaging you will ever see - just, like, brown cardboard, some black USDA stamps on it. The guaranteed milk price, which had been going up automatically every six months, was eventually frozen. CALLAHAN: So it'd be all the way to the ceiling. I'm Karen Duffin. 1. Deep under Springfield, Missouri, lies a cheese cave of industrial proportions, a 2-million-square-foot refrigerated warehouse called Springfield Underground.Since 2008, Kraft Foods has rented . An eye-opening journey through the history, culture, and places of the culinary world. Behold the power of cheese. This is Dan Callahan. DUFFIN: You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook - also @planetmoney. And though the world may not imagine Kansas City as big in the underground scene our ever-expanding streetcar system still operates where the sun shines the limestone around these parts was shaped by glaciers and rivers and makes for good mining. Lemp Brewery, located in St. Louis, is another unique place to explore. Starting around the 1950s, investors started finding ways to use the abandoned underground space. However, as the room and pillar mining method continues to be used to extract limestone throughout the Midwest, growth of such facilities is quite possible. As a Louisiana foodie, all I know about the topic is that if anyone got t heir hands on government cheese, it was a celebration, because it was so tasty.!! The caves were largely abandoned after the city's building boom stopped, Hasan said. The 43,000,000 square feet structure is owned by Americold and is primarily used for food production. The United States Postal Service and the United States Environmental Protection Agency lease spaces within SubTropolis, the United States Postal Service for its collectible stamp operations and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for their Region-7 Training and Logistics Center. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Weve looked and looked at ways to deal with this, but the distribution problems are incredible, a USDA official was quoted as saying. newsletter brings you a new way to explore the Kansas City region. Currently 5,000,000 square feet is occupied and 10,000,000 square feet are "improved.". Since that requires capital, the dairy industry starts consolidating, says Andrea Wiley, author of Re-Imagining Milk. Very, very expensive cheese. By 1984, the U.S. storage facilities contained 1.2 billion pounds, or roughly five pounds of cheese for every American. MALONE: One part of the solution then was to gently get that milk supply down. CHRIS FARLEY: (As Matt Foley) I'm here to tell you that you're going to end up eating a steady diet of government cheese and living in a van down by the river. It can fit a train car. Have you seen these caves before? Before that, he was a reporter for Miami's WLRN. Accuracy and availability may vary. But I am in favor of giving farmers an equal break. Sign up for our email, delivered twice a week. Today, the National Archives has four underground facilities. The USDA helped "cut the glut" then by purchasing $20 million worth of fresh cheese. The best hidden gems and little known destinations - straight to your inbox. This will be about 3/4 to a cup of water. We can't find a market for it. And do you, like, smack your forehead? https://bit.ly/2CdCooV Theorists, did you know the government is hiding caves full of cheese from us? Start with this beginner's guide to the neighborhood, Kansas City's new airport terminal carries on the legacy of a 10-year-old who fought for inclusivity, Local public health officials fear a Kansas bill would undercut work to contain diseases, A federal lawsuit against Missouri's 'dysfunctional' SNAP call center has gotten bigger. The Cheese Grotto isn't just about cheese storageit also allows you to age cheese at home. The government was buying 1 in every 4 pounds of the country's cheddar cheese. The third cave is much smaller and contains a natural spring that often sends clean water running over the ground. DUFFIN: More graders grading more cheese that the government then buys. Now heres a story that comes full circle. Family-run for more than a century, this pizzeria makes a unique mustard pie. These limestone caverns arent the only channels running under the city. According to USDA statistics, the average American eats 34.1 pounds of cheese every year and is projected to eat 36.5 pounds by 2024. glimpse into the void but a modern-day viewing is near-impossible. That is, until last month. Youll love exploring this amazing geological wonder. DUFFIN: (Laughter) That's right. This restaurant serves wood-fired fare served in a natural cave with a live spring. Currently, more than 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m2) is occupied and 8,000,000 square feet (740,000 m2) are available for future expansion. Its existence serves as a reminder of Kansas Citys knack for innovative transportation especially as new railways for the streetcar go down all along Main Street. While the humble cheese factory looks like any other food processing factory dotting a city's industrial zone, hidden underground is a vast and fiercely guarded network of 13 caves, stretching a . We walk inside. NOVAKOVIC: As you can imagine, the cheese company that's in the business of selling cheese is going to say - hey, what's the deal here? I'm Karen Duffin. And the United States Postal Service's Philatelic Sales Divison, the national distribution center for . Anyway, whats weird is that Peters talks about working beneath Park University in a limestone cave. The four are Onondaga Cave and Cathedral Cave at Onondaga Cave State Park, Fisher Cave at Meramec State Park , and Ozark Caverns at Lake of the Ozarks State Park. How do we - how do we get this cat out of the tree? I mean, we had cheese in every cold storage in the United States, including the caves in Kansas that were full of that stuff. ASCHEBROCK: Will eat any cheese. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The great cheese giveaway began today in California. ASCHEBROCK: And that's what you grade. ASCHEBROCK: But then we had the issue with storing the stuff. But one day, the government rented out a ton of cave space, and then cheddar cheese started to show up, massive blocks of the stuff, pallet after pallet. In response to this dairy shortage and 30% inflation . Leilas Hair Museum, located in Independence, is one of the most unusual places in Missouri. During the 1980s, the U.S. government managed to offload its cheese stash. ASCHEBROCK: Nope. In addition, the Federal Government will spend $40 million to $50 million this year to transport even more dairy . dynamite. MALONE: Dan says that the cheese took up about half an acre of space. There is currently about $85 million earmarked to buy dairy and distribute it to places like schools and food banks. All our area around here - everybody had cheese. It's also mostly water, so you've got to haul it around in those, like, gas tankers. YOU CAN SIGN UP HERE. MALONE: Bob Aschebrock was one of the government's cheese graders. But this was not putting even a dent in the surplus. They also house a massive frozen-food storage complex, a paintball business, and a US Postal Service facility that stores and distributes new stamps. Government buys more cheese. JUNOT DIAZ: Clear the government cheese from the refrigerator. What is cave cheese? UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #1: The retail price of milk is going up more than 6 cents a gallon - soon. That was pretty good. The federal government has been storing paperwork in these caves for nearly 25 years. Missouri's caves can . Theres evidence the second story was a ballroom, complete with a stage, dumbwaiter and box office window. DUFFIN: Hello. But there is a chance that the government may be in the business of government cheese again. It is estimated that Kansas has more than 700 and caves, and almost 350 are in the Red Hills. In a blog post by writer Libbie Bond, the Deans are described as among the first in America to visualize abandoned mines as commercial real estate.. You could destroy the surplus, but that looks pretty bad. It's deteriorating. Government cheese arrived at our home in enormous uncut yellow blocks wrapped in white nondescript cardboard. Youve heard about the subterranean chamber beneath the land near Worlds of Fun, right? Some of the cave openings are so big that a big truck can get through them, while others are so tight that it would be challenging even for an earthworm to sneak through. Kansas City even has special ordinances that govern the use of underground space, including how the roofs must be supported, and about 3,000 to 4,000 people work full-time in the cave system,. Well, its called SubTropolis, is owned by Hunt Midwest yes, the same Hunt family that owns the Kansas City Chiefs and is wide enough to hold 42 Arrowhead Stadiums. Theres even a train track winding through the colossal complex, and many, many exit signs. Callahan says it took up about a half an acre of space. (SOUNDBITE OF KAZAM'S "ROMANTIQUE") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR. Decades of propping up the dairy industryby buying up surplus milk and turning it into processed commodity cheesehad backfired, hard. The Missouri River town is known for its charming main drag and castle-like college, Park University. According to the Center for Land Use Interpretation, the space was once also a limestone mine. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. DUFFIN: But the problem, Andy says, was that a lot of this was not easy-to-give-away cheese. And he says the government could not just release a flood of surplus cheese onto the market because it would crush cheese producers. The way it melts for a hamburger - there is nothing better. Have you been inside? Unlike corn or wheat, however, milk needed to be converted into more shelf-stable forms, specifically butter, dehydrated skim milk powder, and cheese. Either one should get you a higher price. Each week, KCUR's Adventure! Back in 2018, The New York Times did a profile on Gene Peters, chief executive of Rosnet, a restaurant software company out of Parkville, Missouri. MALONE: Karen's doing the dance. NOVAKOVIC: Yeah. DAN CALLAHAN: No, I've never thought about it. Have you fallen in love with amateur spelunking? MALONE: The story of government cheese has become a kind of parable of how government intervention in markets can have this, like, butterfly effect. The bar stools are original and survived some of the flooding. It was this spectacle of millions of pounds of expensive cheese being processed and given away that created a popular cultural icon and an example of bad government spending. And not all of it was aging well. When Hamilton and partner Sean Smith purchased the property in 2021, they also found a locked safe and penny tile beneath green carpeting. According to The Washington Post, the U.S. has the largest domestic reserve of cheese of all varieties, including cheddar, Swiss and American . NOVAKOVIC: So it's fundamental economics. With the onset of wartime rationing and shortages leading into the Second World War, there were growing fears about the long-term stability of the United States food supply. With the economy spiraling, President Jimmy Carter promised to raise the collapsing price of milk, saying, Im giving dairy farmers an equal break., In the late 1970s, when energy prices went crazy and there was this unbelievable period of inflation, things got a little out of control, Novakovi says. JIMMY CARTER: Now, although I am a farmer, I'm not in favor of guaranteeing farmers a profit. Pretty quickly the small opening expanded into a paved, two-lane road running through a cavern with ceilings high enough to accommodate a tractor-trailer. DUFFIN: Like, hey, people of America, wouldn't you like to drink more milk? Sign up for KCUR's Creative Adventure Email. DUFFIN: And this is what people will remember as government cheese because when a government starts to give away hundreds of millions of pounds of cheese, people notice. In fact, it has trademarked the phrase "World's Largest Underground Business Complex." ASCHEBROCK: It was 10 times better than - I hate - you know, Velveeta is OK. NOVAKOVIC: The federal government wouldn't have the foggiest idea what to do with tanker loads of milk. So how in the world did the U.S. end up with a mountain of slowly molding cheese? NOVAKOVIC: To persuade farmers to produce less. And it is also very cold - good for the government cheese, though. MALONE: At one point, Donnie Wahlberg of the New Kids On The Block said, quote, "there's nothing like it. And there are 17 flavor defects that could happen in cheddar cheese. UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER #2: The great cheese giveaway began today in California. MALONE: The government of the United States of America had caves full of cheddar cheese. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Every weekday we compile our most wondrous stories and deliver them straight to you. Even after the demand for dairy declined in the wake of World War II, the program functioned reasonably well for years. MALONE: Today's episode was produced by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi, Nick Fountain and Rhaina Cohen. Thank you! There were 40-pound blocks and 500-pound barrels. NOVAKOVIC: Exactly. DIRECTIONS: Dissolve the yeast in the hot water and let stand until foamy, about ten minutes. It is more than a food that. While the popular cheese has changed a lot since then, from access limited to royalty in 1625 to the confinement of "government cheddar" during World War II, the caves are constant . Want to explore Waldo? NOVAKOVIC: Well, probably, you know, close to a hundred percent are able. Along with Congress, Carter wanted to raise the price of milk 6 cents per gallon and keep raising it with inflation. The brick structure 9th & State calls home is one of a few left standing since those raucous Paris of the Plains days. NOVAKOVIC: We took a small amount of money from every dairy farmer, collected on every pound of milk they sold, and we created the National Dairy Board. Central Plains Regional Archives Moves to Historic Downtown Location Spring 2009, vol. is cottonseed oil safe for nut allergy Using Kansas City's underground caves to age cheese could be boon to region's cheese makers It still didn't seem right but I went ahead and drove into the cave. MALONE: Government cheese became a symbol of a crappy government handout.
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