Image it now: A whole bunch of ft beneath the floor, transformed limestone mines are residence to hundreds and hundreds of kilos of cheese. If there’s a heaven, this is perhaps it. However it’s off limits to mere cheese-loving mortals.

Andrew M. Novaković, professor of agricultural economics at Cornell College, explains that Missouri’s cheese caverns have been as soon as monumental man-made caves that have been dug for mining functions. “As soon as the mining operations performed out, the remaining system of caverns have been acknowledged as a chance for climate-controlled storage with huge holding capability and entry,“ says Novaković. “The caverns have extraordinarily tall ceilings which can be capable of accommodate massive tractor trailers and may run into the hundreds of thousands of sq. ft, meant for giant gear to simply drive in and round to drop their masses.”

It’s no secret: Individuals love cheese. And regardless of a current nod towards milk alternate options, a examine from the IDFA confirmed cheese consumption reached an all-time excessive in 2022 with consumption at practically 42 kilos per particular person — a half-a-pound enhance over the earlier yr. Our historical past with the product runs deep and the explanation we launched caves as a method of storage is fascinating. 

The historical past of presidency cheese

In 1977, lengthy earlier than we had charcuterie boards dominating each Pinterest web page with gooey Brie triangles and feather wheels of Manchego, then-President Jimmy Carter fulfilled his promise to prop up the dairy business, permitting farmers to ramp up milk manufacturing with out threat, and the worth of milk shot up.

By the Eighties, America has a critical surplus of cheese, due to Carter’s dairy debacle. It seems like a dream come true, however cheese will get moldy and goes dangerous. Just a few concepts have been floated round to alleviate the load, one in every of which was to easily dump it into the ocean. Finally, then-President Ronald Regan created the Non permanent Emergency Meals Help Program that allotted blocks of “authorities cheese” to these going through meals insecurity. 

Novaković says that, “When it grew to become crucial to ‘use it or lose it’ with these cheeses, the federal government determined, fairly logically, that the easiest way to make use of it was to make what most of us name American cheese, or processed cheese.” Right here’s the way it works: Typical exhausting cheese is cooked and melted, typically with some additions for taste or preservation. Novaković says, “The result’s a really standardized and portable ‘loaf’ of American cheese. This made it straightforward for the federal government to distribute that previous surplus cheese to varied native meals distribution companies.”  

Authorities cheese generally is a polarizing matter. Take a spin round Reddit and also you’ll discover people who covet the flavour, contemplating its style and melting capacity superior to all others. Don’t attempt to inform these devotees that there’s a better option for topping a burger or utilizing in a grilled cheese sandwich. That stated, authorities cheese has additionally change into the brunt of plenty of jokes. “You’re going to finish up consuming a gentle weight loss plan of presidency cheese and…residing in a van, down by the river,” was a wildly standard skit from the world’s-worst motivational speaker, Matt Foley on Saturday Evening Dwell.  

The excellent news is that authorities cheese lastly had choices for allocation, however the dangerous information is that they wanted a spot to retailer the mounds and rounds. Enter: cheese caves. 

Missouri is called “the Cave State” because of the ample and porous limestone forming greater than 7,000 caves. Novaković explains that, “A big number of meals are saved in these caves as a result of they’re so amenable to local weather management; the pure underground temperature is within the low 60s with reasonable humidity. The overwhelming majority of storage in these services is business, however the authorities does use them for some meals storage.” 

The Hunt Midwest SubTropolis in Kansas Metropolis is positioned in a 270-million-year-old limestone deposit that lies 150 ft beneath floor. Right this moment, the enterprise labyrinth is residence to cave-aged cheeses, espresso, and extra meals.

Farther south, deep within the Ozarks, a rumor continues to swirl that beneath town of Springfield has a sprawling cave of cheese, unfold by Fashionable Farmer, for instance. Pure caves reminiscent of Crystal Caves or Improbable Caverns (claiming to be the one ride-through collapse North America) are de rigueur for the realm, and a well-liked attraction for discipline journeys and vacationers. However this rumored cave — the cheese cave — is definitely a 3.2 million-square-foot warehouse generally known as Springfield Underground, which opened in 1946 as a limestone quarry. Is there cheese? Sure. However what sort and the way a lot stays a thriller as the corporate rents space for storing to non-public shoppers and debunks the parable that authorities cheese is hiding inside.

“The USDA shouldn’t be a tenant of Springfield Underground and we do not need a pound of government-owned cheese,” Christina Angle, CFO for the Erlen Group, instructed Meals & Wine. “That stated, Springfield Underground is a important a part of our nation’s provide chain for a lot of of our tenants’ merchandise, together with cheese.”

How do I go to a cheese cave?

There are not any recognized Missouri cheese caves open to customers. You might have to cross the pond to the world-famous cheddar cheese caves to see and style underground cheese getting old firsthand. It is certainly superior to authorities cheese.