Commodity Cheese

A discussion of eating peanut butter on eggs in a group I follow dug up a favorite food memory for me: Government (aka Commodity) Peanut Butter and Cheese.

I grew up poor (like will the heat be on in January? poor) and the USDA stockpiled foods they gave out periodically in my small rural town were a big part of menus both at home and at school for many years. The program was born of overflowing American-grown food stockpiles that the Department of Ag bought up to keep farmers afloat during the 80s farm crises.

The cheese was handed out in 5-pound rectangles and was, hands-down, the single best cheese I have ever eaten on a grilled cheese sandwich. As an adult, I have become a bit of a cheese snob and while I might buy off-brand chips and "Panbuger Partner" (Hamburger Helper's weird generic cousin) to save a few pennies, I never skimp on good cheese. But given the opportunity, I would stand in line in the rain and pay a hefty premium just go eat a single commodity-genre grilled cheese sandwich again.

The government peanut butter was what carried me through all the terrible school lunches my school offered. I gasp at how my daughter's elementary school now offers them not one, but THREE, daily choices plus a rather well-stocked salad bar...all to ensure even the pickiest of palates have a viable option. On top of that, these kids still get afternoon snack time to make sure they remain on some sort of carbohydrate high until they get home and crash into a fiery ball of small human rage.

At my school, there was one option and it was cooked by some rather grumpy old German women who couldn't see why 8-year-olds didn't want to eat "porcupines" and mushy peas. You ate or you starved until you got home at 3:30. But those same old women also baked us homemade fresh bread everyday AND sat out a giant tub of commodity peanut butter...you could take as much of both as you wanted and oh man, did we. That peanut butter was a savior on the bad lunch days and equally appreciated at home when nothing edible could be found in the house beside dipping a big spoon into the commodity peanut butter tub and eating it like a popsicle.

The cheese boxes were equally precious to my childhood self. Sturdy and without many logos or writing, they were prime for whatever the imagination could turn them into. In the days before most homes were filled with discarded Amazon boxes and attention-sucking electronic devices, a commodity cheese box was a treasure...they became small trucks, animal barns, spaceships...building blocks that stood up to both the rigor of being stored and shipped across the US and to endless play in the mud of the backyard.

I just read a headline that said America's backlog of stockpiled cheese has hit an all-time high of 1.8 BILLION pounds...one can only hope they will maybe consider reshaping into those delectable (if questionable nutritionally) rectangles of orange joy they once handed out...I'll be the first in line!