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Government cheese
May 21, 2007This blog is for my sister's friend Texas Chad (named thusly because she had two friends named Chad at that time, and this Chad was from -- you guessed it -- Texas). He's overseas right now and reads this blog because he said it reminds him of his roots in North Texas.
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I'm hooked on $4 cheese.
OK, so technically it's just $3.79 cheese.
It's made by The Laughing Cow and comes in a colorful circular container, which contains eight little wedges.
I'm no mathematician, but my calculator said that comes out to 47.375 cents per wedge.
That's almost more than a Coke.
The irony is that I'm not a big cheese fan. I eat it, but I don't crave it.
Until now.
The last time I loved cheese this much was when I was about 7.
That captivating cheese of my youth had no real name, that I recall.
We just called it government cheese.
I don't know all the details, I was just a kid, but once a month, the government would give away what were called commodities. All the folks in town would go down to the old school to pick up their monthly allotment.
(I think you had to either be low-income or a farming family or something to qualify for the goods, which basically meant the whole town of Paducah was there.)
Anyway, there was rice, peanut butter, powdered milk, butter, I think, and a few other things they distributed.
And cheese. The most glorious log of cheese I've ever tasted.
It wasn't American or cheddar. It was some random blend, but not in a gooey, you don't have to refrigerate it like Velvetta kind of way. It was pale yellow, but not pre-sliced.
It was just wonderful. And I was in love with it.
I don't know when the government stopped this program, sometime in my teens I think, but I've had a soft spot for government cheese ever since.
No sandwich has ever tasted the same.
Posted by Lara Richards at 01:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)
Comments
Yeah, I really, really want to know where to acquire cheese that tastes like that. It was the best!
YES! The government cheese is aweseome.. I have a grandmother that is low income that still gets it, in kentucky I would love to get my hands on some... lol HELP NE ONE
My brother feels the exact same way, and is on a quest for governement cheese.
I googled it, and the technical term for that type of cheese is: Pasteurized Process American Cheese
I would give my left arm for a loaf of this these. In the 80's they gave it out to those who were on retirement or low income as well, it was the best cheese for a grilled cheese sandwich. How do you get any of it now?
sandy
I have just come back from South Dakota and government cheese was alive and well. The unsliced 5lb block. Wow, that's the best cheese ever.
