What its done with that surplus has changed the American welfare state and diet forever. government has supported dairy farmers through various programs and agencies, accumulating a staggering surplus with policies unique to this industry. Its the same as it is for everything else: If youve got too much of something, the price has to go down until consumption rises. What has changedand changed fairly noticeably and fairly recentlyis people are turning away from processed cheese, Cornell University agriculture economist Andrew Novakovic said in an interview with NPR. That leaves us with more cheese than anyone, even the experts, knows what to do with. At the same time, government subsidies have continued to support dairy production, buying up surplus to keep prices steady. The excess is turned into cheese for storage and longevity. Department of Agriculture data, Americans have cut their milk consumption down from 35 pounds to an average of 15 per person annually. The nation eating this much cheese is not only mind-boggling: Its growing less and less likely. Suffice to say, nobodys suggesting we could consume it all. Reports attempting to quantify this astonishing amount have deferred to metrics like enough to wrap around the U.S. The United States dairy surplus has reached a record high, rounding out at 1.4 billion pounds of cheese. How Government Cheese Became Welfare For Farmers

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