Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Government cheese in the mid-West (a friend was on WIC? program, I think that's what it was called) was definitely not Velveeta nor anything closely resembling it. It was 100% real cheese.
No this was not the WIC program. The WIC program was not in force when my kids were small. It was called the Government Surplus Program. It was in the late 50's early 60's. The more milk, and other products the farmers produced, left them with a surplus. So the government would buy the surplus and give it out to those on welfare or qualified in other required qualifications. The farmers were paid handsomely and received a nice check. So the next year they would even produce even a larger quantity of their products that they were farming. If 40 cows gave this much milk that the Govt. would pay for and turn it into powdered milk, then the farmer should get a check twice as big if he had 100 cows. And every year the recipients would get an increase also. What they didn't give directly to the public, they gave to the schools. Along with other organizations that fed the public. With four kids needing milk each day, I would mix up a quart of powdered milk and mix it with a 1/2 gal. of regular whole milk. You got five pounds of flour, bulger, powdered eggs, and cornmeal each month. Also, a can of shredded beef, pork beans, and other stuff. All total you got three or more five pound bags of dry goods. Two large cereal size boxes of powdered milk, and about six-eight cans of different meats. One of the cans was a whole cooked chicken. Great for chicken salad for school lunches. We also got peanut butter and jelly. Most of the foods were directed for a balanced diet for children.
To get the stuff home, you needed a cart or car. Some kids were smart and brought their carts and wagons there and stood outside to take the stuff for those who were trying to carry it themselves. Pretty little pennies they earned. I always had a baby carriage that I could put it in. By the time the baby had out grown it, I no longer qualified for the food. But the funny part was at that time, my husband went out to sea as a chef on a cargo ship. Now merchant marines come under the department of health and the General Surgeon's office. (Or whatever his title was.) So my husband is overlooking the loading food for the boat and here comes a huge supply of Government Surplus Food.
Eventually, the government caught on to what the farmer were doing each yea and cut way back on the products. And the receiving public also was cut back on the amount they received until the program came to an end.