130 football fields of cheese

[daniel1948]

It was mentioned on Slate Money that there are 130 (plus or minus 10) football fields of cheese stored underground in Kansas, from when Jimmy Carter was President. This led Felix to offer that cheese would be better than astroturf for playing football on. Of course, nobody is playing football on all that cheese. And they didn't clarify the thickness. It would have been more helpful (but far less amusing) if they'd given the volume, rather than the area, of the cheese. If it were spread 1/8 inch thick, 130 football fields of cheese would be a lot less cheese than if it were piled up to the top of the goal posts.

I just had to post this because the image of 130 football fields of cheese tickled my funny bone.

Their point had more to do with the folly of buying commodities as a way of supporting farm prices. At the time the government gave away cheese and other commodities to poor people. But apparently there's a lot of cheese still in underground storage. I guess cheese can keep for a long time. But I'd imagine that if the government offers a fixed price for cheese, cheese-makers will sell them the lowest-quality cheese they can make.

[random poet]

This raises so many more questions than it answers.

[amysrevenge]

Maybe they meant that they buried cheese under 130 football fields in Kansas?  Hahaha I love so many things about this.  How Americans will use any measures just to not use metric.  Why area instead of volume?  Hasn't it gone bad by now?  How good was it to begin with?  Can I have some?  My head is spinning.

[2397]

Plastic football fields is one of the most moronic uses of plastic. Do a one-time replacement using surplus cheese instead, sure.

But if it takes a larger area to produce the cheese than you use for people to play on, just get rid of the cows and play on the feedlots.

[seamas]

I high school I had a history teacher who played in the NFL briefly.
All of his descriptions of size were football related --area and length was in terms of football fields. The heads on Easter Island look like they are wearing football helmets. WWI pilots dropped bombs about the size of footballs, etc

He was a nice enough guy, but fit the "dumb jock" stereotype to a T.

[daniel1948]

Maybe they meant that they buried cheese under 130 football fields in Kansas?  Hahaha I love so many things about this.  How Americans will use any measures just to not use metric.  Why area instead of volume?  Hasn't it gone bad by now?  How good was it to begin with?  Can I have some?  My head is spinning.

I'm wondering if maybe there are warehouses with a total floor space equal to 130 football fields. But she didn't specify. Cheese can keep for a very long time. It was probably not very good cheese to begin with, but may well be as good now as it ever was.  I have no idea if there's a way to get any of it now.

Before the first Gulf war the military stocked up on rations. The war was over much sooner than expected, and the government tried to give some of the food to poor people. What I heard was that the stuff was so bad that poor people would not eat it. But I never encountered any of it myself.

[bimble]

Maybe this is where they get the cheese for the Big Block of Cheese Day*... 


* - from The West Wing episode

[brilligtove]

Government Cheese

Enjoy the rabbit hole.

Hey girl, you know, our economy's in the toilet
But I'm still gonna treat you right
I said you can have whatever you like, if you like
I said you can have whatever you like, if you like
Yeah

Tater tots, Cold Duck on ice
And we can clip coupons all night
And baby you can have whatever you like, if you like
I said you can have whatever you like, if you like
Yeah

Take you out for dinner anywhere that you please
Like Burger King or Mickey D's
And baby you can have whatever you like, if you like
I said you can even have the large fries, large fries
Yeah

Baby, you should know I am really quite a sweet guy
When I buy you bathroom tissue, I always get the 2-ply
Want it, you can get it, my dear
I got my Costco membership card right here

Yeah you like Top Ramen? Need Top Ramen?
Got a cupboard full of 'em, I'll keep 'em comin'
You want it, I got it, go get it, just heat it
Dump the flavor packet on it and eat it

Pork and beans and Minute Rice
And we can play cribbage all night
And baby you can have whatever you like, if you like
I said you can have whatever you like, if you like
Yeah

I can take you to the Laundromat downtown
And watch all the clothes go 'round and 'round
And baby we can go wherever you like, if you like
I said we can go wherever you like, if you like
Yeah

Hottest shorty I know, if you had some lipo
You could be second runner-up Miss Ohio
Seven dollar bills rolled up inside my plastic billfold
Buy you a bagel even if it is a day old

And you never ever gotta wear your sister's old clothes
Long as I'm still assistant manager at Kinko's
Cut your hair with scissors and a soup bowl
You ain't gotta pay me, that's the way that I roll

My chick can have what she want
At Wal-Mart she can pick out anything she want
I know girl, you ain't never had a man like that
Who doesn't make you buy generic brand like that

Yeah you like my Hyundai? See my Hyundai?
I can take you to see your cousin Phil next Sunday
But that's kinda far and I'm not made of cash
Do you think you could chip in for gas?

Mac and cheese would be all right
But let's send out for pizza tonight
And you can order any toppings you like, if you like
I said you can even have the last slice, last slice
Yeah

Ran myself a cable from my neighbor next do', do'
Now I can get free HBO
And baby you can watch whatever you like, if you like
I said you can watch whatever you like, if you like
Yeah

And you can always ride the city bus
Got a stack of tokens just for us
Yo, my wallet's fat and full of ones
Yeah, it's all about the Washingtons, that's right

You want White Castle? Need White Castle?
Long as you got me it won't be no hassle
You want it, well get it, just don't be a hater
If I grab a bunch of napkins for later

Thrift store jeans, on sale half price
The underwear at Goodwill is nice
And baby you can have whatever you like, if you like
I said you can have whatever you like, if you like
Yeah

Baby I can give you anything you please
Even share my government cheese
And baby you can have as much as you like, if you like
I said you can go have as much as you like, if you like
Yeah

[Tassie Dave]

To convert that to a number I can understand, that's about 33 real football fields of cheese 
(Based on the MCG. Home of Aussie Rules footy)

That's a lot of cheese 

[swan]

Oh man... I remember when those 5 lb. bricks of government-labeled 'merican cheese started showing up everywhere in the early '80s. Maybe it differed by region, but they were giving so much of it away to poor folks that the surplus worked its way into the homes of most middle-class and even affluent folks. (Probably many factors at work there.) As a young teenager though I didn't mind all the grilled-cheese sandwiches that supply enabled. (Of course nearly four decades later I can almost have a heart attack just reminiscing about it.)

Sometimes I wonder if the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey was actually just a sapient brick of government cheese from the far future. (Please don't tell Steve I said that! )

[arthwollipot]

It's called the Strategic Cheese Reserve.

[daniel1948]

To convert that to a number I can understand, that's about 33 real football fields of cheese 
(Based on the MCG. Home of Aussie Rules footy)

That's a lot of cheese 

Is an Aussie Rules football field really four times the size of an American football field? Ours are 100 yards long and just over 50 yards wide. Are yours 200 yards by 100 yards? Or 73 yards square?

Oh, I just looked it up. There's no fixed size for an Aussie Rules field. But it does look as though they could be four times the size. And an Aussie Rules field is an oval.

There are more boring things than watching sports. But not many. JMO.

[arthwollipot]

Aussie Rules is actually quite interesting to watch - more interesting than cricket, at any rate - but I suspect you have to know a bit about what's going on in order to make sense of it. I suggest watching with an Australian present to explain it. Preferably someone from Melbourne or Canberra. Certainly not someone from Sydney. But sit with your Sydney friend to watch Rugby League.

[Tassie Dave]

Anyway we break it down that is a shit tonne of cheese 

To convert that to a number I can understand, that's about 33 real football fields of cheese 
(Based on the MCG. Home of Aussie Rules footy)

That's a lot of cheese 

Is an Aussie Rules football field really four times the size of an American football field? Ours are 100 yards long and just over 50 yards wide. Are yours 200 yards by 100 yards? Or 73 yards square?

Oh, I just looked it up. There's no fixed size for an Aussie Rules field. But it does look as though they could be four times the size. And an Aussie Rules field is an oval.

There are more boring things than watching sports. But not many. JMO.

All Aussie Rules grounds are dual purpose cricket (Spring-Summer) and football grounds (Autumn-Winter) with some overlap.

MCG is an oval. Playing area is 160 metres long x 141 metres wide (17 720 square metres)

American Football field is 4462 square metres. The MCG is 3.97 times larger.

Though I neglected to include the end zones. Up that to 5353 square metres. Which would make the MCG 3.3 times larger.

So I will adjust that to 39 Football fields of cheese. 

[Captain Video]

I have to argue that it is technically is not cheese.  It would not qualify in several countries. We admittedly have lower standards and still call it cheese.

I find this and the fact that the large amount we have in storage is being described in "sports field measurements" rather than square feet (or meters) very disappointing.

Cant we lay them end to end and see how much distance we can get or something?