It's only about a 3-inch-in-diameter hole. MALONE: So a campaign promise - that's what we call those. Anyway, the government had its plan in place. Some of the cave openings are so big that a big truck can get through them, while others are so tight that it would be challenging even for an earthworm to sneak through. Known as the Springfield Underground, this is a cheese cave of epic proportions covering a . How the US Ended Up With Warehouses Full of 'Government Cheese' There are literally train tracks leading into it. The government tiptoed back into the cheese business in 2019 when the Trump administration said it was using the CCC program again to provide large subsidies to offset the effects of its trade. Buoyed by items like Wendys dual Double Melt sandwich concept and Taco Bells steak quesadilla, the organization helped boost cheese sales by more than 30 million pounds. I can tell you what we had to reject it for - flat, bitter, yeasty, malty, old milk, fruity MALONE: That sounds lovely. Trucker gives video tour of 43 million square foot 'cave - CDLLife They feature an abundance of ores, as well as hostile mobs that spawn in the darkness. Cheese Caves. : r/tumblr - Reddit It has a grid of 16 feet high, 40 foot wide tunnels separated by 25 foot square limestone pillars created by the room and pillar method of hard rock mining. NOVAKOVIC: As you can imagine, the cheese company that's in the business of selling cheese is going to say - hey, what's the deal here? While many of the caves feature paved roads and utilities, other areas consist of dirt floors and uncontrolled entrances. In addition to serving as a records center, Lenexa has two archival cold storage rooms. When maple syrup supplies run low, Canada taps into its strategic reserve. DUFFIN: This is a basic supply-and-demand problem. Comments on: Yes, the Government Really Does Stash Billions of Pounds Unfortunately, your shopping bag is empty. PHIL HARTMAN: (As character) Matt, we're ready for you. I mean, every warehouse in Wisconsin was full. The Trump administration says today it will make an estimated $12 billion in government assistance available. Oh, yeah. No? MALONE: Andy is still in the dairy world. ASCHEBROCK: And you insert it in through the block or the barrel or whatever. The surplus dairy products now in storage have a market value of $3 billion. We walk inside. A slice of Kraft cheese is going to be less about. Government . If you havent spent a day wandering the streets of Weston, Missouri, youre missing out. MALONE: Karen's doing the dance. You don't do that, huh? The best hidden gems and little known destinations - straight to your inbox. The same year, the USDA bought up $20 million worth of cheese to cut the glut. We're highlighting some of the wonders inside. Visitors to the underworld will even find a whiskey distillery within the mined area, which stretches for more than 1 million square feet. Fortunately, the rock here is soft enough to scratch something out without a lot of effort. There's a lot of history buried beneath Kansas City streets, from Prohibition-era passageways and underground caves to the oldest bar in Missouri. ASCHEBROCK: You. The Heim family owned property all over Kansas City at the turn of the century, including breweries called Rochester and Imperial, as well as the one in East Bottoms. The bunker complex was a secure U.S. government storage facility from World War II until 2013. MALONE: He and his colleagues are drowning in cheese. BOB ASCHEBROCK: Yes. (SOUNDBITE OF DROP ELECTRIC SONG, "WAKING UP TO THE FIRE"). And to be fair, it was processed cheese kind of like a brick of Velveeta. These are the 13 weirdest places you can possibly go in Missouri. SNOOP DOGG: Martha's never had a bite of government cheese in her life. Onandaga Cave is one of the most gorgeous underground places in Missouri. And then on the other side, the government tried to replace some of their artificial demand for milk with new real demand for milk. ASCHEBROCK: I traveled 39 states, and I was gone as long as 10 weeks at a time doing that. U.S. skyrocketed from 5.5 percent up to 14 percent, Im giving dairy farmers an equal break., boost cheese sales by more than 30 million pounds, 43 million gallons of milk down the drain, $20 million worth of cheese to cut the glut, 1.4 billion pounds of cheese in cold storage, currently has 7 million pounds of raw product, Sign up for our email, delivered twice a week. As a busy mother of one crazy kid, two cats, and two geckos, they write whenever there is spare time. Yes, the Government Really Does Stash Billions of Pounds of Cheese in But the bite came in terms of how much it cost for that opportunity. Each week, KCUR's Adventure! DUFFIN: You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook - also @planetmoney. One of the Heim brothers helped build a theme park there called Electric Park, which in turn gave inspiration to J. Rieger & Co.s outdoor area of the same name. In the 1990s and early 2000s, even as U.S. nutritionists expressed growing concern about saturated fats and rising obesity levels, a marketing firm created and partially funded by the USDA gave millions to fast-food companies such as Taco Bell and Dominos to push them to increase the amount of cheese on menu items by as much as eightfold. But the surplus was growing so fast that 30 million pounds barely made a dent. There you go. DUFFIN: The USDA figured out that if they paid about 39 bucks for a 40-pound block of cheese, then it would have this ripple effect. Start with this beginner's guide to the neighborhood, Kansas City's new airport terminal carries on the legacy of a 10-year-old who fought for inclusivity, Local public health officials fear a Kansas bill would undercut work to contain diseases, A federal lawsuit against Missouri's 'dysfunctional' SNAP call center has gotten bigger. Consider supporting our work by becoming a member for as little as $5 a month. MALONE: Right. OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article. In fact, it has trademarked the phrase Worlds Largest Underground Business Complex. It was developed by late Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt via Hunt Midwest Real Estate Development, Inc. Read on to learn more about the largest underground business complex in Missouri. MALONE: And so our country has a tradition of programs to help farmers. Warehouses Bulge With Surplus Cheese, Butter and Dried Milk MALONE: Today's episode was produced by Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi, Nick Fountain and Rhaina Cohen. Using Kansas City's underground caves to age cheese could be boon to region's cheese makers It still didn't seem right but I went ahead and drove into the cave. Love Missouri? Like anything you grow up with and then lose subsequently access to, government cheese is parked in a prominent spot in the memories of its former consumers. Government Cheese: Well-Intentioned Program Goes Off The Rails They are open spaces of various sizes and shapes that often intersect with each another or with different generated structures, creating vast cave systems. While the government-owned cheese hoards of the 1970s and 80s are largely a thing of the past, the U.S. has still never really figured out what to do with its excess dairy. Cave Tours | Missouri State Parks In addition, the Federal Government will spend $40 million to $50 million this year to transport even more dairy . There's also a trail leading to the top of the area above the caves if you want to keep going! The reason why the dairy industry gets such preferential treatment is its status as this uncontested food in the diet, Wiley says. 4701 Wyandotte Street. Through our sister company, Cold Zone, we are able to store refrigerated food, such as cheese for our tenants. NOVAKOVIC: Well, probably, you know, close to a hundred percent are able. DUFFIN: OK. If youve been in the cheeky, sophisticated Campground bar, youve set foot where the original J. Rieger & Co. building stood. There's something instinctive in us that makes us want to leave a mark on the world. MALONE: That did some good. Pretty quickly the small opening expanded into a paved, two-lane road running through a cavern with ceilings high enough to accommodate a tractor-trailer. Along with Congress, Carter wanted to raise the price of milk 6 cents per gallon and keep raising it with inflation. Hunt's extensive business dealings in Clay County contributed to the Chiefs having their NFL Training Camp at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri until 1991. However, as the room and pillar mining method continues to be used to extract limestone throughout the Midwest, growth of such facilities is quite possible. Euthanized cows and caves full of cheese: the government policies This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. How we got to this point is a long story, and it starts during a national dairy shortage in the 1970s. Offer available only in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico). MALONE: Bob says the No. ASCHEBROCK: There is a bung - what they call a bunghole up on the top. https://bit.ly/2CdCooV Theorists, did you know the government is hiding caves full of cheese from us? The National Archives Goes Underground | National Archives Like SubTropolis, the strangely sterile space is separated by humungous numbered pillars. It's got its flaws. Kansas City caves hold immigration records underground | The Kansas About 3.2 acres of available space are added each year as active mining continues. MALONE: The government cheese caves started to empty out. Government buys more cheese. On the north edge of the complex Hunt developed the Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun amusement park complex. However, when Prohibition was enacted in 1919 via the 18th Amendment, the alcohol purveyor shut its doors. government cheese caves kansas city - daxasys.com So to prevent this, the government said, look - if we're going to buy your cheese, first, you have to meet with Bob. SubTropolis is used by around 50 businesses and organizations, for a variety of purposes. And the resulting demand just pushes the price of milk up. Want more adventures like this? Have you fallen in love with amateur spelunking? Get more stories delivered right to your email. Though its more a part of Midtown than Downtown, the space once known as Deans Downtown Underground is definitely down there. Other facilities like SubTropolis exist although not on the same scale, such as the abandoned mine in Butler, Pennsylvania used by Corbis and the US Federal Government for secure storage. All our area around here - everybody had cheese. And though the world may not imagine Kansas City as big in the underground scene our ever-expanding streetcar system still operates where the sun shines the limestone around these parts was shaped by glaciers and rivers and makes for good mining. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Let us know. SNOOP DOGG: You don't buy it. But every instinct I had said, oh, this - I'm not so sure this is going to work out so well. But their purpose has shifted over the years. Youve heard about the subterranean chamber beneath the land near Worlds of Fun, right? MALONE: Until there was no more room for you to be in this room? The two larger caves were used by the Faris family as a spring house, generator room and, a schoolhouse as well. Developed by late Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt via Hunt Midwest Real Estate Development, Inc., it has trademarked the phrase World's Largest Underground Business Complex. The Cheese Cave announces it's closing | News - Southernminn And you turn it, and you pull out a core of cheese. Farmers also used it to improve soil. Deep under Springfield, Missouri, lies a cheese cave of industrial proportions, a 2-million-square-foot refrigerated warehouse called Springfield Underground.Since 2008, Kraft Foods has rented . Kansas City underground: How to explore the hidden locations - KCUR Slice a package of sausages or dice some ham, or both, you do you. Probably the cheapest and most practical thing would be to dump it in the ocean., Instead, they decided to jettison 30 million pounds of it into welfare programs and school lunches through the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program. DUFFIN: (Laughter) That's right. Gastro Obscura covers the worlds most wondrous food and drink. We literally paid them money to stop producing milk. It's also mostly water, so you've got to haul it around in those, like, gas tankers. And do you, like, smack your forehead? [3] The National Archives and Records Administration also leases space for a Federal Records Center. Search Query Show Search Podcasts & Shows So just wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling CALLAHAN: Floor-to-ceiling - and then as you kept filling it, you just worked your way right back out. ASCHEBROCK: But then we had the issue of storing the stuff. Makes sense, considering the natural limestone ledge bordering the river. Sign up for KCUR's Creative Adventure Email. It's deteriorating. Limestone caves in the Kansas City area have been used to store immigration records for years. There is an argument that our country has to be able to produce its own food because if our farmers go out of business and we become reliant on other countries for food, then that is a kind of national security risk. MALONE: That is right. There were 40-pound blocks and 500-pound barrels. Government cheese, as the orange blocks of commodity cheese came to be called, wasnt exactly popular with all of its recipients. No, it doesnt have to do with the disastrous flooding experienced there in 1903 and 1951. The Missouri River town is known for its charming main drag and castle-like college, Park University. Yet part of this cheese mountain represents an enduring surplusa very literal representation of the dairy industrys mismatch with the realties of the market. In 1887, J. Rieger & Co. distillers of top-notch whiskey, vodka and gin put down roots in the Livestock Exchange district of West Bottoms. It is huge. government cheese caves kansas city - s208669.gridserver.com NOVAKOVIC: So it's fundamental economics. MALONE: Bob Aschebrock spent 30 years as a USDA cheese inspector. And the resulting demand just pushes the price of milk up. So just wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling CALLAHAN: Floor to ceiling, and then as you kept filling it, you just worked your way right back out. sign up to receive stories like this in your inbox every Tuesday. MALONE: This must be a common confusion in the industry. This was generally the approach that we would use to support other kinds of farm industries. And he tells me, these were never government-owned caves. Demand for dairy in the U.S. has plummeted 42 percent since 1975, but that hasnt stopped American farmers from producing more and more of it. Out of Sight, Fire Burns Hidden World in Kansas I started in 1967 with the USDA, and I was hired as a cheese grader. The 43,000,000 square feet structure is owned by Americold and is primarily used for food production. "If they haven't been used, no one knows what state of deterioration they are in," Hasan said. Share your experiences in the comment section below. Offer subject to change without notice. Thanks for listening. No, it isn't money but actually cheese, 1.4 billion pounds of it to be exact, stored in a cave in Missouri. We also suggest picking up a digital hygrometer to measure cheese humidity, whether you're simply storing cheese in your Grotto or having fun with home cheesemaking. MALONE: The government is creating a price floor. To the cheese cave. NOVAKOVIC: Well, I think there's two basic lessons. Youll have to climb down to get to it, led mysteriously by a sequence of ramps and labyrinthine walkways. DUFFIN: Bob's job was to make sure that all of the cheese met USDA grade A cheddar standards - the right moisture level, the proper shade of yellowish-orange, the correct flavor profile. Our operators are standing by. Missouri has more than 7,000 caves under its ground, though fewer than 20 are easily accessible to most people. Blackwell Motors showcases a variety of fiberglass animals, and people come from all around just to see them. Which makes for a thriving underground business community, as unnerving as a giant hole in the side of a bluff may be.