Listen&Learn: Missouri cheese caves

Learn about the cheese the US government stores underground.

Pre-listening vocabulary

• mine: a tunnel where people dig for materials like coal or gold
• accumulate: to gather more and more of something
• dairy: containing milk
• bulk: large amounts of something, usually bought for a cheaper price
• stabilize: to keep something at a consistent level
• reserve: a government supply of something

Listening activity

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:05 — 1.0MB)

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Gapfill exercise

In Springfield, Missouri, limestone mines deep in the ground store over one pounds of cheese. These are called the “cheese caves”, and they are owned by the US . The government began accumulating cheese in the 1970s, when the Department of Agriculture bought dairy in bulk to help stabilize the prices of milk. They had the milk made into cheese so they could store it for longer. When they found that they had too much cheese and nowhere to put it, they built cold storage facilities . Today, there is still a national cheese reserve, which the government now uses to provide cheese to food assistance .

Comprehension questions

See answers below

1. The “cheese caves” are really
   a. large warehouses
   b. limestone mines
   c. natural caves
   
2. In the 1970s, the government bought dairy products in bulk to
   a. plan for food shortages
   b. stabilize dairy prices
   c. export them to other countries
   
3. Today, the government uses the cheese reserve to
   a. support food assistance programs
   b. collect money from tourism
   c. save for an emergency

Discussion/essay questions

1. The cheese caves are controversial. Some people argue that the government’s support of dairy farms is actively harming the environment. Do you think people will need to change their eating habits to protect the Earth? How might diets be different in the future?

Transcript

In Springfield, Missouri, limestone mines deep in the ground store over one billion pounds of cheese. These are called the “cheese caves”, and they are owned by the US government. The government began accumulating cheese in the 1970s, when the Department of Agriculture bought dairy products in bulk to help stabilize the prices of milk. They had the milk made into cheese so they could store it for longer. When they found that they had too much cheese and nowhere to put it, they built cold storage facilities underground. Today, there is still a national cheese reserve, which the government now uses to provide cheese to food assistance programs.

Answers to comprehension questions

1b 2b 3a