The cheese stored in America’s famous underground caves is predominantly cheddar. Specifically, the U.S. government purchases 40-pound blocks of cheddar and 500-pound barrels of cheddar-style cheese, all graded to strict federal standards. These massive stockpiles sit in converted limestone mines beneath Springfield, Missouri, holding more than 7 million pounds of dairy at any given time.
Why Cheddar Specifically
The federal government’s cheese purchasing program, run through the Commodity Credit Corporation, has narrow specifications. It buys two formats: 40-pound blocks of cheddar rated U.S. Grade A or higher, and 500-pound barrels of cheese rated U.S. Extra Grade. Both must meet precise moisture requirements, with block cheddar capped at 38.5% moisture and barrel cheese at 36.5%. These aren’t artisan wheels or fancy imports. They’re standardized, shelf-stable cheddar designed for long-term storage and eventual distribution.
Cheddar was the natural choice because it ages well, stores predictably, and was already the dominant American cheese style when the government began buying dairy surpluses decades ago. The barrel cheese is a close cousin of block cheddar, often used as a base ingredient in processed cheese products.
How the Caves Ended Up Full of Cheese
The story starts with dairy price supports. Beginning in the late 1970s and accelerating through the 1980s, the federal government committed to buying surplus milk, butter, and cheese from American dairy farmers to keep prices from collapsing. The purchases worked for farmers but created a storage problem: the government accumulated enormous quantities of cheese with no immediate buyer.
That cheese needed somewhere to go, and former limestone mines near Springfield, Missouri, turned out to be ideal. The underground spaces naturally hold a temperature around 60 degrees Fahrenheit, which dramatically cuts refrigeration costs. Tenants can request temperatures anywhere from negative 20 to 55 degrees depending on their needs. The combination of cheap square footage, natural insulation, and central location made these caves a logical home for the national cheese surplus. At its peak, the government reportedly held 1.4 billion pounds of cheese in reserve.
What “Government Cheese” Became
The blocks stored underground eventually needed to reach people. The federal government distributed its surplus through the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), sending processed cheese to food banks, school lunch programs, and low-income families. This is the origin of the term “government cheese,” which older Americans remember as dense, orange, American-style blocks that melted easily but tasted distinctly different from store-bought cheddar.
The cheese also found its way into the commercial food supply through partnerships with the dairy industry. Marketing campaigns pushed cheese-heavy menu items at fast food chains, including items like quesadillas and cheese-stuffed crusts, as a way to move surplus dairy. School lunch programs incorporated more cheese as well. The goal was always the same: reduce the stockpile while supporting dairy demand.
The Caves Today
The Springfield underground facility is no longer just a government warehouse. Private dairy companies now lease significant portions of the cave space for their own cold storage needs. The facility functions as a massive commercial warehouse that happens to be 100 feet underground, storing millions of pounds of dairy products from various producers alongside whatever federal reserves remain.
The natural temperature of the limestone keeps energy costs low, which is a major advantage for storing cheese that needs consistent cool conditions for months or years. While the romantic image of wheels of cheese aging in a damp French cave doesn’t quite match the reality of pallets stacked in a fluorescent-lit underground warehouse, the principle is the same: cool, stable temperatures preserve cheese better than any above-ground building could without significant energy costs.
Cave-Aged Cheese Outside the U.S.
If your search was about cave-aged cheese more broadly, the tradition goes back centuries. Cheddar cheese itself gets its name from Cheddar Gorge in England, where wheels of cow’s milk cheese were aged in natural caves. Roquefort, the famous French blue cheese, is still aged in limestone caves in southern France, where natural mold colonies in the rock give the cheese its distinctive blue veins and sharp flavor. Many European producers continue to use natural caves or purpose-built replicas that mimic cave conditions: high humidity, cool temperatures, and minimal air movement.
The American cheese caves in Missouri serve a different purpose entirely. They’re not aging cheese to develop flavor. They’re warehousing surplus cheddar at industrial scale, keeping it cold and safe until the market or a federal program needs it. The cheese that goes in comes out largely the same, just older. It’s storage, not craftsmanship, but the underground limestone makes it remarkably efficient storage.