In the 50s the US held huge stocks of "surplus cheese" that was bought up by the USDA price support programs. When it was close to going bad, it was shipped in

In the 50s the US held huge stocks of "surplus cheese" that was bought up by the USDA price support programs. When it was close to going bad, it was shipped in large blocks to schools, where it was made into some of the nastiest mac-and-cheese on record. (Not sure whether the mac was made from surplus wheat.) But government policy makes sense when you consider that a prime objective of government is to ensure an abundance of cheap food to feed the population. Shortages result in rapidly increasing prices, discontent among the poor, and then to demonstrations, riots, and general disorder. Shortages in production can be widespread and severe. Examples include the Rocky Mountain locust plagues of the 1870s, the 1930s droughts of the Dust Bowl, and the current shortage of pork in China due to Swine Flu. Greening disease is threatening the Florida citrus industry. UG99 stem rust is a threat to wheat. Therefore, government policy must be to encourage significant overproduction of food in normal times, with the surplus being either exported, eaten, or discarded.