Government cheese is better than European PDO cheese

by philg

From the Wine and Cheese Cask of Somerville, Massachusetts, purveyors since 1970 of imported Protected Geographical Status cheeses:

After 51 years of continuous operation, the cheese counter is closed about half the time that the store is open (they also sell alcohol, which doesn’t need to be cut to size). In other words, for the first time in 51 years, government cheese has become irresistible to the shop mice.

(The shop did not have to close during Peak Coronapanic here in Maskachusetts because alcohol, like marijuana, is “essential” under our governor’s 68 orders so far.)

Note that it is possible to get cheese here even when the counter is closed. A selection of the full inventory is available as pre-packaged grab and go items.

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9 thoughts on “Government cheese is better than European PDO cheese”

  1. It is posts like this that remind me just how smart our fellow Americans are! One would have to be a fool to work at the cheese counter when they could make much more by sitting at home. It will be interesting to see what happens when illegals take these jobs. In most states illegals can’t get unemployment benefits (California and New York are exceptions). Will the illegals take these jobs? Will they give them back once the unemployment runs out?

  2. Sad. Protected Geographical Status cheese and matching expensive wine consumers could pay enough for the product and cheese cutting to afford a cheese cutter median income compensation of $30/hour salary plus medical insurance. I know people who buy medical insurance for their babysitters. I understand people working overtime in a supermarket instead of going on Covid relief. But working for close to minimum wage at this upscale place patronized by the upper middle class and rich probably hurts a lot.

    • LSI: If the $15/hr minimum wage doesn’t deliver all of our hopes and dreams, President Harris can bestow upon us a $30/hr minimum wage.

    • Sorry Philip, I thought it was an upscale store but wine prices there are on lower side. Cheese on sale price starts at $20/lb and goes up from there but it is not exceptional.
      Yes, $15/hour seems to be fitting for the cheese cuter position in a town with median individual income of a little $40,000 per year. But it translates to $600/week, I guess similar to what new unbounded unemployment pays if not less, I am not sure.

  3. Off topic, but interesting:

    https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/over-50-percent-white-liberal-women-under-30-mental-health-condition

    A 2020 Pew Research study reveals that over half of white, liberal women have been diagnosed with a mental health condition at some point. Does this mean there’s a correlation between progressive ideas and mental health?

    The study, which examined white liberals, moderates, and conservatives, both male and female, found that conservatives were far less likely to be diagnosed with mental health issues than those who identified as either liberal or even “very liberal.” What’s more, white women suffered the worst of all. White women, ages 18-29, who identified as liberal were given a mental health diagnosis from medical professionals at a rate of 56.3%, as compared to 28.4% in moderates and 27.3% in conservatives.

  4. So what happens under EU law with Protected Cheese? If you decide to make a protected cheese outside its Bureaucratically Enforced Geographic Zone (BEGZ) do the Cheese Police come and shut you down and throw you in Cheese Prison?

    I’m being serious with this question. Say I wanted to try my hand at making Belgian Herve. I cut my Bitcoin losses and cash out, find a chalky cellar somewhere in a roughly equivalent (climatologically and general dankness condition speaking) location, get some raw milk and a little bit of cheesemaking inside information and start cranking out Herve like there’s no tomorrow. I spend a lot of time and effort to refine its taste using real samples of actual Belgian Herve. Then I go to market it and sell it as “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Belgian Herve” cheese.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herve_cheese

    Do the Cheese Police come and shut me down because I worked hard to make a great alternative to Herve? Let’s face it, Belgium isn’t a very big place.

  5. So if you curtail your Walpoling activites, sally forth, and infiltrate this place of purveyance to negotiate the vending of some cheesy comestibles you may find yourself out of luck.

    • You beat me to that reference.

      As a fan of the terpsichorean muse, I must ask: “Will you shut that bloody dancing up!”

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