The Department of Agriculture plans to buy $20 million of cheese to distribute to food banks and pantries nationwide, attempting to boost dairy prices that plummeted in a global milk glut.
The purchase of about 11 million pounds of cheese, which the USDA reported Tuesday in a statement, comes in addition to $11.2 million in subsidies for dairy producers announced earlier this month. Dairy lobbyists had asked the USDA for up to $150 million in cheese purchases.
“We understand that the nation’s dairy producers are experiencing challenges due to market conditions and that food banks continue to see strong demand for assistance,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in the statement.
(c) 2016, Bloomberg ยท Alan Bjerga, Lydia Mulvany
