Government Cheese (Pizza)
From Now I Know!, "The Macroeconomic Madness Behind Extra Cheesy Pizza." Domino's pizza was in big trouble -- until they doubled up on cheese:
Domino's company-saving move toward extra cheesy was funded by an organization named Dairy Management. And we know how much was spent on that effort because Dairy Management made that number public. It had to -- because it is part of the U.S. government.You typically don't think of pizza chains as being recipients of government bailouts, but in a sense, that's what happened here. But rest assured, that wasn't the intent of the investment. Dairy Management is part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and among other things, the USDA is charged with helping keep dairy farmers financially afloat. An easy-ish way to do that it is to increase the number of dairy products that people buy. To accomplish this, dairy farmers pay the USDA a very small amount of money (about 15 cents per 100 pounds of milk) which the USDA, via Dairy Management, uses to promote products that use a lot of dairy. (Dairy Management's budget is supplemented by tax dollars, too.) The USDA heralds this program as a successful one; per the Washington Post, "for every $1 that the agency spends on increasing cheese demand, it estimates that farmers get $4.43 in additional revenue."
And few campaigns have been more successful than Domino's extra cheesy turnaround. The pizza chain was flailing until Dairy Management stepped in, offering to develop new products with the company -- products which needed more dairy products, and, therefore, would be eligible for government marketing dollars. Together, per the New York Times, the pair came up with "a new line of pizzas with 40 percent more cheese" which, boosted by that $12 million marketing campaign, resulted in "sales [which] soared by double digits." More pizza meant more cheese, which meant more money flowing to farmers.
But don't think that the USDA is playing favorites here. When it comes to cheesifying (to coin a word) menus, Domino's isn't alone. Dairy Management has worked with and funded new offerings across the fast food spectrum, from Taco Bell and Pizza Hut to Wendy's and Burger King. And across the board, Dairy Management has claimed success in their efforts. When it comes to promoting cheese, the government is there, helping behind the scenes.
Yes, your tax dollars funded Domino's business -- along with those of these other fast fooderies.
See any dividend statements from that in the mail? Yeah, right. Me, neither.
And a question: If the government is keeping dairy farmers afloat, well, why not accountants, writers, crossing guards, and 7-Eleven clerks?
See how unfair this is?
via @Overlawyered
My natural inclination is one of Devil's Advocate. If someone says something, I have to see where they are wrong. No one is 100% wrong, but usually, they are missing some point.
To wit: if there are tax subsidies for Mohair, a 'strategic wool' which hasn't been useful for 40 years or more, that is something we need to question.
How do you not support FOOD?
I don't do taxes every day. I don't cross the street every day. I don't go to a 7-Eleven every day (even though this dairy subsidy DOES probably help them with extra cheesy burritos).
And if somehow every accountant, every crossing guard and every 7-Eleven in the America were vaporized or failed...life would go on. Perhaps a bit less efficiently. Perhaps a few extra bankruptcies or traffic fatalities (and obesity would go down some with the death of the Big Gulp)
What would we do without food self sufficiency?
I eat every day. So does Amy occasionally.
So compared to the BILLIONS spent on Marxist College classes, Head Start which is a failure, the vote buying schemes of Medicaid, and the horrific failure that is Obamacare...giving money to Dairy Farmers is not exactly pegging out my outrage meter.
AFTER you shut down Gender Studies Departments and Berkley, then I might care about a few bucks extra going to Dairy Farmers. Cause I like cheese a whole lot more than I like Feminists and Berkley.
FIDO at July 22, 2018 2:04 AM
You want an outrage?
Private Universities which abhor ROTC courses and Western Civilization (which happens to be where I live) get BILLIONS from the government to finance people who would have a hard time finding their asses with both hands.
I'd trade Dairy Subsidies for University grants to Private Colleges.
FIDO at July 22, 2018 2:12 AM
Let's pile on: the NFL is a non-profit organization.
I'm not kidding.
And stadium construction is almost always taxpayer-funded.
Your government official can have all of your money if you don't pay attention to where it is going.
-----
About "cheese", though - does it even have to be real cheese?
Radwaste at July 22, 2018 3:20 AM
What is the criteria for “fair” and “unfair”? Does it depend on which hog trough of tax money is being complained about? Not being a professional writer, should I find offensive all the tax deductions available to professional writers? See, e.g., Tax Deductions for Writers, by Stephen Fishman, published online in Nolo.com a legal encyclopedia.
For example, when I take a trip, it’s called a vacation, and the expenses are personal, nondeductible expenses. But, when a professional writer attends a writing related workshop or conference, the airfare, hotel and conference fees (even fees which fund events that look indistinguishable from entertainment, which is otherwise non deductible) are deductible business expenses, as are 50% of the costs of meals while on business travel.
And many research related conferences are funded by government grants and/or tax-deductible donations. Accordingly, there are many indirect tax subsidies of professional writers, as well.
Walter Olson at Overlawyered follows your column (that’s how I found it). Perhaps a column on how unfair it is for professional writers to be able to deduct various expenses the rest of us cannot - provided the writer spends a little time doing some planning with an accountant or other tax advisor, the costs of which are deductible - would be picked up in Overlawyered. When the criteria for whether a cost should be deductible is whether it is “fair” or “unfair”, that’s simple - if I can deduct it or benefit from it, it is “fair.” Otherwise, it’s an unfair, unreasonable boondoggle. Direct and indirect subsidies to dairy farmers help keep down the costs of milk, butter, cheese, sour cream and all the other unhealthy dairy products which I enjoy. Accordingly, those are “fair.” I don’t get to deduct the costs of attending writing related conferences, so those deductions are “unfair”, as are the indirect tax subsidies in the form of grants and deductions to educational organizations which put on such conferences.
I’m not holding my breath awaiting seeing such a column.
Wfjag at July 22, 2018 4:46 AM
Eh, selling cheesier foods to fat-ass americans....doesn't seem like a task so difficult it should require help.
And I think federal government has no business spending a penny on anything that isnt clearly delineated in black and white in the Constitution. We need to scrap it all and start fresh.
But, this is such a small drop in the bucket....and dairy farming is a HARD, ceaseless, no-days-off, no vacations life, that I cant begrudge this with any outrage at all.
Momof4 at July 22, 2018 5:52 AM
Eh, selling cheesier foods to fat-ass americans....doesn't seem like a task so difficult it should require help.
And I think federal government has no business spending a penny on anything that isnt clearly delineated in black and white in the Constitution. We need to scrap it all and start fresh.
But, this is such a small drop in the bucket....and dairy farming is a HARD, ceaseless, no-days-off, no vacations life, that I cant begrudge this with any outrage at all.
Momof4 at July 22, 2018 5:52 AM
They may be leaving out the 7-Eleven clerks... but the Trump tax bill is doing almost as much to create work for accountants as ObamaCare did.
jdgalt at July 22, 2018 7:36 AM
What do you think the mandated minimum wage is? It's government using someone else's money to keep 7-Eleven clerks (and other unskilled laborers) afloat.
And, like most government attempts to subsidize or regulate things that market forces can handle quite well, the effort has unintended consequences.
Conan the Grammarian at July 22, 2018 7:45 AM
I am still trying to figure out what "individually wrapped emulsified pasteurized processed imitation cheese food spread product" might be other than obviously inedible.
Elizabeth at July 22, 2018 9:37 AM
"You typically don't think of pizza chains as being recipients of government bailouts ..."
Why not? There are so many companies and industries this is hardly surprising. Quite frankly it speaks more to the writer ignorance than anything else.
Quite frankly I am more offended by the dairy tax than by the spending. This is a trade association that attempts to sell more of it's member's products. But membership is not voluntary. Farmers cannot opt out of the program.
But in the bigger picture this is pretty small change. $140 million claims wikipedia. Given our $4 trillion or so in spending this is a rounding error. Keep it or cut it I don't really care. This historical remnant doesn't much matter either way. You are only really talking about reducing the price of a gallon of milk by less than a penny.
Ben at July 22, 2018 7:29 PM
Crossing guards are municipal employees, who do you think pays for them if not the government/taxpayers?
NicoleK at July 23, 2018 8:09 AM
It's not "your" tax money being spent to market cheese, it's the dairy farmers' money. And it sounds like they get their money's worth in increased sales.
John Smith at July 28, 2018 11:54 PM
Leave a comment