In the midst of a national cheese glut, a government-sponsored marketing group called Dairy Management Inc. (DMI) is partnering with fast-food restaurants to encourage Americans to eat more cheese.
Last year, farmers poured out 50 million gallons of milk because prices and demand were so low. As dairy consumption has dropped, DMI, which was behind the popular “Got Milk?” campaign, now spends much of its time sending experts into the secret product-creation rooms of chains like Burger King, Domino’s, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Wendy’s. At Taco Bell, a DMI agent recently helped create the Quesalupa — a very cheesy fried quesadilla. Americans might not want to buy cheese, but they’re still happy to order items with it off a menu, says Bloomberg.
Funded by the national dairy checkoff fee, DMI is overseen by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service — and so far is a solid investment for farmers. “A cost-benefit analysis done by Texas A&M University economists in 2012 shows that every dollar a dairy producer invested in DMI returned $2.14 for milk, $4.26 for cheese, and $9.63 for butter industrywide,” says Bloomberg.
Critics of the program point out that it’s encouraging consumers to eat fast foods laden with salt, sugar and saturated fats. “Americans rely on the USDA for dietary guidance,” says Parke Wilde, a food economist at Tufts University who studies agricultural checkoffs. “All these fast-food restaurant-chain partnerships must be pretty embarrassing for the people at the agency working to promote healthy eating.”