Yup, I Was Raised on Government Cheese and Powdered Eggs!
Have You Ever Experienced Making a Grill Cheese Sandwich with a Slab of Government Cheese?
Growing up for me was a whirlwind of change in my early years. Shortly before my parents divorced my Brother accidentally burned our house down. He was only 3 at the time and back then light bulbs burned so hot that the bed spread that caught fire had no chance. After that incident My Mom, Brother and I moved to our grandparents house in Fairport, NY.
It was a beautiful little community built alongside the Erie Canal. There was one problem, my grandparents and Mom could not keep up with the expenses, even with child support from my Father who worked his butt off at Kodak.
Bambi and Thumper Were on the Menu.
My Grandfather was a roofer but in Rochester, NY that was a seasonal job. He did his best by hunting deer and rabbit. Yes, I grew up eating deer and rabbit. I have to say, looking back they were quite tasty. You see, my grandparents were born and raised in the Southern Tier of New York which is Amish country and they knew how to survive.
Spam Nuff Said!
Source
Government Cheese Saved the Day!
We were straddling the poverty line. My Grandmother decided to go to the New York State Welfare office and apply for government assistance. Instead of financial assistance my family received food. Our rations included blocks of government cheese, powdered eggs and powdered milk. My uncle worked at a meat packing company and he used to bring us home huge loaves of bologna and roast beef.
Source
Looking back at my childhood I can't say that we ever lacked the essential nutrients. Between the hard work of my family and the government assistance we had for those few short years we lived well. It helped that I was living in an amazing community like Fairport, NY where we were able to play with BB Guns and Bows and Arrows.
Remember These, We Had a Huge Vegetable Garden?
Source
I am not a fan of these over bloated government assistance programs we see today. I have seen people buy soda, chips, lobster and all sorts of luxury foods using their government issued benefits cards. My family stayed on government assistance just long enough to get back on their feet. Back then your benefit was just the very basics to survive and they worked their butts off to improve their lives.
My family is proof that you can be happy even though you had to struggle. Today my family is super blessed. My Brother and I have never known the struggle that my Mom went through. My Step Dad mentioned the other day that we are so lucky because we live a life of luxury compared to them at our age. He is right! Life is good and 2017 is going to be even better. Now it is our time to give back to those who made sure we had everything we needed to build a great foundation in life.
We had a huge garden and ate well from what we grew, but we were so poor when I was really young that I thought "Not For Resale" was a brand name.
Gardens were an amazing source of food. In the Northeast we only had a few months to reap the benefits but canning and freezing sure came in handy.
We did a lot of canning and freezing and still do.
My Mom does as well. Here is a Post she did, "How to Freeze Green Onions."
I remember reading that post when you posted it. I'm warming up some split pea soup as we speak, grown from our garden this year and baking bread with homegrown garlic. Perfect for a cold day.
Hot as Dickens here!! I need a cold brew.
My father got laid off from work when I was a kid. He worked in an auto plant in Buffalo NY. They handed out blocks of cheese at the unemployment office for the factory workers. Almost half the city was laid off at the time. Our family ate a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches that winter. Truth be told, the cheese is actually pretty good, just sucks when you're counting on it for survival.
Those were the tough times for Western NY. It seems they are just having a resurgence now. Kodak didn't implode until the early 2000's so Rochester was a little delayed. Buffalo deserves the rebound they are experiencing.
Those grilled cheese sandwiches did get old after a while. ; )
Yeah, Buffalo is really experiencing a renaissance. It's nice to see the city beginning to do well again. Lots of good projects happening downtown, and lots of positive things happening along the waterfront.
I look forward to visiting when we come home next summer. I have heard great things.
Tweeted on @RandyHlarski
https://twitter.com/RandyHilarski/status/813792771198820352
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Nice story to put some things in perspective.
Thanks for stopping by!!
I had a friend who's family received what we called, gov cheese. The rest of us were kind of jealous because it was great cheese! My hubby and I were just talking about this a couple of weeks ago. I thought I remembered it being called surplus cheese.
I enjoyed hearing about how your family moved/worked their way up. Your Mom was a good steward of the help she received and society as well as her family was rewarded.
We definitely never went hungry. There was always a huge block in the fridge. My family might be a group of misfits but they sure knew how to survive.
And that is the most important skill. :)
Hell of a story hilarski. Good reading here.
Thanks for sharing some background man.
Thank you for reading, people love to know the stories behind the profile.
Super interesting a well done post! Koreans love Spam after US troops brought them over during the Korean war. No one else understands...