Why Government Cheese Is Used On Wahlburgers' Menu Items

Dolly Parton was the queen of celebrities with humble roots, as exemplified by her favorite Burger King order, but she wasn't the only one. Donnie and Mark Wahlberg have conquered the music and movie worlds, but their brother Paul, executive chef of the family restaurant Wahlburgers, has made sure the siblings never lost touch with their not-so-well-off origins. In a 2018 interview with WTNH News 8, he revealed that government cheese was used on the eatery's burgers. Wahlberg explained that, when he and his brothers were children, they would try to cut a three-pound block of American cheese (the secret ingredient behind the perfect cheese pull), which had been given to the family as food support. However, their uneven slices didn't melt consistently. "That's a simple reminder for me, every day, of where we came from," he said.

Fast forward to today, and you'll still find government cheese proudly listed on the Wahlburgers menu for the restaurant's Our burgers, though this isn't the only menu item to include it. The Kids Meals feature three items that have government cheese: the Smahlburger, the mac 'n' cheese, and the grilled cheese. 

Despite the association with food assistance programs, government cheese brings back fond memories for some people. One Facebook user said, "That cheese made some of the BEST grilled cheese sandwiches ever!" Another wrote, "To this day, I can still remember how amazing it tasted." But while there's a lot of nostalgia surrounding government cheese, for some (like the Wahlbergs) it's also a reminder of harder times.

By the 1980s, after decades of buying dairy products, the United States government had amassed a staggering 560 million pounds of cheese. Sitting in warehouses across 35 states, the daily storage cost of $1 million meant something had to be done. The same day President Ronald Reagan signed the Agricultural and Food Act of 1981 into law, he gave the green light for 30 million pounds of government cheese to be distributed to low-income households under the Special Dairy Distribution Program.

Recipients of the food assistance scheme were, for the most part, grateful for the support. However, for others it was a source of profound embarrassment. Alongside the pasteurized process American cheese, boxes contained cans of meat, peanut butter, and containers of liquid and powdered milk. Still, the cheese was broadly a hit. Looking back, grown-ups on social media realize just how important the extra help was. "With a little help from government assistance back then, she made sure we were fed," said one commenter of their mother.

The fact that the Wahlburgers menu still includes government cheese hints that it still exists to this day. In fact, there's potentially more of it than ever, thanks to overproduction in the U.S. dairy industry. In 2025, the government was said to have a jaw-dropping 1.4 billion-pound reserve of the stuff, but where is it being stored? Some claim it is held in underground "cheese caves," while others say it's kept above-ground in refrigerators leased by major food corporations. That's way more than Paul Wahlberg can use, though his restaurant is doing its bit.