The US government reportedly hoards 1.4 billion pounds of cheese in caves

In 2022, the US exported more than 450,000 metric tonnes of cheese worldwide

That same year, the US cheese export market was valued at $2.3B. The main consumer markets for the US were Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Australia, and Canada. Mexico was the largest importer of US cheese, with 87% of its cheese imports coming from its neighbor.

Andrew Jackson kept a 1,400-pound block of cheese in the White House and then let members of the public eat during his final party while in office.

The US stores hundreds of millions of oil barrels in caves along the Texas-Louisiana coast

The US has a Strategic Petroleum Reserve that it taps into, releasing barrels into the economy, during times of emergency (think: major storms and wars) to try to stabilize markets.

The world's most unique cheeses

Some are set apart by their unusual ingredients, like moose milk or live mites. Others are defined by texture, like the Georgian specialty tenili, a very rare hand-pulled cheese that resembles yarn or pasta strands. There’s even a canned cheese that has been using the same strain of bacteria for more than 70 years.

Globalization is increasing the demand for cheese

The increased popularity of Western cuisine has affected the cheese market in historically cheese-averse regions like East Asia. Japan has gotten particularly excited about exploring what cheese has to offer, with festivals and creative fusion dishes featuring the versatile ingredient.

From 'Yankee cheddar' to American cheese

From "Yankee cheddar" to Kraft Singles, American cheese has a long history shaped by innovation and economics. Originally a cheddar export, it evolved into the processed slices we know today—thanks to a 1916 patent. And in the 1980s, it became “government cheese,” distributed to millions.

Switzerland is widely considered the world capital of cheese

This charming infographic looks at the cheese-related habits of Europe’s top three cheese-producing countries: Italy, France, and Switzerland. Cheeses in France are reported to be the lightest, and Swiss cheeses the heaviest.

Many artisan cheesemakers avoid modern methods

While much of the cheese found at the supermarket has been made in a factory, there are still plenty of artisan cheesemakers who do things the old-fashioned way. There is also a burgeoning vegan cheese market, which has quickly evolved from plasticky neon-orange shreds to Camembert-style soft cheeses made using traditional techniques.

Serbian donkey cheese is the most expensive in the world, with prices sometimes reaching up to $600 per pound.

Why some people say the moon is made of cheese

Mental Floss digs into the history behind the fable, which dates back as far as the 1500s, when it was mentioned in "The Proverbs of John Heywood." Even NASA has gotten in on the joke, tweeting a (supposedly) doctored photograph showing the moon's expiration date.

A New York farmer established the first cheese factory and revolutionized the industry by sourcing milk from local farms.

Brazil is leading a cheese revolution and challenging European dominance in the industry

Brazil has plenty of traditional dishes that rely on cheese, but it’s only in the last decade that the country has emerged as a powerhouse in artisanal cheesemaking. While the cheeses may be inspired by European traditions, options like cocoa-dusted goat cheese or an Amazonian buffalo cheese are pure South American.

Ancient Romans helped develop modern cheese production techniques

The ancient Romans loved cheese and experimented with different processes to elevate its flavor, like aging. Some of their innovations, like Pecorino Romano, you can still find today. Others, like the smoked goat-milk Caseus, we only know about through historical records.

It seems like we shouldn’t have to say this: Cheese is not like crack

While news reports may claim cheese is addictive, the facts behind the research show cheese and crack have little in common. It appears that highly processed foods with high levels of sugars and fat, rather than cheese specifically, are most closely associated with addictive-like behaviors. In fact, cheese ranked lower than foods like pizza, chocolate, and fries in terms of its addictiveness.

Most of the critical mineral supply needed for US data centers is imported

The country with the most data centers relies on other nations for about 80% of the rare earth elements needed for magnetic materials in storage drives, 64% of the silver and 85% of the platinum it uses for electrical circuitry, and about half the aluminum and copper used in heat sinks that dissipate thermal energy from electronic components.

Animals' stomach lining produces cheese

Cheesemaking would be impossible without rennet, the enzyme that separates milk’s liquid and solid components. Rennet occurs naturally in the stomach lining of young goats, cows, and lambs to help them digest milk, a process that also allows cheesemakers to use it to make curds. Now we have plant-based rennet that comes from thistles, artichokes, and other similar plants.

Microbes are essential to creating the many varieties of cheese, influencing texture and taste

Microbes break down proteins and fats and produce compounds with distinct tastes. These microbes can include bacteria (like the one used to give Swiss its trademark holes), molds (like the ones that give blue cheese its distinctive veining), and countless other tiny organisms.

The invention of cheese likely came from a fruit fly landing in a pail of fermenting milk

The chance encounter around 5,500 years ago laid the groundwork for cultured milk products like yogurt and cheese. Over time, microbes evolved in tandem with goats, sheep, and wheat to give us the wide variety of cheeses that we enjoy today.

Emmental cheese, what's often called 'Swiss cheese,' requires cheesemakers to create a specific set of imperfections.

The mysterious Fort Knox houses much of America’s gold reserves

This fortified vault, built in 1936, is part of the US Mint, but it doesn’t create any currency. Only a presidential order can open Fort Knox—there has not been an audit of its contents since 1953.

A Russian ban on food from outside countries has created a black market that's led the government to sometimes burn contraband food on state TV.

Spikes in pizza orders near US government buildings are thought to be signs of international crises

Theorists have long believed that sudden increases in pizza deliveries near the Pentagon signal a major event is about to occur. Historical examples include the CIA ordering 21 pizzas the day before the beginning of the Gulf War, and another surge of deliveries before former President Bill Clinton's impeachment hearings. Citizens have since begun monitoring food orders in the area. See a tracker of Pentagon pizza orders here.

View a list of 50 minerals critical to US economic and national security

Most of the US's supply of critical minerals depends on countries that have historically competed with it, which has raised concerns in Washington. These minerals are needed for green technologies to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.

Some people in Italy enjoy a cheese with live maggots in it

From squeaky Wisconsin cheese curds to the squirmy Sardinian casu marzu, cheese around the globe comes in myriad forms. Exploring the work of seven cheesemakers in seven countries, this video shows each cheese has traditions and flavors unique to its part of the world.

The food processing techniques developed for World War II, later repurposed for consumers

Research projects funded or sponsored by the military led to the development of active dry yeast to make bread easier to bake and an improved version of dehydrated cheese, which would be used in powdered cheese snacks. Freeze-drying, which had been used to ease the transport of blood plasma to battlefields, where it would be reconstituted with water, was later used on fruit for cereals.

White powder on cheese is rarely mold

The white, powdery substance that forms on cheese is not mold but crystals that typically signal a well-aged cheese. There are two types: inorganic crystals, which result from the cheesemaking process, and organic crystals, which occur from the natural breakdown of amino acids.

In 2023, the world consumed over 5 billion pizzas

Americans ate 3 billion of those, leading to sales that reached $43.3B, according to industry analysts at Gitnux. They estimated that Americans eat an average of 46 slices per person that year.

The 15 most beautiful caves in the United States

The United States is home to more than 45,000 caves, including many with National Parks designation, like Wind Cave (in South Dakota) and Carlsbad Caverns (in New Mexico). This list of the 15 best isn't just for spelunkers—all of these sites are available for more typical tourists, so long as they have a good pair of shoes.

Federal subsidies have boosted US fracking profits

Between 2000 and 2020, the US government invested tens of billions of dollars to facilitate the extraction of shale oil and gas reserves. These subsidies helped make new projects viable and kept fossil fuel companies afloat while global energy prices and renewable energy startup costs have fallen.

During Prohibition, Pabst Brewing Company switched from brewing its Blue Ribbon beer to making cheese.

An interactive periodic table maps every possible combination of cheese variables

Plotting milk type, texture, rind, mold, aging, and processing as intersecting axes, the tool shows which combinations already exist as named cheeses, which survive only as rare regional styles, and which remain entirely unexplored.

Watch what would happen if you literally had all the money in the world.

As of 2022, Canada has the most planned critical mineral mines

Wealthy nations are tapping into their domestic critical mineral reserves and buying up mines in poorer countries. The US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and China are taking the lead, with Chinese operations spanning all continents except Antarctica.

Meet Pauline, the White House cow who made national news when she briefly went missing on her way to a dairy show.

View a ranking of the countries with the largest helium reserves, led by the US

Estimated at 20.6 billion cubic meters (727.5 billion cubic feet) as of 2022, US helium reserves are more than double those of Qatar, the second nation on the list. Leading the world in natural gas production, from which helium is recovered, the US also leads global helium production, which helps mitigate shortages resulting from overseas geopolitical tensions.

Review Congress's 2025 report on the history of US critical mineral policy

For decades, supply chains for critical minerals have grown increasingly vulnerable due to reliance on imports. In 2022, the US Geological Survey expanded the list of critical minerals to 50 to better reflect growing industrial needs, exacerbating this vulnerability.

The US shipped nearly 4 billion barrels of oil abroad in 2024

More than half of the US’s oil is exported as the country produces mainly light, sweet crude but has many refineries that handle heavy, sour types.

The massive sinkholes of China

Parts of China's limestone-rich terrain is fertile ground for massive caves, where some of the world's largest sinkholes are located. Hidden away in dense, lush forests, geologists are frequently discovering new sinkholes to explore. This piece...

Why there’s barely any cheese in traditional East Asian food

East Asian cuisine has historically been cheese-free, but why? Several unique circumstances combined to limit—or eliminate—the dairy product in dishes from Japan, Korea, China, and other nearby countries: Livestock were seen as working animals rather than nutritional sources, and most people were lactose intolerant. As Western cuisine becomes more popular globally, though, cheese is making its way into more East Asian diets.

From 2014-25, US private sector data center investments have increased more than 25-fold

The annualized rate of US data center construction has ballooned from $1.6B to $41.1B, creating a market for data centers whose infrastructure costs and land, power, and transmission capacity demands rival those of offices and industrial facilities.

Explore a map of data centers worldwide, numbering over 12,250 as of August 2026, with over 4,500 in the US.

TikTok is obsessed with weird cottage cheese recipes

Cottage cheese “cookie dough.” Pizza cottage cheese bowl. Cottage cheese queso dip. TikTok influencers are suddenly posting nonstop cottage cheese recipes. It might be echoes of the 1990s weight-loss obsession, when diet culture encouraged the consumption of questionably tasty low-fat foods and not much else. Now, cottage cheese’s high protein content has made it an intriguing prospect for online fitness gurus who say that it’s the key to building muscle.

Understanding why the US can't use its own crude oil and depends on global markets

Before advancements in fracking technology made lighter shale oil readily available, US refineries had been built and optimized for decades to process heavier oil from other countries with high profitability. Despite being able to refine lighter oil, US oil companies can operate with better margins by exporting it to other nations whose refineries are optimized for it and importing heavier oil, for which the US has the infrastructure.

World War I brought attention to US reliance on mineral imports

Domestic stockpiles were inadequate for the extended trade disruptions caused by the four-year war. In response, the US Geological Survey increased its geological mapping to help search for important metals alongside new oil fields for fuel.

Track how much the US government has spent on bailouts.

Fort Knox was originally built to be a secure facility for the US Treasury's gold reserves back when the US still operated under the gold standard, a system in which a country's currency is pegged to, and can be converted into, a fixed amount of gold.

Nearly 70% of the US government’s debt is domestic

This includes intragovernmental holdings like the Social Security Trust Fund and investments from US citizens, banks, and mutual funds. About 30% is foreign-held, with countries like Japan and China as major creditors, investing in US Treasury securities due to their perceived safety.

Why did the US make it illegal to sell sliced bread during WWII?

Pre-sliced bread has only been with us for almost 100 years, but during the course of World War II it was briefly banned to save on supplies like wax paper and stainless steel for the war effort. This Atlas Obscura article explores this amusing (though not at the time) bit of food during wartime history.

Why there's a snack recession

Inflation and economic uncertainty have driven many Americans to make cuts to their snack budgets, according to reports from major food manufacturers like General Mills, JM Smucker, and Campbell's. Major retailers have also observed lower-income consumers cutting back on nonessentials due to the macroeconomic environment.

Foodborne illnesses cost our country an estimated $74.7 billion in 2023

A US government estimate puts the cost of all foodborne illness in 2023 at almost $75 billion dollars. In a report published by the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, government analysts detailed how the burden of foodborne illness includes medical costs, but also more hidden costs like lost wages. The analysis also breaks down estimated costs by pathogen.