Bob McCarty Writes

Nowhere on the web page for FARMER JOHN® Premium Spiral Sliced Half Hams could I find a “2-lb. frozen ham sliced” priced at $1,191,200. I could, however, find a contract summary (shown below) that appears to reveal that the Department of Agriculture paid Clougherty Packaging, L.L.C., $1,191,200 for a “2 POUND FROZEN HAM SLICED.”

The deal, published at Recovery.gov and shown above, was signed April 28 and completed June 30.  It appears to have provided two pounds of “the other white meat” at the “FIRM FIXED PRICE” of only $595,600 per pound. Realizing that’s a lot of pork — in terms of price, not weight — I set out to find out how a company like Clougherty Packaging could have landed such a windfall of a deal.

A search of the State of California’s Business Portal revealed that Clougherty Packaging, L.L.C., is a four-year-old Delaware corporation that shares the same business address as the one listed on the document above — 3049 E. Vernon Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90058-1800.

Hoover’s describes Clougherty Packaging as a company that processes pork products, including fresh-cut pork, prepared bacon, sausages, and boneless and bone-in cooked ham. In turn, those products are distributed through retailers under the Farmer John® brand name. The company was purchased by Austin, Minn.-based Hormel in 2004.

Still, how does one explain the fact that Clougherty Packaging appears to have been awarded such a contract?

Could it have been a payback for large campaign contributions? My search of the Federal Election Commission database shows that appears NOT to be the case, since the vast majority of contributions by individuals associated with Clougherty Packaging, Farmer John and Hormel during the past two years went to Republican candidates and causes.

One can only hope that a low-level clerk at the Ag Department simply failed to list the number of 2-lb. hams included in the transaction when he filled out the contract summary.

If, as the contract summary shows, only one 2-lb. ham was involved, then I will be in the ham business next week.

Hat tip:  Gateway Pundit

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UPDATE 7/20/2009 at 7:35 a.m. Central: Drudge shares news this morning of an even-more-expensive ham — more than $2.5 million — having been purchased via contract with the Department of Agriculture.  And there’s more:

$351,807 FOR ‘REPLACE AND UPGRADE THE DUMBWAITER’…
$1,562,568 FOR ‘MOZZARELLA CHEESE’…
$5,708,260 FOR ‘PROCESS CHEESE’…

UPDATE #2 7/20/2009 at 12:25 p.m. Central: Breath a sigh of relief folks.  I placed a call to the U.S. Department of Agriculture public affaris folks and learned that the hope I expressed in the post above (i.e., “One can only hope that a low-level clerk at the Ag Department simply failed to list the number of 2-lb. hams included in the transaction when he filled out the contract summary”) was correct.  This USDA news release clears things up and, perhaps, leaves Matt Drudge with a little virtual “egg” on his face.  Ham and eggs, to be exact.

UPDATE #3 7/20/2009 at 12:40 p.m. Central: It appears Drudge isn’t completely off target.  On his site, he’s posted a link to a Food Lion store selling ham as low as 79 cents per pound — far below the government’s $1.50/lb. or $1.99/lb. bulk purchases.