Your tax money at work: the United States Government has spent a staggering $1,191,200 on two pounds (900 grams) of frozen, sliced ham.

The money for the ham was funded by President Obama’s stimulus package and awarded through the Department of Agriculture. The money went to Cloughherty Packing, a Los Angeles based company that “processes pork products, including fresh-cut pork, prepared bacon, sausages, and boneless and bone-in cooked ham.”

According to the official record for the million dollar ham, the project which involved “animal slaughtering” was awarded in April 2009 and was due for completion in at the end of June 2009. It’s not clear from the record where the ham was heading after it had been sliced and frozen.

American taxpayers can take some solace though in the million dollar ham: the tender attracted two bids with the cheapest offer winning the deal. They usually say politicians have their snouts in the troth, although in this case they’re eating pig at $595,600 per pound instead. A copy of the official Government record here.