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To fridge or not to fridge?
Monday, 26 November 2007
Do we need a fridge? A freezer?
I'm starting to reconsider the basics.
Do we need a fridge? Everyone thinks they do, but I'm not so sure. I had a look inside of ours, to see what's actually in there:
Inside our fridge.
- Cold water.
- Soy milk.
- Lemon juice (in a bottle).
- Tomato sauce.
- Pickled onions.
- Various mustards.
- Chilli sauce.
- Various pickles and relishes.
- Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, celery, carrots, mushrooms.
- Leftover noodles from last night's dinner.
In short, not much. A fair number of things that don't actually need to be refrigerated too - tomato sauce, for example (and I'm not sure about the pickled onions).
If we grow our own veggies in our new home, we wouldn't need to refrigerate shop-bought ones. And water doesn't need to be refrigerated - it's an old habit. About the only things that really need refrigeration are leftovers and the soy milk, once opened. We're vegans, so we don't have meat and dairy products in our fridge, except when Mum and Dad come over. So no need to refrigerate any of that stuff.
Inside our freezer
The freezer is even emptier.
- A packet of 'vegie patties'.
- A couple of packets of frozen vegetables.
- The remains of a packet of frozen wedges.
- Some vegie spring rolls.
- Lots of ice-cube trays.
On the basis of what's above, if we had a vegie plot we could certainly get away without a fridge. Absolutely without a freezer.
Our typical meals
Our typical meals in summer are usually salads, quinoa / millet / baked potatoes / polenta, with dolmades or pickles or similar. If it's cooler we might have pasta with tomato sauce, or a stir fry. We eat lots of nuts (nuts go with everything!), and lots of green veggies and fruit. We also eat heaps of bread.
Because we make the salad up as we go, it could easily be picked from the garden on the spot, and no refrigeration necessary. There are only leftovers when we plan there to be. At the moment, we're planning noodle leftovers regularly because my baby daughter likes to chew on them!
In winter we have a lot of curries, stir fries, pasta, soups and stews. All hearty fare - and none of it needing refrigeration. The only exception would be if I make soups and curries up in bulk. Then I would need a freezer, as it is much easier to make bulk curries and soups, then thaw out as needed.
Giving it a go
I suppose the first step is turning the fridge off, and seeing how we cope. Our electricity is going off next Monday, as there's work being done on the line. I might use this as a first step, and see how it works without a fridge.
Becoming sustainable - truly sustainable - means we're going to have to re-assess a lot of things we currently take for granted.
Up until now I never thought of a fridge or a freezer as a luxury. But perhaps they are. And perhaps they are luxuries I can manage to do without.
8 comments:
Nope, pickled onions don't need refrigeration.
I didn't think so. It's just habit. Same as the tomato sauce!
I'm just so amazed at the folks that can manage without a fridge and freezer. Mine are PACKED and with things that need to be kept cold.
More power to you for unplugging!
I don't think you need a fridge because almost none of the stuff in your fridge needs refrigerating. However if you get a veg plot you absolutely need a freezer. You need it to store some of the glut of seasonal vegetables so you have something to eat during the hungry gap.
Of course you can do without fridges and freezers - they were only invented in the last century and people got by before then. But they had cold larders, root cellars, they did a lot of canning, and they probably had a pretty monotonous diet at certain times of year. I think freezer+veg plot is a match made in heaven.
Hi Chile,
As another vegan, I'd be really interested to hear what you keep in your fridge. With us, it's mostly vegetables - fresh produce, that is. That's why I'm wondering if we could do without it when we establish the vegie plot in our next home, and simply live out the garden. I'm guessing you do what a lot of my vegan friends do - buy at the market once a week, and stock your fridge up with fresh stuff?
Hi Melanie,
I'm trying to learn what other ways there are to preserve food besides refrigeration and freezing. Bottling, pickling and jamming are obvious options, and I'll be using all three.
I want to work out ways of dealing with seasonal gluts without needing electricity. I want to be as non-dependent on electricity as possible - my little homage to the planet and sustainability, I guess :-)
In the end, I suspect we may need a super-efficient chest freezer, or similar, but we'll assess everything and look at all options beforehand. My ideal would be not to have one, but sometimes ideals don't work out. In the end, I'll be doing what is most sustainable and environmentally-responsible, whichever option that turns out to be.
But I hope to go refrigeration-free!
I'll be sure to post how we go as we set up in our new home.
Without going into an exhaustive inventory of the refrigerator contents, they fall into four categories:
perishable produce
leftovers
condiments
perishable processed food
We do get our produce once a week from the CSA, in addition to supplements from our own garden. If we had a root cellar, we could keep some of them fresh. Right now, though, we are getting large quantities of greens. I'm not sure how well they would keep even in a root cellar. There is no way anything would stay fresh in the summer. Indoor temps are 85 degrees.
Leftovers must be refrigerated to prevent food poisoning. It is more efficient to cook in several big batches than numerous small ones. Does that efficiency outweigh the cost of running a fridge? Don't know.
Condiments that I can myself are shelf-stable, until they are opened. Then they are subject to the same food poisoning concerns as leftovers.
We buy some perishable processed food at present, such as soymilk, vegan mayonnaise, and Earth Balance. I know the soymilk at least has to be chilled.
Due to the odor problems with our refrigerator's freezer compartment, we probably will not keep it whenever we buy our own property. We hope to have enough cash to pick up a super-efficient refrigerator. Then I'll have to learn how to pack things in really tightly.
There's always the option of using a pot-in-pot. You can also, apparently, use solar ovens overnight as coolers, which would be fine if you're happy to eat your dinner leftovers for breakfast!
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