Few things are more bone-chilling to hear than the words “The refrigerator isn’t working.” Immediately it becomes clear that the household is about to lose the family’s supply of groceries and delicious treats. What’s worse, the domestic emergency budget will have to be raided to pay for a new fridge. But try to live without an “ice box,” a label left over from before electric refrigerators and a delivered block of ice was the only way to keep food stocks cool.
There is no getting around that having a working refrigerator is a necessity, perhaps more than any other household item.
Before the advent of refrigeration, food preservation was limited to methods like salting, smoking, drying, and fermenting. These methods were effective but also significantly limited the types of food people could consume, particularly in terms of freshness. The invention and widespread adoption of refrigeration in the 19th and 20th centuries revolutionized food storage, transportation, and consumption, leading to far-reaching social, economic, and cultural changes.
Refrigeration made it possible to store perishable foods like meat, dairy, and fresh produce for extended periods without spoilage. This not only expanded the variety of foods available year-round but also improved the nutritional quality of diets by making fresh fruits and vegetables more accessible. It allowed for the global trade of perishable goods, transforming local food markets into global ones. Foods that were once seasonal or regionally specific could now be enjoyed anywhere in the world at any time of the year.
The ability to transport and store food over long distances has also played a crucial role in urbanization and globalization. Cities, which could not previously support large populations due to the difficulty of supplying fresh food, grew rapidly as refrigeration technology advanced. This shift had profound effects on economies and social structures, as more people moved to urban centers, and agricultural practices evolved to meet the demands of a global market.
Refrigeration has not only changed what people eat but has also reshaped the world by enabling global food trade, supporting urbanization, and altering cultural practices.
Guest:
Nicola Twilley is the author of Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves and co-host of the award-winning Gastropod podcast, which looks at food through the lens of history and science. She is a contributing writer at The New Yorker and the author of Edible Geography. She lives in Los Angeles.
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*This interview will be recorded on Wednesday, August 21, 2024.
