Day 139 of writing every day.
My situation is not as drastic as the title sounds, but having no fridge presently meant throwing out perishable foods that must be stored at a cold temperature. Fresh produce lasts just fine sitting at room temperature and there’s still some leeway before high temperatures arrive when summer sets in. It’s still spring and there’s plenty of time to find a replacement refrigerator.
Having a fridge seems to be taken for granted nowadays and probably has been ever since the technology and mass production made owning one affordable and convenient. Although eating fresh produce is probably the healthiest dietary option, supplementing meals with meat or processed food (i.e. cheese, pickled foods, etc.) helps make a heartier meal.
Living alone, it’s also hard to finish larger volumes of foods and drinks that make more sense financially to buy more of than smaller portions. It’s like there’s a singles tax applied by the market because buying single serving sized food products is almost always more expensive by price per unit of measurement than larger sizes. But it’s good to reduce packaging waste by buying multiple serving sized food and drinks.
If I can’t store that food in the fridge after opening the package, then the food will spoil. Meat will probably go bad within a day if left sitting at room temperature during summer weather. Without a fridge, my grocery shopping options become limited to dry foods and veggies that won’t go bad right away. Of course there’s always airtight food sealed in pouches and cans that can double as emergency food supplies, but that’s not a substitute for fresh food.
I had to toss out some food as a result of not having a fridge, but at the same time, ditching the old fridge gave me some room to store non perishable foods in an easily accessible space as well. I think for the replacement refrigerator, I’ll find some kind of half-size fridge bigger than the mini fridge but that’s not going to take as much space as a family size fridge.
Thanks for reading!
One Chance Works 