LIFE WITHOUT THE FRIDGE

We had a moment of revelation on a perfectly normal Tuesday lunchtime.  There was nothing special about this particular Tuesday, nor anything amazing about the lunch that we had.  But, as I was putting a bottle of tomato sauce back into the fridge, I noticed the light bulb flicker on in this cold cupboard.  This in turn sparked a flash of an idea as I had a light bulb moment.  

Why was I putting tomato sauce in the fridge? Because it said I should on the packaging.  Now surely tomato sauce was created by the Italians to preserve tomatoes long before the refrigerator, hence the reason it is ladened with salt and vinegar.  

I delved my head deeper into the icy abyss and pulled out a few jars, none of which needed to be in there, and also found some food that should have been eaten several days prior.  Why were we using electricity to cool things in a cupboard that didn’t need to be kept cool?

We, as a couple and as consumers, have been convinced that we NEED to keep these condiments in the fridge, we have also been conditioned that we need a fridge!  I questioned where my logic was leading me, I even thought that my thought was barmy!  

What if. . . What if I turned the fridge off? Would our world come crashing down around us? Would we be social rejects for not powering a fridge that we don’t use? I pushed the switch.  It was off.  And it has stayed off for the past two years!

Our nans had pantries, cool cupboards where they kept their food and would not dream of paying good hard cash for electricity to keep it cold.  They had developed natural methods of keeping food fresh, be it buying smaller quantities more frequently, preserving it by methods of pickling, drying, smoking or using a dampened clay flower pot to wick away the warmth from an item.  
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This fridge incident caused us to question so many aspects of our lives.  It caused us to look at the things that surround us as really question if we need it.  In many cases, we don’t.  Items are marketed to us in such a way that the companies create an artificial need, that we “must have” or we will be outcasts of society.

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