Food, food culture, food as culture and the cultures that grow our food

A fridge’s eye view of urban agriculture

September 25, 2011

the gardener's fridge, Debra Solomon, culiblog.org and urbaniahoeve.nl
The author’s fridge, filled with home-ferments, foraged, syruped, home grown greens, raw milk and vodka!

At the moment my fridge is filled with the bubbling product of home-fermented foods, lots of home grown and a visit to milk lady at the farmer’s market. A few days earlier Mark Menjivar’s photo essay about what can tell us, popped up on my radar again. The first noticeable difference between my fridge at harvest time and all but one of Menjivar’s subjectsis the lack of packaging. An ever earlier Autumn and ’tis the season for pickle and sauerkraut making up here in the Polar Circle, for salting and sugaring food away. That coupled with a penchant for making (dairy) kefir that has been enlightening on many levels; the amount of milk it ‘costs’ to keep a culture happy, the numerous uses for kefir and whey, and the discovery that in the olden days all of these cultured products probably kept just fine without a fridge. Apparently it’s all the rage… The ship contains the shipwreck once again.

The midwife's fridge from a series by Mark Menjivar, You Are What You Eat.
From Mark Menjivar’s You Are What You Eat, image used entirely without permission. Midwife/Middle School Science Teacher | San Antonio, TX | 3-Person Household (including dog) | First week after deciding to eat locally grown vegetables. | 2008

The bartender's fridge from a series by Mark Menjivar, You Are What You Eat.
From Mark Menjivar’s You Are What You Eat, image used entirely without permission. Bar Tender | San Antonio, TX | 1-Person Household | Goes to sleep at 8AM and wakes up at 4PM daily. | 2008

The amusement park owner's fridge from a series by Mark Menjivar, You Are What You Eat.
Owner of Defunct Amusement Park | Alpine, TX | 1-Person Household | Former WW II Prisoner of War | 2007

The short order cook's fridge from a series by Mark Menjivar, You Are What You Eat.
From Mark Menjivar’s You Are What You Eat, image used entirely without permission. Short Order Cook | Marathon,TX | 2-Person Household | She can bench press over 300lbs. | 2007

The author's fridge, 6 years ago, Debra Solomon, culiblog.org, urbaniahoeve.nl
Six years ago my fridge was a different place, yet vodka and lime juice still feature prominently.

debra at 19:10 | Comments (27) | post to del.icio.us

27 Comments »

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  2. Debra,
    These portraits are amazing. Three cheers for the timelessness of lime juice and vodka!
    -Joanna

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