“Though food is basic, it has become just another service. Shopping at a supermarket, the buyer is dependent upon the limitations of modern agriculture. Supermarket produce is often mediocre – bland and travel worn. The airplane, the truck, and the train have made it possible to soothe cosmopolitan palates with almost any food, regardless of the season.”
-Robert Kourick
Today we thought we’d kick-off the Real Food Challenge by sharing some photos of our refrigerators. A bit scary – YES!
Here at Chiot’s Run my fridge is full of raw milk, homemade canned items and made-from scratch items. You’ll rarely find something with any printing on it, unless it’s a bottle I’ve saved and am reusing. As I start the Real Food Challenge I’ll be trying to eat more seasonal items, so I think during the month of March it will be full of butternut squash ravioli, pumpkin soup, fresh local mushrooms and winter greens, eggs from the farm and hopefully some other interesting things I can find at the market.
If you click on the photo above it will take you to my Flickr page, I have notes on the photo so when you mouse over it you can see what all the items are.
I thought about the quote above when I was cleaning out my fridge a while ago. I noticed that just about everything inside was sourced locally. Even my milk comes from only a few miles away, fresh from the cow the day after it’s milked. The last couple years our diets have gone from: a healthy diet, full of lots of supermarket veggies and fruits to a diet full of organic veggies and fruits mostly local sources. We’ve learning to love seasonal eating, not relying on broccoli for our vegetable of the week.
It’s been a wonderful adventure and I can’t imagine not eating this way. It is a bit of challenge in the beginning and can seem a bit overwhelming, but it gets easier as you find local sources for more things. I actually feel like I spend less time shopping and acquiring my food now that I do it locally and grow some of of my own.
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Susy’s refrigerator amazes me. Down here at Unearthing This Life I was petrified at the aspect of showing off my cold storage. After a good cleaning and a lot of expiration dates I decided that I had things in shape for a few photos. While my view isn’t as impressive, I’m still proud to show off the steps we’re taking toward Real Foods. Anyone can do it by taking little steps.
Right now the box is a little more empty than usual. I’ll be doing some shopping on Monday to stock up on local milks and cream for cheeses and butter as well as some fresh local foods if I can locate some. That top right shelf will be off limits during this upcoming month.
If worse comes to worst I know I can rely on my sourdough starter, homemade jams, some local milk and eggs. The freezers chock full of last year’s bounty and I’m a leisurely drive away from my favorite butcher and processor.
Kim here and frankly after seeing the two frigs above I almost turned and ran…you see I didn’t clean my frig for this. I also have 5 kids so my frig is ALWAYS a wreck.
So I made a little collage to give you a small sampling of what is in there…I left the messy parts off!
Things that we won’t be giving up. Oranges…my husband has 4+ a day. My organic not from concentrate lemon juice that I use in my 5+ daily cups of tea…sorry can’t do it!
What’s inside your fridge?
My fridge is full of raw milk, home grown, home canned condiments, lots of fruits and veggies from the grocery store (we’re working on it) and leftovers from our meals over the past few days.
You guys are so impressive…so, do you guys can and freeze most of everything yourselves? We have a local cannery and I am going to start small this year with tomato sauce and preserves…that should be an easy start, right?
I feel so clueless, but I am going to go to my Nana’s this summer when she cans to get a little ‘experience’ under my belt before I try it on my own.
You guys ROCK! I wish I was already at ya’ll level! Soon enough, I know! 😉
Happy Sunday!
I loved browsing your fridges! I am very impressed with what you all are doing and can’t wait to follow along in March…tomorrow…!
Suzy
Suzy (Chiotsrun): I noticed the old canning jars in your fridge, the ones with the wire on top of the glass top. Where do you get your rubbers? I aquired a couple of these and the rubbers are old and dry. I’d love to use them for something other than decoration in my windowsill!
Also, a question on seasonal eating: Where oh where could I find a chart of things that are seasonal? I’d love to eat seasonal, but just am not sure what is and what isn’t. Can you help out here? I mean, I know apples are a fall/winter thing, but veggies stump me.
Thanks for the help!
jules
Here’s a great map I found that shows you what’s in season in different states for each month – HOW COOL!