Noted: How We Save Our Food

Very interesting.

very neat! i love her little wall shelf unit to hold her veggies and fruits. in my home we keep our main fruits out and visible "easy to grab" on the counter.. along with some veggies. if we have to put them in the fridge i keep them up front kinda goes along with the "out of sight out of mind" theory if i dont see it ... im less likely to grab it and eat it

Great Article.

Very cool! I am always on the lookout for ways to best store my veggies!

We also try to keep food "on eyes", vegetables, bread some spices and dried fruits we have in lovely wooden or clay pottery on dinning table. Bread we bake by our selves every three days. In fridge only some main products - milk, source cream, butter. Other food we try to buy quite often in small quantities.

Glad to see that farmers wisdom is combined with design so more people will be interested in storing and saving food properly.

Nice little article - we grow much of our own produce ourselves & I'm always looking for ways to keep fresh produce fresher longer once it's harvested & in the kitchen. On a slightly different note but in the same general vein, I came across a wonderful book about longer term food preservation a few years ago called "Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning - Traditional Techniques Using Salt, Oil, Sugar, Alcohol, Vinegar, Drying, Cold Storage & Lactic Fermentation." It's a compilation of information & recipes from the gardeners & farmers of Terre Vivante, France. It is a wonderful little book revolving around traditional but often little-known French techniques for storing & preserving edibles in ways that maximize flavor & nutrition. It contains all sorts of interesting tidbits of information - I love it!

Very interesting. I wish my kitchen was big enough for a trough. While we do have a refrigerator and freezer (what American home doesn't!), I too find myself shopping everyday for fresh ingredients. It must be my Italian heritage and up bringing - my grandmother and I were at the market daily picking up fresh vegetables and bread for that evenings dinner. While our milk and eggs are stored in the cool environment of the fridge; fruit & vegetables are always on the counter. ...heading to watch the video now. :)

A great article..the more we advance the stronger the pull to go back to basics Gypsy...that sounds like a very interesting book..thanks

Wow very very interesting! Good on her doing researches herself and coming up to these cute-looking shelves! It is so true that we lost food knowledge quickly. Thank you for sharing :)

Great article and very interesting Thanks for sharing!

This reminds me of how I lived in france with my family. The french do not seem to care for large refrigerators. And that's because they like to eat fresh food every day, so there is no need to store big quantities. Great post. Thanks for sharing!

Esthetic and functional. I like this approach to storing produce:) Since I live close to the market, I don't need to stock up on produce. I buy what I can consume for the next couple of days. Eggs are stored in the fridge while fruits are placed where I can see them. I make it a habit of bringing fruits as snacks at work everyday. Not only is this healthy (keeps me away from vending machine snacks!) but also keeps them from going bad and going to waste.

Thanks for the information on how to properly store fruit and vegetables!

asparagus stays fresher if you simply wrap it in damp paper toweling, and put it in the fridge It will be good for a few days longer and neither dries out or turns to mush.

when i buy chard, kale, or other greens I trim an inch off the stems and then put them in a glass of water in the fridge (like you would do with flowers) 1/2 gallon glass mason jars are great (and inexpensive at around $2 each) for storing dry pantry items like beans and rice. things go stale in plastic.

Interesting information! Everyone knows that fresh food is the best. Not everyone has a time to shop for fresh food every day. Then again, how fresh is fresh supermarket food?..

Interesting !

Wow, I thought that every single thing that Jihyun Ryou said made complete and perfect sense. The idea of seeing all your food is brilliant but the science behind it is -or should be- life changing. I have a nice big fridge and am pretty careful to use all my food up, yet things still sprout or spoil once in a while. To be able to manage that so cleverly in those beautiful storage elements is inspiring. I have to go re-think my kitchen.

I love this. Last year, 2 famous chefs in the UK did a tour of the country to research how much of our food was going to waste. The results were astounding - most of the time the food that was binned was still more than edible, but was being thrown because it had passed the 'best before'.

I save honey, jam & pickle jars to store beans, rice & grits in. I keep my homemade granola in a large mason jar on the counter & fruit in a bowl on the table. It's readily available & easy to eat when it is right in front of you & less goes to waste.

Fascinating :) Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for thought provoking read!

I love it! It's great to have my eyes opened to things that seem so obvious but I've really never thought about before. I buy a ton of produce and do feel like I end up throwing so much away.

Thanks for this post. I've been wanting to learn about food preservation for a long time. I think the US tends to be overly sensitive about bacteria in food and so we tend to keep almost all our foods in the fridge. With more insight, I hope we become less dependent on electricity and more dependent on natural means.

What an interesting idea to keep your food out. We keep our fruit out and some of our veggies-but mostly because they get eaten so quickly it isn't convienent to put them in the fridge. Very cool video!

Thank you for the interesting article. If you can get fresh raw milk, keeping it on the counter will just turn it to curds and whey. You can make your own cheese, butter, and buttermilk.

This is so wonderful! I would love to waste less veggies, for sure. I love the idea about the apples and potatoes together. I will use that from now on!

The food storage unit featured in the video is amazing! I am going to try storing my carrots and leeks vertically from now on - it makes perfect sense! I agree with R W we in the US are so scared of bacterias - most veggies and fruits really do not need to be stored in the fridge. Great article - I learned a few things! My storage tip: if you only use part of an avocado, store the rest in an airtight container with a little piece of onion to prevent browning.

Great article !

Natural methods of preserving food is becoming a lost skill/technique as the food industry becomes more dependent on chemicals for prolonging shelf life of fruits/veggies (with 'food grade' chemical coatings on oranges, lemons, tomatoes, etc). One thing I've done to prevent my salads from wilting in the fridge is to wash them with water, drain thoroughly, then place in an open pan in the fridge so this way they last cruchy and fresh for the next 5 days.

such a wonderful article.

Thought provoking!

What an awesome video! I learned a few new tricks from it :) That shelving unit is so simple and so beautiful!

I love those ideas, but what about pests ...bugs and mice and such? It's a very real health concern to have those critters and insects eating away at food left out on a counters, and ends up attracting them into your kitchen you'd like to keep sanitary. Sorry to be a downer, great ideas when those pests are not an issue.

Wow, I just *love* this concept! Stoked to read this article, thanks~ Heidi

Wonderful ideas! I love my food dehydrator

Interesting read. Love the troughs but personally I feel that the extended freshness is probably more due to the optimal humidity of the sand than the carrots losing energy because they want to stand upright again!

Very interesting!!! Where are those containers available for purchase?

Fascinating! Love the emphasis on eating fresh and keeping an eye on on your food in this article. And thanks HoodVintageandWool for the great tips on storing greens!

Thanks for the great info!!

Now Im hungry again.

Inspiring. Recently watched: Taste the Waste on Youtube. Sad to see the food wasted. Ryou,thanks for caring about the enviroment,your health,and the care amd quality of your produce. ;) Will use your food dehydrating methods! Much love, Rose

Very interesting article!

Thank you ,it's very interesting :)

Just amazing!

Great article!

wow, really thought-provoking! Thanks so much for this wonderful video

Great article. We have a garden and also buy local produce but it seems like something is always going to waste. Although we compost, we are always trying to reduce what ends up as a discard item. I've found meal planning - so long as we stick to it - is the best option for using what we have. Thanks for the post & reminder. Winter always seems to be the time of year when we get a little lazy on this.

my m-i-l got me a subscription for cook's illustrated for my last birthday. the best tip i've taken from it so far is for lettuce storage. i buy romaine, so can't use a spinner like most folks do. i've recently started using green bags. cook's recommendation (even though it sounds gross) is to blow air into a non-perforated bag before sealing. i always thought air, especially breathe, would encourage spoilage. but i've been doing this for months now and am amazed when my lettuce is still crisp after almost 2 weeks! don't know if it works for other fruit/veg yet.

Great article ! Thanks for sharing

I recently moved to Perth, Australia and have been thrown a learning curve regarding home cooking. Fridges are smaller. Homes don't have pantries (or closets, for that matter). The only choice is to go to the market once every few days, rather than stock up on food for two weeks. Food is fresher and tastier. And, instead of having ingredients on hand all times, fruit and vegetables are seasonal. This provides opportunities to try new recipes and find new likes/dislikes. I am of the processed generation. I thought baking consisted of whipping up a box of Betty Crocker. Although, it hasn't been easy and have had some hard trials (metric vs. imperial, ugh!), I'm officially giving Julia Child a run for her money. Anything I ever crave from the States, I'm learning to make it homemade. I never knew eggs didn't have to be kept in the fridge and I thought lard could live on the shelf. Living in a new place has really opened my eyes to other ways of doing things. We all can learn from each other. It is a beautiful thing.

this is awesome! it's cool to learn that apples give off a gas that makes other things ripen, that is so neat. and it explains a lot!

Wow this was really cool to read about...who would have known!

nice article! we often only goes to grocery about once every week, due to trying to save time we purchased a full fridge of food which most of the time we are not able to finish them or eat them while they are FRESH! good head up article!!

I loved this!!!

really well done documentary. i love the incorporation of art, design, nutrition and preservation. the designs work because the artist observed and created a living storage system--very beautiful.

This is a very interesting concept. It's so true, when foods are stored away in the back spaces of the fridge they get left behind to rot. Reminds me of when I was still in college. Sharing a fridge with four other people meant little room in the fridge. I went food shopping almost each week and only bought what I could consume in a timely manner and everything else was stored on the kitchen shelves.

Interesting blog!

Wonderful !!!

Awesome! I never thought about it like this. Our system is set up on the basis of keeping food 'fresh' for a long time. We eat foods that have a long shelf life because they chalk full of preservatives and additives. Its so easy to go to the store once a week and plan your meals for the entire week. We're not set up to enjoy really fresh, nutritious food. I would love to go back to this way of life- gathering only what you need for that day or the next. I'm sure eating this way would prevent a lot of food from getting wasted. Someday I hope to live somewhere where I can have a garden and maybe a couple of chickens and a milk goat. I would love to have my own little, self-sustaining place to live.

Awesome article!

If you want to know how to store food to ensure freshness talk to a chef from a ship: I met a coast guard chef who had tonnes of tricks to keep fruit and veggies fresh for a month. amazing...

Beautiful,so hungry now...

Thank you for sharing your studies and knowledge of preserving in the most natural way! Makes sense like how it used to be and still in some parts of the world today.

I always hate the plastic bags veg comes in as well, I always remove them because I think it stifles the vegetables and doesn't let them 'breathe' I like the idea of storing them in sand!

Interesting!

Hmmm, just yesterday I found a poor cucumber in my fridge... It didn't have a nice, fulfilling life - surely cucumbers are not meant to rot away in a fridge to be put in a bin by a disgusted woman... I wish I was able to build such shelves - I guess I could draw them, but working with wood....errr, no. Is it possible to buy them somewhere?

Great!

sOOooOoO CREATIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOUR IDEAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a great idea, shamefully I'm guilty of the 'out of sight out of mind'. I'd love to try this system out one day, I'm sure it would make a big difference to my eating habits.

Wonderful Thank you for sharing

Great ideas! We tend to eat more fruit when it's out in the open

That's thinking outside the box- thanks for sharing! I love it when storage is not only good for the products but becomes part of the interior design, very interesting! Thanks!

What a brilliant idea!

That is wonderful. I would love to have that storage system in my kitchen. No matter how i try to buy only what is necessary, there will always be this poor zucchini that didnt make it to the soup...

Loved reading this~ Great concepts!

I recently saw a tv program about a Japanese lady who lives in England has her own allotment where she grows fresh vegetables, but she dose not have a fridge and instead preserves vegetables by pickling them in the traditional Japanese way. We can all learn a lot from each other and traditional ways of life.

Interesting ideas! As a person who lives 45min. from the closest store, and is housebound, I have to really watch what I purchase and how I store my food! Fresh fruits and vegetables are precious when you know it will be weeks before you can purchase more! (~.~) Ellen

Very interesting!!

I could definitely benefit from having everything in eyesight and needing my daily attention. I often waste produce because it's not visible. I think it would also be helpful to have my kids see the vegetables in all the stages, and be a part of daily tending to them and preparing them.

Interesting article, thanks for sharing! My family and I have taken a few long kayaking trips, living out of our touring boats for a week+. In preparing, we learned many of our typically refrigerated food items (eggs, cheeses, etc.) could last the whole trip...and which ones really shouldn't push the limit!

l love that idea it is like always something new is is from old times.

Very inspiring article ... and I totally agree that going to the farmer's market every morning to buy FRESH and LOCAL is the best. As a huge foodie and enthusiast of fresh foods I'd absolutely love it ... But reality sets in, working parents just don't have that kind of time! Putting fruits on the counter in a pretty basket is something everyone can do, though :)

Very interesting! The "out of sight, out of mind" thing is a real problem in my kitchen.

interesting ideas!

I'm noticing a huge swing amongst people I know back towards the old ways. Gone is the excessive purchasing I used to see, a lot of us are really starting to pay attention to how much we waste. Finding a balance between being frugal and yet still eating well is a challenge for some people and this sort of article will really help them on their way. I tend to agree with a previous postee mentioning that the carrots probably cope better due to climate rather than position but nevertheless, it's great to see this mentality is starting to spread a bit more!

Very interesting! I definitely want to try some of these tips!

Excellent information!

I think eggs were kept on the counter in the old days. It's pasteurization that puts eggs in the fridge now. But there lots of food that would better outside the cold confines of a refrigerator.

Beautiful! I love the simple way of storing food and having it right before your eyes! Amazing!

Fresh ingredients add so much flavor to everyday food. Having a bowl of fruit on the table helps the children eat fruit instead of chips and candy. Also, some fruit outside your kitchen window helps to add the last touch to your dinner.

We keep our produce out and in sight as much as possible - We have two big bowls in our kitchen that we keep stocked with garlic, onions, tomatoes, bananas, lemons, potatoes and any other fruits and veggies we need to cook meals throughout the week. Items that are less durable at room temperature (such as fresh parsley and lettuce) we keep in the crisper bin. We don't throw much food away because we plan meals for each week and only buy what we need - This prevents waste and excess spending. Even food that becomes over-ripe, like bananas, I keep and use to bake yummy banana bread - I currently have some old strawberries that are waiting for me to whip up some strawberry lemonade :)

Wonderful.

Waste not, want not ..am I my mom?

I wished we all had the time to make daily trips to get fresh produce. Unfortunetly, the hussle and bussle world we live in wont allow us this simple luxuryand therefore the perishables must be tucked away to preserve. Sad. Maybe we can take a little bit from the mexican you spoke of. Until then, great tips on keeping what we have fresh a little longer.

Love them!

Love being resourceful.

They are great ideas! I have just found out that you can buy your own cheese wax & wax your own cheese!!! When I find a good deal on hard cheese I can store it for up to 10 yrs!! It will probably be eaten in WAY less time than that, but I am always on the look out to return to how it was done before!! People were healthier & more active......That is MY goal for the year! Plus teaching our children these lost ways helps them to be preserved for the next generation!

Great article...thanks.

interesting... I never really thought of how root veggies want to grow upwards and thus waste energy doing so...if not for taste then for preservation of nutrients, should start thinking more about how food is stored.

wow. thanks for sharing!

Very good info! Forwarded on to many friends too. I'm working towards this..these theories and practices...must relearn and practice! Wish my kitchen was bigger!

interesting article & video. thanks for sharing.

Ah to be back on the farm! I would, however, like the farm to be about a thousand miles south--fresh markets!

Great article and some good ideas in the comments. I gave up using the crisper bins for produce - now they house condiments and because Florida is buggy and has loads of sugar ants, also flour, sugar, pasta and rice. The door areas for condiments now has healthy snacks and drinks for grandkids to grab. They think the frig door was made for kids.

Thank you so very much for this post/video!!!! It is encouraging to see people rejuvenating ancient knowledge in a new and practical way. The importance of this can not be overstated. This was really inspiring as we are in the idea gathering phase for our tiny home. We will certainly use these storage techniques as we have been trying to figure out a way to eliminate the need for a refrigerator. THANK YOU!

What an interesting concept. So often we think about how food is bought or cooked, but rarely how it is stored. Perhaps it is just as important to have the right approach to storing food as it is to have fresh, quality food and produce. Having the food in plain sight in my home would probably encourage us to eat more local, healthy food instead of the sweets that are usually left handy. Thanks for this post!

I am really interested to know how her carrots taste vs. carrots that have been sitting in the drawer in a fridge. I'd be willing to bet that hers taste a heck of a lot better.

this is a very interesting idea.

This is super cool! I never knew that root vegetables should be stored upright.

want that food trough !!

Interesting article! I am learning how to store food in bulk from friends that do this. Of course it is can and dry food. I still go to grocery store to buy fresh produce until summer gets here, when I can raise my own.

I've learned something new today! Thank you so much. I had no idea root veggies should be stored upright..... but it really makes perfect sense!

My husband is from the UK and will toss things without inspecting them just because they are past the "best by" date. It's astonishing to me that people do this. I grew up in the the 50's and 60's, back in the age before "sell-by" dates. You used your own judgement to determine if something was usable. If it was too far gone, into the compost pile it went (excluding things that don't belong in the compost, of course!). You didn't just discard produce because it wasn't picture-perfect; you cut the "bad" part off and used the rest of it!

Very interesting!! I may need to get my husband to build some of those storage units...

Love this, especially because it is a beautiful way to store food and it uses no electricity.

Very inspired!!

brilliant!

Brilliant. I stopped using plastic and went to all glass mason and canning jars. You can truly taste the difference. I always cut my celery or carrots and stick them straight up in a can with some water, they last for a month or so.

I remember when I used to live in Hong Kong and Taiwan, people don't use fridge as much there, are used to lay the veggie on the bamboo tray and wood table to get in touch with the room air. Veggie tend to stay fresher and their natural sugar stay in better. Very informative video and article, thanks !

Thank you !

It's very interesting but I wouldn't take these assumptions as absolute truths. I don't want to scare anyone (and you shouldn't be concerned) but it is a fact that bacteria grow better at higher temps than lower temps - so make sure you rinse your room temp stored veggies well before you eat them. I agree that there are a lot of good alternative ways to storing food (thanks Gypsy for mentioning "Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning") but the claim that veggies should be stored upright is not really supported by any facts that I know of. People in the past have been much cleverer than most of us are now when it comes to storing food, and I think it's good to try and revive the old methods. :)

A useful factsheet on veggie storage: http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/factsheets/vegetables/storage.pdf

very interesting! Thanks for sharing!

This is so interesting! It's so horrible to watch people throwing food out, jut because the best before date is over, I wish they all would read this article and trust their senses more than some random date printed onto some cardboard! :)

We make freash home cooked food everday and never throw anything away.

This is so interesting, it also reminds me of the times I watch how my grandmother store perishables when a mega size fridge was not in every household. It is true that we become so dependent on the fridge we forget how the fruit & vege reacts with each other & the environment and not everything needs to be kept in the fridge to prolong it's lifespan. I've gained some knowledge just by watching this short video. Thank you for sharing!

Great points. My mom is great at canning fruits and jams, but I've never canned anything in my life. It's good to know that other people are keeping traditions and knowledge alive.

Butter doesn't need to be refrigerated unless you aren't eating it regularly. Mold cannot grow on it, it can get rancid but that takes several weeks. Honey also cannot grow mold - and keeps forever.

This is pure delight and genius. Love the article, love the design of the storages and love the idea behind it.

This is the best! Thanks so much!

This is absolute genius! Logical, practical, and beautiful. What's not to love?

I recently got rid of my fridge when I moved house to an area where there are small local shops. Where I lived before, the only way to shop was to take the bus to a supermarket far away and buy everything for the following week or two in one go. Initially, I had not actually intended to live fridge-less, but now I find that I really don't need one! I can buy things every other day or so and support small shop owners at the same time. I have much less food in the house at any one time and therefore have more control over what needs using up. I think supermarkets have a lot to answer for with regard to how we treat our food and the increase in food waste.

brilliant article...my fridge just recently broke. funny how it changes life. i can only have enough perishables to fit into a small ice chest for now. i have to shop more often in smaller quantities and be really aware of what i have so it doesn't spoil like maz123. i was never a waster but the time frame for freshness has changed because many of my things are kept out now. goodbye bulk shopping and getting all kinds of random stuff or the "umm that looks good" thing. and it most certainly does change how you think about food... i think its been a fantastic eye opener...

Thank you for the inspiring article.

ohhh and a new fridge? im sure ill get around it eventually...lol

opps...around to it...i meant

Great article! I wish I could go grocery shopping every day like that. I always try to stock up and sometimes that ends in disaster! Thanks for sharing!

I love this! I never thought about these things before, but it all makes sense! Thank you for sharing!

Very pertinent and interesting! I canned tomatos from the garden last year for the first time and it has been wonderful to have that fresh taste. If we wasted less and took a lesson from the past our lives might be better lived... now I will try and listen to my own advice more. Thanks for all the great ideas.

Fabulous!!! Where can I get those containers!?!