Report: From home delivery of ice to electricity-dependent refrigerators

Matilda Marshall is researching food storage, meal culture, sustainable food consumption and everyday practices. Her project is now nearing completion and she has summarized the main features in a popular science report.

Turning off the fridge in winter, renting a freezer compartment or buying more canned goods and powdered products. It may sound strange today, but Matilda Marshall, Associate Professor of Ethnology, Department of Cultural and Media Studies at Umeå University (formerly at Örebro University), is investigating whether we can learn from history to become climate smart.

Just over two years ago, we wrote on APPLiAnytt about Matilda Marshall's research, in an article called "Learn from history to make the kitchen climate-smart", which briefly discussed how food storage can be understood as a way to be prepared for different situations in everyday life, from everyday meals to guests and possible crises. Matilda also touches on changes over time since we got refrigerators and discusses whether it is possible with a so-called "storage economy" today.

The article "Learn from history to make the kitchen climate-smart" is written by Linda Harradine, Research Communicator at Örebro University, and is available to read. here.

An addiction that is difficult to change from

Now Linda Harradine has written a new article about Matilda Marshall's research, called "We have built in a dependency that is difficult to change from" where Matilda Marshall says, among other things, that there is a desire among many people to take advantage of the cold and find more energy-efficient methods of storing food during the winter. But we have built in a dependency on refrigerators and freezers that is difficult for individuals to break. If the goal is to make meal culture more sustainable, we also need to take into account the role of food storage in how we eat.

The article "We have built in an addiction that is difficult to change from" can be read here.

Popular science summary

Matilda Marshall has recently summarized the main features of her project in a popular science compilation called ”From home delivery of ice to electricity-dependent refrigerators – food storage and sustainability perceptions from the 1920s to 2020”, which may be of interest to those working to develop the sustainable food storage and household products of the future, and it is available here as a 22-page PDF.

Text: Ola Larsson

Photo: Linda Harradine

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