If we are what we eat, what do the contents of our refrigerators say about us?

7th January 2010

If we are what we eat, what do the contents of our refrigerators say about us?

posted in Class & Poverty, Food Culture, Food News, Rachel, Vegetarianism |

You’ve heard the aphorism, “You are what you eat,” right? Well, here’s an interesting project that seeks to expose our innermost selves. In a creative exploration of hunger, photographer Mark Menjivar photographed the contents of strangers’ refrigerators and posted them to his website along with a brief description of the contents’ owner. From the virtually empty refrigerator of a person living on a meager fixed income (image 2) to the refrigerator of a female short order cook who can bench press 300 pounds with a coiled snake resting on the top shelf (really! it’s image 15), it’s certainly an interesting peek into the lives of diverse people from different regions and backgrounds. In his artist’s statement, Menjivar explains:

For three years I traveled around the country exploring food issues. The more time I spent speaking and listening to individual stories, the more I began to think about the foods we consume and the effects they have on us as individuals and communities. An intense curiosity and questions about stewardship led me to begin to make these unconventional portraits.

A refrigerator is both a private and a shared space. One person likened the question, “May I photograph the interior of your fridge?” to asking someone to pose nude for the camera. Each fridge is photographed “as is.” Nothing added, nothing taken away. These are portraits of the rich and the poor. Vegetarians, Republicans, members of the NRA, those left out, the under appreciated, former soldiers in Hitler’s SS, dreamers, and so much more. We never know the full story of one’s life.

My hope is that we will think deeply about how we care. How we care for our bodies. How we care for others. And how we care for the land.

So, what would the refrigerator of a eating disorder-recovered, vegetarian, health-conscious 30-year-old journalist from the Midwest look like? Here’s a peek into my own fridge.

If we are what we eat, what does your fridge say about you?

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 12:28 pm and is filed under Class & Poverty, Food Culture, Food News, Rachel, Vegetarianism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On January 7th, 2010, Trabb's Boy said:

Mine says that there are bits of me covered in green furry spots.

Really, though. It’s an interesting concept but it doesn’t say much unless the person lives alone. There are all kinds of things in my fridge that are there for the benefit of another member of the household.

Although thinking about it, there is a recurring theme in the fridge of healthy food bought and not eaten. My husband calls it a sin tax — you keep buying the celery even though your rational self says you’re never going to eat the damned thing.

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 1:05 pm

2 On January 7th, 2010, Alyssa (The 40 year-old) said:

Mine says I’m a slob. And it is absolutely correct.

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 1:16 pm

3 On January 7th, 2010, Gorda said:

Something about the description of the fourth fridge rubs me the wrong way. Occupation: “Disabled”. Interesting fact about their life: “Weighed 390lbs earlier this year”. Hm.

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 1:26 pm

4 On January 7th, 2010, Sarah said:

I recently posted an uncensored look at not just my fridge but all of the rest of my food stores–as party of a challenge to myself. I’m not eating out or buying anything but basics (bread, milk, eggs) until my pantry is bare. I’m blogging the whole thing. We’ll see how this goes!

Here’s my fridge,etc: http://meetthewelchs.com/2010/01/my-pantry-uncensored/

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 1:42 pm

5 On January 7th, 2010, Rachel said:

Something about the description of the fourth fridge rubs me the wrong way. Occupation: “Disabled”. Interesting fact about their life: “Weighed 390lbs earlier this year”. Hm.

Yeah, aside from the fact that a disability doesn’t always prevent one from working, I’d be interested in knowing if that mention was made because the person has since lost weight? If so, the nearly empty fridge takes on an entirely new meaning.

@Sarah: Interesting challenge! I cleaned out our cupboards before Thanksgiving and gave away all the food we’ve amassed and will in all likelihood never eat to my local food bank. We didn’t have all that much, but I was amazed at how much space it cleared up in our cabinets. I recently spoke to a guy who’s writing a book on food waste and think you may be interested in his work. His name is Jonathan Bloom and he blogs at WastedFood.com.

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 2:47 pm

6 On January 7th, 2010, Toni said:

Mine would probably convince people that I am a heavy drinker with a penchant for shredded cheese. Which might be sort of true. But as someone who doesn’t eat meat, or much dairy (the shredded cheese is for my super picky-eater of a dog), most of my food doesn’t need to be refrigerated.

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 3:09 pm

7 On January 7th, 2010, Emerald said:

Chronically disorganized, probably.

The pesto is probably about ready to be tossed, there are two loaves of bread that have both been partly used, and the cranberry juice hasn’t been touched since we came back from vacation. Also, hubby went shopping when I was still too jetlagged to get out of bed, and among the stuff we really did need, he bought a leek. He said he wasn’t sure why. I only buy them if I’m actually planning cooking something that involves a leek, so it’s still lurking mysteriously in the bottom there. And last week, the milk was coming out frozen when everything else was OK, and I still have no idea why.

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 3:10 pm

8 On January 7th, 2010, sarahbyrdd said:

Mine says two foodies just moved in together and haven’t finished merging their condiments … Oy to the vey with the 5 kinds of mustard!

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 3:52 pm

9 On January 7th, 2010, Charlotte said:

Mine says I’m broke and I need to hurry up and find a new job.

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 3:54 pm

10 On January 7th, 2010, RachelB said:

My fridge says that as much as I want to put off grocery shopping until the weekend, that’s probably not a good decision. I’m down to two servings of leftover soup, a jar of tahini, one egg, part of a daikon, some dried-out shiitakes, a jar of sauerkraut, half a can of diced tomatoes, and condiments.

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 4:26 pm

11 On January 7th, 2010, Lu said:

I’ve always wondered about people’s fridges. I want to know why a person would have a snake in theirs though. Do you think they are going to eat it? No, really, I’m asking. Mostly because I live in TX and the majority of the pics were taken in TX. I can’t help but wonder though. Why? Ewwwwww. Is she going to eat it? I’m not sure why this bothers me so much.

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 4:47 pm

12 On January 7th, 2010, Heidi said:

“Mine says that there are bits of me covered in green furry spots.” – I love it!!!

Mine says that we mostly eat dinner with my parents upstairs these days and that we have WAY too many condiments.

It also says that it’s too tightly fitted between the wall and stove (my dad’s fault), so I can’t open the door far enough to pull out the shelves and drawers to clean them, so they’re grubby. I hate it.

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 5:15 pm

13 On January 7th, 2010, Sara said:

Mine would say that I am a food snob who probably reads far too many blogs and watches more than her share of the Food Network- someone who is anything but bland considering the astronomical number of condiments/spreads/sauces/herbs/marinades/etc- and quite the yoghurt fiend. Quite interesting. I admit sometimes looking into people’s shopping carts helps me for a preliminary judgment…not just what types of foods they’re buying, but what brands/quantities/etc.

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 5:30 pm

14 On January 7th, 2010, Lauren said:

Depending on which fridge you look at mine would either say I’m a college student who drinks a lot of redbull and diet sprite OR that I live in a family of four with ages ranging from 10 to 50 (hence the high-fiber specialty foods next to the Gogurt next to more redbull).

posted on January 7th, 2010 at 7:01 pm

15 On January 8th, 2010, Bronwyn said:

The fourth one bothered me, too. It almost felt like the empty fridge was some kind of sign of pride and implication that the person had lost weight.

My fridge.. I’m not sure what it says. Probably that I’m really bad about throwing out/using up leftovers, and right now there’s not much good food in there (I do aim to change it).

posted on January 8th, 2010 at 12:33 am

16 On January 8th, 2010, Lady Di said:

Rachel your fridge looks GLORIOUS! I am a poor vegan grad student. My fridge contains hummus and peanut butter right now, and maybe a pint of soy milk?

posted on January 8th, 2010 at 12:34 am

17 On January 8th, 2010, Lampdevil said:

My fridge speaks of my sense of nostalgia and my tendancy to cling to comforts of the past. Which is to say that there are a few too many overly-well-aged tupperware containers full of unmentionables in there.

The presence of hummus, cheese strings, ginger paste, and Fresca in the same fridge might also be slightly confusing to some. Or not.

But hey, what-the-hell-ever. I have food to put in my fridge, and that makes me very happy. I remember times when I didn’t have much at all. I’m thankful that I can cram my fridge with things that I enjoy, deeply thankful.

posted on January 8th, 2010 at 2:56 am

18 On January 8th, 2010, All Women Stalker said:

It would say that I belong to a wasteful family. We have a lot of leftover food that we forget to eat.

posted on January 8th, 2010 at 3:40 am

19 On January 8th, 2010, gamer said:

My fridge is almost completely empty. It’s really embarrassing.

posted on January 8th, 2010 at 4:08 am

20 On January 8th, 2010, Shinobu said:

There’s a spy in your Sierra Mist!

My fridge says… I live with four other people and everyone gets their own foods. My section of the fridge says it’s grocery shopping day, just a lonely bag of sunflower seeds in my crisper drawer.

posted on January 8th, 2010 at 4:53 am

21 On January 8th, 2010, naath said:

Mine says that I don’t stock up much on food that needs to live in the fridge – in there is orange juice, white wine, butter, yoghurt and some condiments. I dunno, maybe you could assume that I’m an alcoholic who doesn’t eat much; or that I eat out a lot or something. But actually it’s that I tend to buy things on the day I intend to eat them (or perhaps one day in advance) so there is rarely much in the way of fresh food being stored in my house (I do buy large packets of things like rice and pasta and store them, but not in the fridge).

My freezer says I’m a lazy slob who doesn’t de-ice her freezer often enough.

posted on January 8th, 2010 at 9:04 am

22 On January 8th, 2010, Geri said:

Mine would say I don’t eat much, but in actuality, I just haven’t done a food shop in a while as I’ve been hanging out at my sisters place a lot!

posted on January 8th, 2010 at 9:54 am

23 On January 8th, 2010, Rachel said:

Bronwyn said: The fourth one bothered me, too. It almost felt like the empty fridge was some kind of sign of pride and implication that the person had lost weight.

What confused me even more is that the caption says it’s a two-person household of which only one person weighed 390-pounds. What does the other person eat?

Shinobu said: There’s a spy in your Sierra Mist!

Ha! I am totally addicted to that new diet Sierra Mist with Ruby Splash. I love grapefruit juice but it has too much sugar for my low-glycemic diet. Charlynn says that she buys pomegranate 7-Up in her neck of the woods, but I have yet to see it hit store shelves in Southwest Ohio.

Lady Di said: Rachel your fridge looks GLORIOUS! I am a poor vegan grad student. My fridge contains hummus and peanut butter right now, and maybe a pint of soy milk?

Yeah, it does now that I live with Brandon! When I lived alone, I had maybe a loaf of bread, some eggs and condiments in my fridge. I used to stop at the store nearly every day to pick up whatever I would fix for dinner that night. It’s a little harder to do that now that I live with someone.

posted on January 8th, 2010 at 10:37 am

24 On January 8th, 2010, Bronwyn said:

Adding: Rachel I *love* sierra mist AND the flavored 7-ups. Diet soda is my guilty pleasure- I guess there could be way worse ones, but I still feel weird about it

posted on January 8th, 2010 at 12:22 pm

25 On January 8th, 2010, wildcatjen said:

Hm, if I am what I eat (or at least what’s in my fridge), I suppose that makes me cheap, fast and easy…

Not sure if I want to think too hard about that one. :p

posted on January 8th, 2010 at 3:53 pm

26 On January 9th, 2010, bri said:

Mine would indicate (by popular belief) that I should be as thin as a rake. Lots of vegies, fruit, made up salad, milk, cheese, yoghurt (and condiments).

However my freezer has a snake in it. And until recently, had a human placenta in there too…

posted on January 9th, 2010 at 10:19 pm