You are what you eat.. (amazing photo-essay of refrigerators)

[SoCalDem]

You are what you eat


Street Advertiser | San Antonio, TX | 1-Person Household | Lives on $432 fixed monthly income | 2007


We purchase refrigerators the way we fill them: out of necessity—to preserve the milk; to keep the greens from wilting. But from the right vantage point, an open fridge is the perfect staging grounds for a discussion of consumption. And if the aphorism holds true—if we really are what we eat—then refrigerators are like windows into our souls. It’s that sentiment that’s at the heart of Mark Menjivar’s inventive exploration of hunger, “You Are What You Eat,” for which he photographed the contents of strangers’ refrigerators. As you can see, whether it holds neatly ordered rows of labels-out condiments or zip-locked stacks of shot-and-gutted buck meat, there’s almost certainly a narrative to a fridge’s arrangement.


a few samples:

Owner of Defunct Amusement Park | Alpine, TX | 1-Person Household | Former WW II Prisoner of War | 2007


Midwife/Middle School Science Teacher | San Antonio, TX | 3-Person Household (including dog) | First week after deciding to eat locally grown vegetables. | 2008


Bar Tender | San Antonio, TX | 1-Person Household | Goes to sleep at 8AM and wakes up at 4PM daily. | 2008

snip for many more.. one has some 'splainin to do..that freezer is scary

[Kalyke]

1. Who keeps whole snakes in their freezer?

:scared:

[SoCalDem]

3. scary people who don;t want you stealing their ice

:rofl:

[mikelgb]

10. I know, WTF?

[cognoscere]

34. Taxidermists recommend freezing specimens

if they can't be processed immediately.

[Ian David]

2. They forgot The Death Fridge

[ensho]

4. sure are a lot of disorganized people

and

that don't know how to store and keep food fresh.

or keep a clean fridge/freezer

[lonestarnot]

6. Ro.

Where's your pic?

[ensho]

16. you doubt me?

nt

[lonestarnot]

17. LOL

You don't see my pic do you? :hug:

[ensho]

23. I don't have a cell phone, or camera, or the thing you need to put photos

on the internet.

or I'd show you

or if you are ever in K.W.

[SoCalDem]

8. The documentarians are famous (Invisible Children)

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/home.php

their fridge:

Documentary Film Makers | San Diego, CA | 3-Person Household | Efforts have helped send millions of dollars to children in Uganda. | 2008

[gkhouston]

31. Whoa. There's no actual *food* in there. WTF do these people eat?

Do they put sour cream in their beer? Is this a second fridge?? :shrug:

[ensho]

5. there used to be a reality show where they went into people's kitchens

and pointed out the unhealthy aspects and showed them how to clean it up and keep it clean, including the fridge.

some of the kitchens were shocking and the kitchen owners hadn't a clue their kitchen was a health hazard.

[dionysus]

22. there's a weight loss show ont he BBC where the figure out what the person eats in a week and they

lay it all out on a hugh table... amazing and disgusting at the same time.

this one guy had dozens and dozens of pints of beer... others these huge piles of cake...

[canoeist52]

7. some fridges.....

[CrispyQ]

13. Zang!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Ilsa]

30. That's almost as good as David Letterman's mother's refrigerator

which they opened on the night before Thanksgiving when they do their annual visit. The crew stocked it chock full of Colt 45 Malt Liquor in cases and cans. It was hysterical. I nearly woke the whole house up laughing so hard.

[la_chupa]

32. what? I don't see a problem here

:bounce:

[tridim]

9. Wow, and I thought I was a slob

Turns out my fridge is cleaner than most.

Being single I kind of obsess over effective long term storage, so I guess that helps keep things tidy.

[On the Road]

12. That Short Order Cook in Texas

had a frozen rattlesnake. I guess he was planning to fry it up one day.



On Edit: Apparently, it's a bull snake.

[Libertas1776]

27. Well, nothing hits the spot

like a hearty helping of snake and eggs :puke:

[Contrary1]

29. According to the comments...

the snake is supposed to end up as a walking stick, but the owner hadn't gotten around to doing that yet.

[Danieljay]

11. I wish they had put photos of the people who owned them...

just curious.

[Democracyinkind]

14. There's a sociologist somewhere inside of you...

[CrispyQ]

15. I'd like to see the midwife's fridge in another 4 weeks.

Will they stick with it?

Years ago I heard a comedian ask, "Why do they call the bottom drawer in a fridge a crisper? They should call it a rotter, because that's what happens to everything I put in it!"

[gkhouston]

19. Yeah, I'm thinking she went a little overboard on the veggies if there are only

three people in the house. And who refrigerates onions? :shrug:

[Kalyke]

21. I do if I don't know how soon I'll use them.

Keeps 'em from growing little shoots at the top. :)

[ensho]

35. here in the sub tropics I do - keeps them out of the heat

nt

[Warpy]

20. I'd like to see what's already growing in the bartender's fridge

because it looks like s/he is putting the tag ends of takeout food in there in the clamshell containers and never revisiting them. I imagine when no more will fit, all the old ones go into the garbage.

It's not the rotter. It's the slimer.

It is, however, good for cans of soda and juice in the summer.

[babydollhead]

18. The fridge is my husbands, "room"

I said, "you are in charge of what goes on inside of there" 22 cubic square feet? he can do it! When people come over and want to put something in the refrigerator, I say, "go ahead, but that's Dave's Room." Sometimes I swing it open and say "Look at Dave's Room!" also, I went to a psychic astrologer and she said, "why do I keep seeing a refrigerator?" I said, "I don't know, that's my husbands room. It's not my business." and she said I was "Compartmentalizing My Life". I call it Mockery by Perishables.

[ensho]

24. chuckle, like the way you think

nt

[Wednesdays]

25. Um, the bar tender keeps a flag in his fridge?

At least, that's what it looks like...a U.S. flag.


If so, then :wtf:

[Lone_Star_Dem]

26. I think it may be a towel. nt

[Mari333]

28. I opened my own fridge after seeing this

and saw it in an entirely different way. one bowl of half eaten salad. one bowl of homemade peanut butter. 2 bags of organic oat flakes. one carton rice milk. one carton soy butter. one quart lemonade. some green and red tomatoes. and the freezer is full of frozen veggie casseroles that I forgot about.
the only thing my fridge says about me is , my god I hope that old broad uses Beano.

[guitar man]

33. Wait.....what?

You mean you can put food in those things? Mine looks more like this :P

[babydollhead]

36. The day I brushed Insanities Face, I put my head in

the refrigerator and screamed. Everything had a purpose but me. It felt good to do. Once I opened the oven and yelled, "Cook!!!" at the fish sticks. If you want to know what I did to the percolator you'll have to ask me. I know this is alot to take in.