Today



Refrigeration lowers the temperature at which food is stored and consequently reduces the growth of bacteria responsible for food poisoning and spoilage. It thus allows fresh food to be transported over long distances. For example, meat from Argentina or New Zealand, fruit and vegetables from Italy and Spain, grapes from South Africa and cheese from France.
Freezing food at temperatures below about -10°C prolongs the life of food because it halts the growth of bacteria. Food can now be prepared anywhere in the world and end up in your local supermarket, where it can be stored for months or even years (for some foodstuffs) and still be in excellent condition when it is de-frosted. One of the most important exports from New Zealand over the past 50 years has been frozen lamb. We can even buy real American ice cream made in the USA and shipped to Britain.
The introduction of the refrigerator and more recently the freezer into your kitchen has meant that you can store food safely at home for much longer periods of time. Look at the packaging on some food kept in the refrigerator - the sell-by date will tell you how long the food can be kept. This is usually several days or even weeks at chill temperatures.
What happens if food is not kept cool? If the temperature of foods is allowed to increase during storage or distribution, the bacteria present will start to grow again. For example,the number of bacteria in a pint of milk is relatively low when it starts its journey to your doorstep after pasteurisation. When it is being carried on the milk float - which is not normally refrigerated - the number of bacteria will increase dramatically. When it is put straight into the home fridge after delivery, it will stay in good condition for a number of days. But if it stays outside for a long period on a warm day, it could spoil rapidly. Reducing the temperature of food ensures that bacteria which cause it to spoil (or, in the case of milk, go sour) cannot easily multiply. When large numbers of bacteria are present in your food, it may mean that the food is not safe to eat and could look or smell pretty bad too! Think about sour milk, mouldy strawberries or rancid meat, but what has this got to do with Geography? Well, to get the food from where it is grown or prepared to our supermarkets and homes involves a lot of different stages, and to keep the food safe and fresh, each stage in these long journeys relies on refrigeration. How many stages do you think might be involved between say, fish being caught in the sea and fish fingers being cooked, or frozen sweetcorn from America being picked in the field and ending up on your plate? Back to a cool industry.