What Does Your Fridge Say About You?
Photographs by Mark Menjivar
Until recently, I was sharing a kitchen with three other girls in a far away city. Despite any stereotype to the contrary, our kitchen—and especially our fridge—was a mess. Bags of fresh grapes were placed on the top shelf and plates of unfinished food were shoved in uncovered. It got to the point were I wouldn't even be able to hold the door open long enough to get out some juice, much less take a picture of the contents.
But photographer Mark Menjivar was able to do just that in kitchens across the country. In a series called "You Are What You Eat," viewable at GOOD and markmenjivar.com, he photographed the contents of refrigerators, from overflowing to bare. He leaves the owners in relative anonymity by only sharing small details about each one, allowing the imagination to wander. Why does the short order cook have a snake in her fridge? What is hidden in the white Styrofoam take-out boxes in the bartender's fridge? We'll never know for sure.
What does your fridge say about you?
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33 Comments:
Our fridge says we must live on mustard, jams, preserves, and pickles. Well more than half is taken up with those items.
But that is a lie, it's just those things accumulate since they keep so well.
Leftovers don't last long enough to accumulate, they either get eaten, or go bad within 10 days. But a little jar of odd mustard.... it's been in there at least a decade.
peekpoke at 9:24PM on 05/20/09
Moments ago as I was trying to find room for a bottle of bbq sauce, I was thinking about how badly my fridge needed attention/cleaning....glad to see I'm not the only one!
mepolo at 9:54PM on 05/20/09
my fridge days that i'm completely OCD, as every label of every item in my fridge (condiments, cheeses, milk, butter, yogurts) face forward, so as not to miss anything when the door is opened... yeah, i know... weird. my pantry is the same way. i want everyone to have a good look at the outside world!
kristygarr at 10:11PM on 05/20/09
I can relate to a few of these. I'm totally OCD as well. All of the labels must face forward, and it's both squeaky clean and arranged by genre, but as for contents: loads of mustards, giving the impression that we're freakishly organised and survive entirely on condiments.
nowsonexitmusic at 10:23PM on 05/20/09
My fridge says I went grocery shopping on Sunday and have been working 12 hour days since. Someday I'll make that veggie lasagna...
gingercookiewithlime at 10:47PM on 05/20/09
Mine says that I really like condiments even though I don't. We have a lot of jellies, jams, fruit butters, sauces, chutneys, etc. that have been opened and not finished.
pbelardo at 10:49PM on 05/20/09
Funny I just cleaned out my fridge today and I have a lot of condiments. I didn't count but I'm guessing that with altogether with the jams, mustards ketchups, it was something like 20-25. Also have 6 different kinds of cheese!
missjess at 10:59PM on 05/20/09
My fridge correctly says I live on gelatinous desserts and booze.
And yet no jello shots. Not quite sure why not.
mikaque at 12:24AM on 05/21/09
My fridge says I need to go to the grocery store. It's almost empty.
beth1 at 1:09AM on 05/21/09
mine screams VEGETARIAN, yet i'm not one.
huh. interesting.
downhillguru at 2:04AM on 05/21/09
I've been known to keep a dead snake in my freezer for months on end (although I don't have one there at the moment.
thepictsie at 3:47AM on 05/21/09
I find snakes can take up too much room in the freezer so I usually opt for freezing smaller critters like mice and wasps.
bessfour at 7:41AM on 05/21/09
Can I ask what's bad about bags of fresh grapes on the top shelf? Am I completely clueless?
wrain at 8:05AM on 05/21/09
My fridge leans towards alcoholism. Lots of beer and a handful of condiments. Freezer is more booze and a couple bananas.
annabanannas at 8:52AM on 05/21/09
That snake is freaking me out! But then my father likes to store his garbage in the freezer until garbage day, the unwritten rule of the house is don't eat anything from the freezer!
anderkr1 at 9:10AM on 05/21/09
all of that styrofoam! not good for the landfills.....
i'm a great "shover" myself, i shove stuff in and then close the door quickly to secure the item. my freezer especially. it all gets used eventually, bundles of leftover herbs, a chunk of a proscuitto end for a stew), bags of necks, gizzards, hearts and livers for the dogs... a stray pork chop here and there, a container of leftover sauce ..... a few loaves of bread, bialy's from kossars.... yep, it's all in there waiting to be discovered.
pooch at 9:12AM on 05/21/09
My fridge looks like I live entirely on condiments and frosting (I bake a lot, so I always have 3-5 containers of various surplus frostings waiting to be used), with a little OJ and soymilk.
peachfish at 9:30AM on 05/21/09
My Mom keeps the fridge clean always so the only thing I get in fridge is nothing. It just has the daily items like jam, butter, cheese etc.
Nabeel at 9:40AM on 05/21/09
My fridge is desperately screaming CLEAN ME! Long overdue - and on the list for this weekend. Other than that, I have a door full of condiments and a bunch of food not overly well organized, but I know exactly what is in there - can't remember my bank balance, but I have my fridge and cupboard contents memorized!
Maureen at 9:45AM on 05/21/09
@wrain. I'm sure that in general, grapes can go on the top shelf, but when they've been recently washed and in a holey bag, the water drips down over everything.
Lizy Yagoda at 9:53AM on 05/21/09
Mine says my husband and I need to eat some leftovers. We have entirely too many tupperware-ish containers shoved up in there. Once we shoved so forcefully that we unknowingly detached the plastic lightbulb shield and it lay against the lightbulb long enough to singe. Whoops.
This story and these comments reminds me of the pantry ghost thread from a few months ago. Good times. :)
mollykate678 at 10:55AM on 05/21/09
Mine says that I need to eat all my various leftovers before I make anything else....but where's the fun in that?
kimberlymac at 10:59AM on 05/21/09
My fridge says I have two small school aged children (individual packs of Dole mandarin oranges, kids' yogurts which come in colors not found in nature, snack-packs of Jell-O puddings, juice boxes, grapes, baby carrots).
juliebugsmama at 11:05AM on 05/21/09
Here's what it was saying back in March:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/semarr/3343104368/
And there's also the "What's in your fridge?" flickr pool!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/88412962@N00/pool/
semarr at 11:32AM on 05/21/09
I had my coworkers over for dinner the other day. Many opened my fridge to chill the beverages they brought and when they saw the interior were shocked at how it didn't look like their refrigerators. Mine is chock full of local organic produce. One guy opened the door and said "WHOA, all natural!!"
windattack at 11:50AM on 05/21/09
My fridge says I shop like a European, 2 or 3 times a week: There isn't much in it. My freezer says I'm frugal. It's full of things waiting to become stock, chicken fat waiting to be rendered, parmesan rinds, etc.
NO_Pam at 12:05PM on 05/21/09
I'm on the OCD list too:
I like to keep things where I believe they should go.
When my OH grocery shops and puts it away I end up taking it ALL OUT and putting it back the way I like. haha so sad but it makes me happy :)
Mine's usually full of produce too, lots of pickles, condiments. My fridge NEVER has sodas, or preserved sandwich meats like a lot of the pictures show...eeew. Not my cup of tea. Rather juices and nectars.
My freezer is jammed with all of my veggie trimmings, I save them for stock! If you haven't already heard my tip. And my fathers hunted game.
Interesting topic Lizy Yagoda, thanks for posting it!
hungrychristel at 1:30PM on 05/21/09
I have a "vintage" can of Billy Beer (named for Pres. Carter's brother Billy) from the 1970's. It comes with us whenever we move. Someday, someone's going to open it by mistake!
Swatmom at 1:46PM on 05/21/09
My fridge is upset with me because I am not exciting enough to have a rattlesnake curled up, as if sleeping!, in my freezer.
marchpane at 2:10PM on 05/21/09
My fridge says that I'm a single, health-conscious woman: lots of yogurt, produce and Diet Pepsi.
The freezer says I keep buying backup meals (ie, Lean Cuisine, frozen dumplings, edamame) that I never use.
piccola at 11:25PM on 05/21/09
My fridges (I have 3 & 3 teens) say that I have OCD (they are immaculate) , shop sales with coupons and am always ready for a party. No leftovers, when there are any they are immediately vacuum sealed and frozen. One fridge is dedicated to cans of every soda and several brands of beer. Each freezer is dedicate to one thing, veggie and frozen diet meals, one is leftovers and ready homemade meals the other vacuum sealed meats, and misc. Scary how a fridge can speak for who I am.
DCLSweetspot at 9:21PM on 05/22/09
My frig says CHECK THE DATES ON THESE THINGS! It also says this woman will buy anything new or improved!
No Thyme To Cook at 8:13PM on 05/26/09
William Eggleston
http://www.masters-of-photography.com/images/full/eggleston/eggleston_freezer.jpg
burgerluver at 9:02AM on 05/29/09