I came across a series of photos that reminded me of Menzel and D’Aluisio’s book, Hungry Planet: What the World Eats, that looked at how globalization, migration and rising affluence affect the diets of communities around the globe. See also photo galleries 1, 2, and 3 in Time Magazine.
From photographer, Mark Menjivar, You Are What You Eat is a series of photographs looking at the interiors of refrigerators in homes across the United States. Nothing was added or taken away.
What type of insight do we gain by looking at our refrigerators?
Comments 18
thoughtcounts Z — May 15, 2009
Is that a snake, in the top one, in the upper right?
Carmen — May 15, 2009
Is that a snake in the first picture?
Carmen — May 15, 2009
@thoughtcounts z
Haha, jinx!
I think it is, btw.
omg — May 15, 2009
"What type of insight do we gain by looking at our refrigerators?"
Um, that Mr. Wriggles the snake is going to be really mad once he defrosts?
Brady — May 15, 2009
What, y'all never eaten snake? It's tasty, especially fried and on a stick.
But then, most things are.
Dangger — May 15, 2009
Hey, whatever happened to the youtube channel?
ginsoak — May 15, 2009
Is that second one down really of somebody's home fridge? I've never seen that many styrofoam take-away boxes outside of a corporate break-room.
If that truly is a home fridge I guess it makes sense why those vegetable crispers are empty....
msredshoes — May 16, 2009
These pictures make me feel sad for some reason. There's no fresh produce. It all looks so bland and processed.
DaniFae — May 16, 2009
msredshoes, look at the last picture again, the crisper is loaded with veggies, there's meat in butcher wrappers in the freezer, and I can spot eggs and a lot of leftovers.
I personally am stuck on the snake.
Kelle — May 16, 2009
@ginsoak The website says the second photo is a fridge owned by a bartender who lives alone, wakes up at 4pm and goes to sleep at 8am. I'm not surprised people who work night shifts buy a lot of takeout. It messes with your circadian rhythms and you end up eating whatever's available whenever you're hungry.
Kelle — May 16, 2009
And the snake fridge belongs to a woman who can bench press over 300lbs. That is awesome.
anna — May 16, 2009
i wish there were explanations of who owns these fridges. how is it helpful to have anonymous evidence.. assumptions will only be made... and WTF at the snake!!
Vidya — May 16, 2009
There *are* explanations. Check out the site link.
I find it interesting that a fair number of people seem able to live with sparsely filled fridges. As someone who has experienced poverty and food insecurity, and for whom shopping can be difficult due to a disability, I now try to keep mine fairly packed -- I haven't been able to get over the pervasive fear that the food may go away and never come back again.
And also, the snake? Yikes. At first I assumed that it was someone's deceased pet awaiting a burial in the spring thaw. Then I saw the meat-packed fridge in the full photo set, and it clicked. As a vegan I often forget that many people consider other animals to be food!
chava — May 16, 2009
Is the snake perhaps in hibernation? I know some people will put them in there for a week to kick them into it in warm climates when they want them to breed. It looks like a rattler though, and there is another snake whose skin looks like a boa or a copperhead behind it.
I agree with Vidya. When my fridge gets low I get anxious, my mood drops, I just generally start to feel antsy. Don't have a disability, but had food insecurity for long periods as a child.
Louisa — May 16, 2009
I can't believe that middle person lives so much on take-out / delivery. That's kind of sad.
Anatomy 101 | Privacy for the People - The Privacy Wear Blog — May 18, 2009
[...] contexts More fridge photos [...]
You Are What You Eat « statusmagonline.com — May 19, 2009
[...] This is what the STATUS ref would look like if one of our graphic designers do the grocery. Plus more cheese, maybe. And this would be shot in lomo. But this happens to be a Texan midwife’s. Ever wondered what the ref of a photographer-carpenter would look like? Or maybe a bartender’s, a construction worker’s, a cook’s, or a documentary filmmaker’s? That’s art for photographer Mark Menjivar who have photographed refs across the “Untied States” for the last three years. The result: this series called You Are What You Eat. Now, how bout a peek into your refs? (via thesocietypages.org) [...]
Maryam_nasir45 — December 15, 2011
hmmmm