Impact on lifestyle

Impact on lifestyle

The refrigerator allows the modern family to keep food fresh for much longer than before. This, along with the modern supermarket, allows most families, without a sizeable garden in which to grow vegetables and raise animals, a vastly more varied diet and improved health resulting from improved nutrition.[citation needed] Dairy products, meats, fish, poultry and vegetables can be kept refrigerated in the same space within the kitchen (although raw meat should be kept separate from other foodstuffs for reasons of hygiene).
The refrigerator lets people eat more salads, fresh fruits and vegetables, without having to own a garden or an orchard. Exotic foodstuffs from far-off countries that have been imported by means of refrigeration can be enjoyed in the home because of domestic refrigeration.
Freezers allow households to buy food in bulk: it can be eaten at leisure, and bulk purchase saves money (see economies of scale). Ice cream, a popular commodity of the 20th century, could previously only be obtained by traveling long distances to where the product was made fresh, and had to be eaten on the spot. Now it is a common food item. Ice on demand not only adds to the enjoyment of cold drinks, but is useful for first-aid, and for cold packs that can be kept frozen for picnics or in case of emergency.