Posted by Robert Dilley on April 23, 2001 at 16:50:56 from 216.211.68.40:
In Reply to: Re: How to Keep foodstuffs cool posted by Patrick Newman on April 23, 2001 at 13:39:34:
We have an ice box in our tent trailer: works on the same principle, with the meltwater draining through a plastic pipe onto the ground. A block of ice will usually last a few days.
When I was a teenager living on the northern fringes of the Lake District our food preservation practices matched those already described: a cool larder with a stone shelf. Milk was obtained daily from a farm close by, in an S&A type can; a van with meat came about 3 times a week; a baker likewise; the fish van once a week. When my parents moved to a village with a store, food was bought in the morning for use that day. They didn't own a freezer until I bought them one the first time I came back to the UK from the US. I suspect this was pretty common practice throughout the UK. With fridges and freezers universal now, and with car ownership likewise, most village stores have disappeared -- now you buy in bulk in the supermarket and store food at home, instead of storing it in the store.