"Fridgescaping," but make it cheffy

Plus: Finding the silver lining in being stranded in space, school pickup mayhem, and more Sept. 4, 2024 [View in browser]( [Caitlin PenzeyMoog]( is a senior copy editor at Vox. Before that she was managing editor of The A.V. Club. She is also the author of “On Spice.” [Caitlin PenzeyMoog]( is a senior copy editor at Vox. Before that she was managing editor of The A.V. Club. She is also the author of “On Spice.”   Organize your kitchen like a chef, not an influencer [a stock image of a fridge organized by color ]( pashapixel/Getty Images If you’re a regular on TikTok or Instagram, and especially if you’re interested in food, you’ve probably seen “fridgescaping.” This is roughly what it sounds like: Influencers showing off the interiors of refrigerators that they’ve organized and decorated to dizzying ends (see: a [Hobbit-inspired “fridgescape”](). Milk goes in farmhouse pitchers, eggs line ceramic trays, and butter hides under dishes shaped like animals. Berries, ever ubiquitous, are placed attractively in vintage bowls, raw vegetables stand at attention, and items that have no place in a fridge — bouquets of flowers, photos in frames, string lights — are given prominent placement. I find myself deeply disturbed by all this. Fridgescaping — and its pantry cousin, decanting — prioritizes displaying and arranging food, instead of preparing and eating it. But it also removes all the labor, the mess, the physicality, and the pleasure inherent in eating, and replaces it with public performance. Today in [Even Better](, I take [a deeper look at the trend,]( which I think of as little more than a scam of the classic keeping-up-with-the-Joneses variety for the TikTok age. My father has been a chef for 35 years; my mother’s side of the family runs a spice business; and I grew up running around commercial kitchens and worked for a year as a line cook, in addition to writing [a book on spices](. Trust me, there are better ways to organize a kitchen, techniques that can improve functionality and prioritize goals like reducing food waste and eating more produce, if that’s your jam. I consulted with the chefs in my life — my dad, Brian Moog, and my brother-in-law, Justin Behlke — to learn how to fridgescape like a chef. I’ve also developed some tried-and-true tips of my own. Here are just a few: Want produce to last? Reach for a roll of paper towels Give space and air to anything that’s packed tightly together to help it stay good for longer. Scallions, asparagus, and herbs should be freed of their rubber bands, and packaged lettuces and pre-cut greens given room to breathe. Put them in airtight containers with paper towels at the bottom and top, or simply wrap them in dry paper towels to achieve similar results. Raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries can likewise be placed in a single layer on a piece of paper towel in airtight containers. For my dad and brother-in-law, paper towels are the secret weapon to keeping produce fresh. As fruits and lettuces spend time in the fridge, moisture leaks out, which condenses and leads to the foods going bad faster. “The amount of paper towels I use…” Justin said. “There are all sorts of specialty containers, but usually those specific things are marketing gimmicks.” Keep perishables front and center “Out of sight, out of mind” is a cursed reality when it comes to perishables in the fridge, so keep short shelf life items at the front. I don’t use the crisper drawers for fruits and veggies. I put condiments in one and, being a Wisconsinite, cheese in the other. I know certain produce lasts longer in the crisper drawers, but all that meant for me was produce languishing there for a few extra days because I’d often forget about it. Store food like a chef — on the cheap You don’t need professional-grade equipment or specialty gadgets, but professional-grade storage is key. For a lot of chefs, this means deli containers and cambros. [Delis]( are round plastic storage containers most commonly used in [32-ounce](, [16-ounce](, and [8-ounce]( sizes. They stack in the cupboard, saving room, but also when used in the fridge, freezer, or pantry, regardless of which size you’re using. They’re a staple in restaurant kitchens, and they’re cheap and sturdy. [A woman chef makes a breakfast sandwich in the kitchen at Cafe Unido in DC]( Deb Lindsey for The Washington Post via Getty Images [Cambros]( are larger containers made of thick, sturdy plastic with tough lids. A couple of these live on top of our fridge, and we pull them down to use as a mixing bowl, to make dough, and to cook big batches of food. Use tape to label the food in the delis and cambros (no, you don’t need to cut it with scissors like they do on The Bear). Noting the date something was made can come in handy in both the short and long term. A “made on” date attached to leftovers containing meat, for example, is helpful when deciding whether to dig back in after a few days. And for items that won’t spoil, like syrups or caramel, it’s helpful to realize when it’s been occupying valuable real estate for six months without being used. Think of kitchen organization as a process Both my dad and Justin say that organizing a kitchen is less an exercise in perfection and more about refining as you go along. Don’t worry about finding the right spot for each and every item. Know that you’ll figure it out with an open mind combined with time spent in the kitchen. “It takes time. It takes trial and error,” my dad told me. “You just need to exist in your kitchen space for a while before you set it up perfectly.” Even when you’ve achieved a well-functioning kitchen, it’s helpful to internalize Heraclitus’s old adage that the only constant in life is change. “It’s a mindset,” my dad said. Somebody just needs to tell the fridgescapers. Want to read more? Check out the whole story [here](. And for more food and drinks coverage, be sure to check out Vox's sister sites, [Eater]( and [Punch](.   [Listen]( The silent war The story of Army Specialist Austin Valley highlights a crisis the US military can’t seem to solve: More servicemembers die by suicide than in combat. A veteran psychologist told Congress what to do about it, and today he tells us. [Listen now](   [A rusty old sedan car parked in a barren desert landscape.] Jeremy Jowell/Majority World/Universal Images Group via Getty Images - The fight against climate change has a used car problem. Reducing greenhouse gas pollution would require the large-scale rise of electric cars — but wealthy nations will likely export used gas cars to poorer countries, [making vehicle emissions someone else’s problem](. - Stranded in a magical place? 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