Why Americans Stopped Storing Food This Way, and Why You Should Start Again

The root cellar kept American families fed through the winter for generations, with no electricity at all. Then, in about one generation, it almost disappeared. In this documentary, we look at how root cellars worked, why Americans stopped using them after World War II, and how you can store potatoes, apples, onions and winter squash the old way, even in a modern home without a real cellar. You'll see how the steady temperature of the earth, damp air and darkness kept vegetables "asleep" for months. You'll hear how rural electrification, the electric refrigerator, refrigerated trucks, supermarkets and new suburban homes like Levittown changed the way America ate. And you'll learn the three storage groups every root cellar family understood: cold and damp, cool and dry, and warmer and dry. By the end, you'll know how to find the spots in your own basement, garage or closet that can work as a root cellar today. That can mean saving money at harvest time, wasting less food, and keeping part of your pantry safe through power outages and winter storms... #rootcellar #foodstorage #OldFashionedLiving #grandmotherstories #kitchentricks #oldways