Frostbite

Frostbite by Nicola Twilley is a riveting odyssey that takes readers deep into the icy depths of our modern food preservation systems. This enthralling book unveils the monumental journey of refrigeration, tracing its origins from a curious scientific enigma to a global infrastructure that has reshaped our relationship with food—both positively and negatively.

The narrative of Frostbite begins with the simple, everyday act of opening the fridge or peering into the freezer. Twilley invites us to reconsider this mundane habit, reminding us that just a century ago, the concept of consuming refrigerated food was novel and fraught with both anticipation and trepidation. The advent of artificial refrigeration did not just facilitate the prevention of spoilage but also transcended the limitations of seasonality and geography, making fresh produce like tomatoes in January or avocados in Shanghai a stark reality.

In her comprehensive exploration, Twilley, a New Yorker contributor and co-host of the award-winning podcast Gastropod, leads readers on an intriguing tour of the cold chain—an essential but often invisible network dictating the journey of our food from farm to fridge. She delves into captivating locations, including Missouri's subterranean cheese caves, New York City's banana-ripening rooms, and the vast refrigerated tanks that preserve the nation's orange juice reserves.

Today, it's startling to learn that approximately three-quarters of everything found on an average American plate has undergone a process of refrigeration. Twilley elucidates that understanding our food system is impossible without acknowledging the profound impact of thermal control. Her eye-opening book sheds light on how refrigeration has transformed various aspects of our lives—our health, dietary choices, agricultural practices, meal preparation, city living, global economics, politics, and even environmental sustainability.

The developed world has enjoyed the convenience of refrigeration for over a century, yet Twilley underscores that this technological marvel comes with substantial costs. She argues that refrigeration has disconnected us from the origins of our food and redefined the very essence of "freshness." More critically, refrigeration is identified as a major contributor to climate change. As emerging economies hurry to establish American-style cold chains, Twilley poses pivotal questions: Can we curtail our reliance on refrigeration? Should we?

Through meticulous research and engaging reportage, Frostbite offers an original and entertaining examination of what Twilley posits as one of the most significant inventions in the history of food and drink. This book pushes for a reevaluation and recalibration of our relationship with refrigeration, suggesting that our future hinges on this critical reassessment.

"Engrossing...hard to put down." - The New York Times Book Review

"Frostbite is a perfectly executed cold fusion of science, history, and literary verve . . . as a fellow nonfiction writer, I bow down. This is how it's done." - Mary Roach, author of Fuzz and Stiff