PINTEREST PANTRY!!

The key word is PANTRY.   

The word 'pantry' comes from the Old French word 'paneterie' meaning 'pain', the French word for bread, which comes from its Latin word 'panis'. In medieval times, food and supplies were stored in specific rooms: meats were stored in a larder, alcohol stored in the buttery and bread was stored in the pantry.

Interesting Fact: The butler’s pantry was traditionally used to store silver, serving pieces and other kitchen related items. Because the silver was kept under lock and key in the butler’s pantry the butler would actually sleep in the pantry to guard against thievery. 

By the Victorian era, large houses and estates in Britain maintained the use of separate rooms, each one dedicated to a distinct stages of food preparation and cleanup. The kitchen was for cooking, while food was stored in a storeroom, pantry or cellar. Meat preparation before cooking was done in a larder (remember that often in these large houses game would come in undressed, fish unfilleted and meat in half or quarter carcasses), and vegetable cleaning and preparation would be done in the scullery.

The pantry was where tableware was stored, such as china, glassware, and silverware. If the pantry had a sink for washing tableware, it was a wooden sink lined with lead, to prevent chipping the china and glassware while they were washed.

Interesting Fact: In Japan, a kitchen cabinet is called a "mizuya tansu". A substantial tradition of woodworking and cabinetry in general developed in Japan, especially throughout the Tokugawa period. A huge number of designs for tansu (chests or cabinets) were made, each tailored towards one specific purpose or another.

In pre-war America smaller homes did not have closets, cabinets or pantries for food and kitchen storage. The need for a pantry was felt deeply during the wars when food shortages caused many to stock large supplies of canned food, sometimes using underground bunkers as their pantry. 

Nowadays, pantry storage is limited to a single cupboard next to the gas or electric stove. It is usually a deep cupboard: if not properly organised, it can become a nightmare for a cook. 

I went to Pinterest to check out how a pantry is designed. I was amazed to find that people in America still have large pantries. Perhaps its a throwback from the war era. Maybe they expect another war soon. Who knows? 

I was also fascinated by the Amish pantries. They do a great deal of canning of their produce so it stands to gain that they would need a large pantry to stock the various jars of pickled vegetables and meats. 

However, I was just a bit dismayed to hear that Americans waste about 40% of the foods they buy or cook. This information I got from an environment channel hosted by Rob Greenfield. 

Rob tells us that he gets most of his food FREE by dumpster diving or foraging. This is because, once the product expires, the stores just dump the food into bins and, in some states, dumpster diving is allowed, although not legally sanctioned. Rob has, himself, 'rescued' so much stuff which he has given away to needy people. 

Why do Americans have such large pantries? 

I turned to Quora where I found these reasons which make perfect sense. 

1. HABIT. 'It started out as preserving excess food, but when most of us moved away from gardening because of time constraints mostly, we switched to having extra on hand from the grocery store as we never knew when we might actually need it.' 

2. WAY WE SHOP. 'We shop when we get paid. This used to be weekly. Then it came to every other week. Now with hectic schedules we often go even fewer times, often making one large shopping trip a month with just a few small perishables on the way home from once or twice to supplement what we have in the freezer.'

3. AMOUNT OF SPACE and LOVE OF DEALS. 'With a big pantry or lots of cabinet space if we see something we like at a good deal we buy it, because will use it, even if not immediately.'

4. BEING PREPARED. 'There are so many sorts of things that will take out our electric power for anywhere from a few hours to days or even longer. (I remember, once, the entire area flooded and we were without power and clean drinking water for several days. No problem, I had several cases of soda, sports drinks, and beer, plus enough packaged food to get us through).'

These reasons, however, do not excuse the sheer wastage of food. This habit/indulgence has kept good food from going into the mouths of the hungry. 

ON A PERSONAL NOTE: 

I bought us a freezer some years ago because I did not want to shop often for meats and I also wanted to save myself time by cooking in bulk. For the larger part, I never regretted my decision. And so far, the freezer hasn't needed any servicing. But when we had a cyclone recently and electric power wasnt there for days, the food started to thaw, and I had to finish as much as I could as fast as possible so as not to throw it away. That wasn't a pleasant experience.

I see that the people with large pantry options, however, do not seem to have such pangs of guilt. And that is what hurts me the most. 

If you have a Pinterest pantry, please enjoy it and may it be of good use to you but please do not WASTE FOOD. Any food you throw out into your bins is a kick in the hungry belly of the poor.