The life-extension techniques we've developed for produce are incredible. Controlling fire arguably made us human—controlling cold has been just as consequential. Understanding its impact is key to transforming our food system.
Produce is alive, it's still breathing—or, technically speaking, respiring—up to when we eat it or when it finally decomposes. The logistics of fruit and vegetables is the dark art of prolonging the death process.
In the 1920s, researchers in England put apples in Vaseline-lined coffins, discovering that you could slow an apple's respiration by keeping it cold and changing the atmosphere it breathes in.
Today, apples in Washington State are stored in synthetic atmospheres tailored to each variety: no more than 1.5% carbon dioxide for a Pink Lady, less than 1% oxygen for a Red Delicious.
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