Blockchains and Refrigerators

A depiction of the ice harvesting process150 years ago, we started commercially mining ice from lakes and shipping it to households all over the world. Ice was cut from pond surfaces, stored in big ice houses, and shipped via ships and trains to city hubs. From there, large networks of ice wagons delivered it to households and businesses. Your ice likely came from the American Northeast or Norway, and you were really lucky if you had some to keep perishable foods and serve cool drinks for a few nights (source).ice wagons were commonplace in the early 20th centuryAround the 1910s, we largely began manufacturing ice. It could be artificially created in factories much closer to big markets and hubs and was also safer (contaminated water became a problem). Ice no longer needed to be harvested seasonally and shipped to cities thousands of miles away; ~20–50% of ice was wasted on these large journeys. This made ice cheaper and more available. It was still a hassle to ship ice from factories, and large networks of ice wagons were required.It wasn’t until the 1930’s and 1940’s that refrigerators became common in households and supermarkets. All of a sudden, people had ice made in their kitchens! This rendered the ‘ice industry’ obsolete. The fridge quickly began revolutionizing food production, transportation, storage, and consumption.The effect of the in-home refrigerator was tremendous — imagine how it would feel to suddenly be able to buy and keep perishable groceries, freeze meats to use months later, and eat ‘leftovers’ days later. Food prices dropped due to larger availability, and mealtime options now expanded beyond seasonal + local foods. Food quality greatly increased, and there was much less food waste for families. Not only did the home refrigerator save families so much time, money, and energy; food consumption…