Instincto view of Refrigeration and Freezing?

[goodsamaritan]

Our generation of dieters are dependent on refrigeration and freezing technology to store our food.
Of course all this technology is new.
I live in a tropical country.
And I'm sure the long time instinctos have experimented with this probably, like what if there were no refrigeration technology?

What is the instincto view of refrigeration and freezing?
Good, bad, necessary, twists the senses, whatever comes to your mind...

[RawZi]

    I never classified myself as instincto.  I did live without refrigeration and without freezing at the same time, no type of cooler nor ice.  I liked it.  I didn't go to restaurants or supermarkets either, and no air conditioning, I lived in hot humid tropics (hot to me don't know how Philipines is), and picked my own fruit (from the ground).  When I got a refrigerator again after almost a year, I disliked the energy I felt it put in fruit that I placed in it to cool.  Unchilled fruit always felt better, and I don't mean to my nose, mouth, throat and stomach, but to my hands.  Cold fruit didn't hurt, but its energy felt almost bad.  For vegetables, some needed refrigeration.  I liked the ones that didn't though, and of course there was the option of fermenting or low temp dehydrating.  

    I haven't lived without refrigeration on a non-vegan (raw meat) diet.  I know it can be done, I have friends who've done it and said they only felt good from it.  When I eat dairy (at the farm), I often don't refrigerate it at all.  I leave meat out on a plate for a day.  It's fine, but it has been refrigerated recently.  Even when I get fresh chicken at the farm, it's been chilled for like an hour (using ice and water in a non-electric cooler).  Eggs I get haven't been chilled and I leave them out.

[Iguana]

The higher the temperature, the faster foodstuff matures and changes. Refrigeration allows to keeps the food cool just like a cool climate and lets store it longer. It’s essential if you want your fish or meat not to get spoiled quickly! It also allows to keep the vegetables and fruits fresh much longer than at room temperature. Some fruits taste or consistence might be slightly affected by refrigeration, but that’s negligible. Eggs can be stored for a while at room temperature but remain fresh several months when refrigerated.

Freezing is another matter, we avoid it. Cells break when thawing and it can drastically change the consistence and taste of the stuff. It’s certainly not as damaging as heat and cooking, but anyway the experience shows that we better avoid it. Why, we don’t know, but probably because our specie has not evolved in freezing climates, unlike polar bears. Remarkably, as Miles once noted, if thawing occurs in the mouth, frozen food seems to have no negative effects, but it’s very unpleasant and certainly not ideal for the teeth’s enamel.   

[Techydude]

Sorry to bump but this is a great discussion - I have a question: I know storing meat at room temperature exposed to the air is fine, I guess but how about storing meat at room temperature for a week?

And what about veg being stored at room temp? Usually if I leave my lettuce out it goes bad...do I have to grow all my veg at home or would I have to go to the store everyday just for a some vegetables?