living without a fridge/freezer

[Tarrel]

Here's a link to an article about the absorption refrigeration principle:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_refrigerator

If you have a camping fridge that works on this principle, it should be fairly simple to modify it so that the heat can be provided by a diversity of methods. ideas that come to mind include; a solar reflector, a small heating element that acts as a dump-load for a wind-turbine, or a water jacket transferring heat from a wood burning stove. Further modify it by adding super-insulation and you wouldn't even have to run it continuously.

I think there are lots of methods of providing cooling without grid power, but they do need prepping for ahead of time. Clearly, if one imagines a total collapse that takes us back to the middle ages, then eventually breakdowns and parts availability will become problems. However, in most collapse scenarios I'd see refrigeration as still being viable (and useful).

(However, for an idea - admittedly fictional - of how this sort of refrigeration technology can go seriously pear-shaped, check out the film "The Mosquito Coast" with Harrison Ford, based on the book by Paul Theroux!)