Fresh foods like fruits and vegetables might be healthy, but they take up space — and there just isn’t that much room in most RVs. On top of that, keeping fresh foods fresh as you travel down the road is tricky. This leads many RVers to avoid fresh foods entirely, turning to canned goods and boxed dinners instead. Clearly, this is not generally the healthiest option.
Fortunately, with a bit of creativity, it is totally possible to store a week’s worth of food in your RV. Here’s how to keep food fresh in your RV.
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Stock Up on Food Storage Containers
Often, the problem with storing food in your RV isn’t really that you don’t have enough space for all the goodies. It’s how those goodies are packaged.
So many foods come in unnecessary boxes, styrofoam trays, and other space consuming packaging. By buying reusable, stackable containers, you can save a ton of space while also keeping your food fresh for a longer time.
Choose rectangular glass containers that can stack on top of one another and also stand side by side without wasting any cabinet space. Remove all food from its original packaging and place it in one of your reusable containers for a well-organized, space-efficient pantry full of food that will keep for quite a while.
Use Fridge Space Carefully
Because Rv refrigerators are so small, it is important that you use the fridge space sparingly, only putting items that truly need refrigeration in the fridge.
Root veggies and many fruits don’t actually require refrigeration. Boxed milk can also be left unrefrigerated until it is opened. Additionally, many condiments that we typically refrigerate don’t actually need to be chilled. These include ketchup, mustard, chocolate syrup, and even jam and salsa as long as you keep an eye on them and use them quickly.
Combat Movement
One of the things that can quickly ruin perfectly good produce? Too much movement. Likewise, the movement of your RV can result in containers of food spilling on the floor.
Here’s how to keep food fresh and safe as you move down the road.
Grab a Produce Hammock
A produce hammock that hangs from the ceiling or the bottom of a cabinet will allow your produce to sway with the movement of the RV without rolling off a countertop or bumping into things. This keeps the fruits and veggies safe from bruising, so you can enjoy fresh produce even after driving a washboard road to get to that perfect boondocking spot.
Keep Pantry Foods in Place
To keep items from falling out of the pantry (or other cabinets) place a small tension rod across each shelf. This acts as a barrier, keeping containers in place when the pantry door opens after a bumpy ride.
Use a Fridge Lock
Most RV refrigerators come equipped with a fridge lock. If yours has one, use it. If not, get a fridge baby lock. Make sure you lock the fridge shut each time you move. This will ensure the fridge doesn’t pop open as you drive, something that can lead to bad messes and spoiled food.
Avoid Buying too Much Fresh Food
While it is nice to have plenty of fresh food to last the duration of your trip, buying too much produce and meat might result in some fresh food going bad before you can eat it. Instead, buy enough to last a few days and then supplement and stock up as you go.
Supplement Fresh Foods
You may not want to live off of canned and boxed foods, but they can come in handy when you need to stretch a small amount of fresh food. Canned tuna and chicken can be used when fresh meat isn’t an option and canned beans and tomatoes are a great addition to a number of dishes.
Stop at Roadside Stands
Roadside produce stands can make for super fun, unexpected pit stops. We love that you never know what you might find at one of these stands and it’s fun to get to know the locals as you pick up some of the freshest produce available.
Enjoy Agrotourism
Agrotourism is another fun way to ensure you have plenty of fresh fruits and veggies as you travel. Wrap a stay at a Harvest Hosts farm into your trip or just visit a u-pick farm as a way of seeing the area, getting to know the locals, and entertaining the family.
Clean Eating Meal Prep
Using the tips above will go a long way toward helping you keep all the fresh foods you want on board. But if you’re really committed to keeping lots of fresh food onboard, you might want to take meal prep into consideration.
Meal prepping involves cooking up and packaging several days, or even a whole week, worth of meals ahead of time. It’s a great idea for RVers — not only because it can help you eat healthy without putting in much effort during your vacation, but also because it means all those fresh ingredients will already be broken down and cooked, a process that renders most ingredients smaller.
Clearly, there are a lot of great ways to fit more food into your RV, keep it fresher for longer, and ensure you have fresh ingredients for the duration of your RV adventure. Make sure to use these tips on your net RV vacation, so you can enjoy good eats the entire time!
