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What is a Root Cellar?
Your grandmother's house might have had an unusual door attached to one side of the home or in the backyard that seemed to lead directly into the ground. Root cellars are simple structures buried either entirely or partially underground. Root cellars can store fruits, vegetables, root crops, and other types of food. Depending on the specific crop and climatic conditions, root cellars can successfully store food for several months. Before the advent of refrigerators, root cellars were an essential technology of agrarian civilizations that allowed families to keep crops for several months during the winter when fresh food wasn't available.
While many older homes may still have vestiges of root cellars that have gone out of use with the advent of modern refrigerators, root cellars today are again gaining in popularity due to increased interest and demand in organic and locally sourced food.
If you have ever walked into a cave during a hot afternoon in August, you probably immediately noticed the refreshingly cool temperature. Because soil is a poor conductor of heat, the temperature only a couple of feet underneath the ground generally remains cool and constant throughout the year. So, root cellars are great places to store food because of the stable, cool temperatures that essentially act like natural refrigerators.
Add to this that the soil beneath your feet is generally moist unless you live in an arid desert region. This natural moisture maintains a high humidity level for root cellars, which is another essential component of successfully storing foods.
Carbon Footprint of the Globalized Food Industry
Root cellars can also lower your home's carbon footprint by reducing your reliance on the globalized food industry. During the winter months, the fresh produce on the shelves of your local grocery store has most likely traveled thousands of miles before eventually making it to your table.
The Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) estimates that meals in the United States travel about 1,500 miles to get from their origin to your dinner plate. Transporting those fresh Chilean apples or Argentinian-raised soybeans to your home in Washington State adds up to an enormous amount of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions. Studies have also shown that food produces about 8 tons of emissions per household through transportation emissions and unsustainable agricultural practices of the industrial food system.
On the other hand, a root cellar will allow your family to secure a sustainable, local, and low-emission food source, even during the winter months, while simultaneously supporting local farmers and agricultural economies.
Getting Started With Root Cellars
Building a root cellar can be a do-it-yourself project that can be completed by even people with limited construction knowledge. Not every homeowner is up to the challenge of digging a hole, laying a foundation, and covering that hole so that you can store fresh produce throughout the winter.
Fortunately, the resurgence of interest in sustainable home design and technologies has allowed companies to design, make, and market pre-manufactured root cellars that only require installation. Below we look at one of the best-manufactured root cellars on the market today.
Bottom Line
Even if you do not grow food yourself, any homeowner wanting a more resilient home should seriously consider building a root cellar. It will reduce your carbon footprint and secure healthier, local sources of organic food during the long months of winter—even during power outages.
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.
