A Frosty Freezer Feature

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to spend 6-8 hours in a 0* freezer packing hundreds frozen meat orders?

If you answered yes to that question, you must spend time thinking about odd things. Or you’re just obsessed with freezers. But never fear! Vintage Meadows is here to answer your burning questions about life in our meat freezer.

This is our overstock freezer! The boxes in here are used to restock our “picking freezer” which is the freezer described below.

You start off confident. “How cold can it be?” you tell yourself as you put on one, two, three pairs of socks, thermals, jeans, snowpants, one sweatshirt, two sweatshirts, an insulated coat, a hat, heated gloves, and boots. You grasp the freezer handle, you pull, and the cold air hits you. Like, it hits you. You brace yourself. You remind yourself of the compensation to hang out in this arctic climate. You think of the customers patiently waiting for their orders. And you get down to business.

The first hour, you try to distract yourself from the cold. But it creeps up through your boots and layers of socks. It starts in the tips of your toes and fingers. The second hour arrives. Then your nose goes numb. Your breaks outside the freezer in the balmy December temperature of 34* become more frequent.

By the end of your shift, you have become a certified icicle. You’re convinced you’ll never be warm again. You put on a happy face for Farmer Ryan, whose jolly joking makes you think he should take on next week’s freezer stint. (Don’t worry: Ryan has definitely put in his freezer time!). You consider swearing to never do it again. Anything to appease your thawing body. But you know you’ll be back. Despite its many drawbacks, the freezer is a special place, just like any other place on the farm (read a blog post about that HERE).

However, a couple of us at Vintage Meadows are freezer experts. Not me. I will happily write about others’ experiences at my cozy desk while sipping a hot cup of coffee! Apparently, one’s body adapts to the cold over a period of months. One freezer diver (and this was an unintentional experiment) described how after a year of spending chilly Mondays in the freezer’s arctic depths, he actually got used to it. He lasted the long packing day just fine and noticed throughout the week that the 40* weather barely bothered him, even without a coat!

Do you have any experiences with consistent exposure to warm or cold climates? What happened? Email us to share!

**This story is exaggerated for your reading pleasure and entertainment. We prioritize our employees’ health and well-being. Freezer duties are a completely safe and necessary part of life at VM!