Is it Safe to Eat? Funny Food Science Zine From My Fridge to Yours
- Jessica Levey
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Introducing Volume One of "Can I Eat It?", a funny and informative food science zine about the things you find in your fridge! Here's how it came to be...
I cook most of my meals during the week. I’m busy, but I’m also on a budget (you’ve seen this economy), and besides – I honestly love streaming trashy sci-fi or spy shows while I make dinner to decompress at the end of a long day. It’s my thing.
Also my thing? Finding tupperware at the back of the fridge that disappears and reappears like magic.
Now, I spent decades working in bars and cafes (before becoming a professional writer and illustrator), so my stomach can handle a lot of, uh – uncertainty – but with age comes caution. Food poisoning just hits different in your thirties and forties. If you know, you know.
So recently, I’ve googled my fair share of “How long do tomatoes last in the fridge?” or “How long are black beans good for, if I was too lazy to put them in an airtight container because the drama on La Brea was really heating up?” (Come on – love triangles, government intrigue, time travel, AND a baby wooly rhino? Those writers can’t miss.)
The search for helpful info led me down a couple of fun rabbit holes, and eventually to making this zine.
Like, I learned that one of the most common bacteria in my fridge (and yours, don’t judge me) is bacillus cereus. It’s what makes your black beans dangerous to eat if you leave them uncovered in the fridge after 3 to 4 days. And it’s so adept at surviving in cold temps and unusual environments, they’ve even found it aboard the International Space Station! Yep, just a little something that me and those astronauts and cosmonauts have in common!!
And did you know that tomatoes get their red color from lycopene? While looking up how long sliced tomato lasts in the fridge (1 to 3 days in an airtight container, fyi), I learned that lycopene is a type of carotenoid, which tomatoes produce as the plant breaks down green chlorophyll. It's why they change from green to red as they ripen. How cool is that?! Unfortunately, lycopene does nothing to prevent mold or bacteria from colonizing the outer rim of these tasty fruits, which is why I just had to move a sad looking chunk of tomato from the bottom shelf to the bin. RIP.
Introducing: “Can I Eat It? Vol 1: Fridge Edition”
In fact, every time I looked up whether or not I could eat something from the back of my fridge, I learned something new. I decided to put a few of these neat facts into a short food science zine. Because if I think this sort of thing is interesting, I bet a few of you do too!
This 18-page zine includes two easy recipes (gochujang sauce for bibimbap and banana bread), some fun drawings of molecular compounds (lycopene and triacylglycerol / triglycerides), a small bounty of interesting leftover food facts, and dreamy full color illustrations. Foods covered include tomatoes, liquid aminos, canned black beans, bananas, and gluten free panko.
I liked making this one so much that I’ll be making more of them, so please keep an eye out! And check out some photos of the zine below! See all my zines, stickers, books and more in my SHOP.
Want to stock these zines in your bookstore, comic shop, or retail location at a wholesale / bulk price? PLEASE contact me, I want really want that toO!
