I have the same issue. What's worse is that I am a non-practicing chocolatier - because of this.

Things I have done:

Bread: freeze it and when you want a slice or two, toast it (not the greatest solution)

Veggies and fruit: keep it in the fridge

Chocolate and wine: I bought a wine fridge at Target for around $100 to store these items - it's wonderful

Otherwise, I just don't buy certain foods anymore (bread in particluar) unless I know I'm going to eat them right away.

Hope this helps!

Hang a bear bag out of your window?

Hi Liz, in the winter months I keep a lot of fresh produce outside on the balcony in an old cold box, the ones that in summer keep your drinks cold! Because they're well insulated the produce doesn't freeze, not even in sub zero temperatures.

Last time I was in Paris I noticed that a lot of people have shopping bags with groceries hanging out of their kitchen windows. They might take them in at night to stop things freezing, but I didn't check :)

I have this issue too, and it particularly affects my oils. I know cool and dark is the way to go, but that doesn't really exist in my apartment. Would it be worse to keep it in the fridge?

Oof, you can't control your heat? What kind of heating system do you have?

We always keep our bread in the fridge, or even the freezer, since we only use it to make toast anyway. I'm not sure what to do about the onions or potatoes!

Same problem. I have hot spots where the steam pipes run through the walls, and I compensate by storing perishibles as far from those spots as I can. I keep the kitchen window open a crack when I can. Mitigates, but doesn't solve, the problem.

Do you have room for a mini fridge? You can set the temp. around 50-60F, which is great for storing onions, garlic, etc. Another tip is to keep your onions as far away from everything else as possible--they work to spoil other fruits and veggies.

Freezing bread is a good tip; I cut my loaves in half, freeze half and try to use the other within a few days. Sourdough (real sourdough) tends to last longer without going stale or moldy, so you might consider that too.

When we had this problem, we just left windows open. It felt very wasteful, but we'd complained multiple times about the excessive heat, and our landlord did nothing.

For several years running I had this problem in the summer - it was just plain impractical to get my top-floor apartment cooled to below 78F and impossible to get it below 76. Potatoes hate that, and I never did find a satisfactory alternative.

What does anyone do with potatoes? Even assuming you have complete control over your heating and cooling, where do you find a space in an apartment that is 40-50 F?

I don't have the energy to shop for veggies on the day I'll use them, so I just try to buy only what I'll use up in a week and keep it in the fridge, or buy frozen instead of fresh.

Back when I ate bread it was the ordinary mass-baked sliced bread, which is nearly bulletproof, texture-wise.* I did have a slight issue with it going moldy fast, but I made a rule to always always always wash my hands between touching other food and reaching into the bread bag, and that solved the problem.

*By design.

I'm wondering if perhaps it isn't just the heat, but a combo of heat plus some humidity that is causing the spoiling to happen so fast? 75 degrees isn't really all that hot if it isn't too humid, so food shouldn't have a problem keeping in that temperature unless there is too much moisture. My parents keep their house at a steady 74 year round (they are in the Myrtle Beach area) and they have no issues with food spoiling. My mother keeps produce and bread on the counter, in the pantry closet, and in the cabinets and doesn't have any problems. The home is about 6 years old, so perhaps because it is newer it is better sealed or something and perhaps that contributes to it not being a problem for food.

If the moisture is the culprit, how about a dehumidifier? If it isn't the culprit, perhaps it might be worth clearing out a low cabinet or pantry shelf that runs on an exterior wall of the house. This would be colder than any other wall in the house, and if you had a good seal on the cabinet door (some cheap items from the local hardware store could help here easily), it might stay cool enough in there for some good food storage. Good luck!

I've also noticed that some potatoes and some onions spoil much faster than others, so it is probably worth testing out a few different options to see what lasts the longest for you. You could also chop things ahead of time and store in the fridge until use. And I have seen people store potatoes and onions in the fridge, though I have never done this myself. Not sure how drastic the impact is on the quality, but perhaps it is better than nothing?

My kitchen gets very hot during the summer. I store everything, including potatoes,oils and sweetpotatoes in the refrigerator. I've never noticed a problem with the refrigerated potatoes or onions. Buy a big refrigerator and dedicate one drawer to the spuds. Wrap the onions in paper towel and put in a plastic bag. The paper towels keep the onions from molding or sweating. The plastic bag keeps the onions separated from the other vegetables. Freeze bread. Bananas do well in cold storage too, the skins may darken but the flesh is fine. I've always stored my spuds in the refrig and never understood why people wasted so many potatoes storing them at room temp,in light.

If you live in a tropical country then this sort of thing is just part of life. Fruit I keep in a basket - so that lots of air circulates so that they don't rot. Bread in the freezer - definitely not in a breadbox as that doesn't allow the air to circulate and you will just have mold growing. Potatoes and onions hanging in muslin bags in the pantry. Garlic I buy in oil. And I keep lots of moth repellent - humidity and heat seems to encourage weevils and moths to flourish. I use a version of flypaper that they stick to. Bananas I hang my hooks. Soft fruit - in the fridge. Herbs, I freeze in ice cubes. Hope this helps!

I live in a tropical country myself - no AC in the kitchen - temperatures regularly around 85 if the oven is OFF. Not to mention the aforementioned humidity in the previous comments.

The thing to remember is a dry, low light "cooler" location. I use a combo of things - hanging net bags in a corner of my kitchen that has low light for onions and i use a bin in the bottom of one of my cabinets for potatoes. Remember heat rises. Consider storing them in a location other than your kitchen - is there a concrete dark utility room nearby?

However to combat humidity I store them with natural non-electric commercial dehumidifier products. Stores that sell products for allergy sufferers usually have them in order to fight mold. Also as previous commenters have mentioned - I don't buy huge amounts in bulk. I try to keep a half dozen of each on hand. Except for garlic - I buy the pre-minced kind as its what I need more than 90% of the time when I'm cooking.

As for the previous commenters mention of moths and weevils - double bag/contain it. Often times you are getting the infestation from the grocery store. For example I store each bag of flour in a seperate ziploc and then in a communal tupperware container to help prevent cross - contamination with the rest of the flour and dried goods. Try to eliminate as much of the cardboard as possible as bugs like to lay eggs in it (especially cockroaches). The minute you find a moth/weevil/uninvited guest be overly vigellante about eliminating the source. Quarntine it from the rest of the food if it sems suspicious. Look for airtight containers, and when in doubt ziploc/plastic wrap and contain it. It isn't fool-proof but will slow the spread to the rest of your non-perishables.