Makes more sense to me this way. One of the reasons we like to keep a fair amount of frozen meat in the freezer is that, should we ever lose power for a long time (we are talking at our home now, not the RV), those chunks of frozen meat can act as a cooling agent in the ice chest, to help keep the more perishable stuff last a little longer.

I am curios tho, how did people ruin their refridgerators by leaving food in them? Are you talking rotten food odors, or something else???