Flour has oils in it, as do most plants based products, and when it is stored at room temperature for long periods of time that oil gets rancid, and gives it an off odor and worse, off flavor. When you bake and cook with it, that off flavor will be noticeable in delicate flavored recipes, or recipes with only a few ingredients; like my Shortbread Recipe. The refrigerator extends the useful life of flour extensively. My nose is sensitive to this off odor, and you can probably smell it also. I can also taste when I am served food prepared with rancid flours. The other thing that is important here is that rancid flours and cooking oils are not healthy. See this article from the Chicago Tribune to explain it better.
One of my favorite tricks for keeping flour fresher longer is storing it in the refrigerator. I put it in a glass or PBA safe plastic canister. PBA safe plastic is simple, play by the numbers, use containers with recycling numbers of #1, 2 or 4, and avoid the others. Some of my low use flours will get rancid if not used in a timely manner. I try make those recipes that call for the special flours I have on hand to assure that it gets in and out quickly. Good storage methods are a must when you use a lot of different types of specialty flours. I noticed that the article specifically calls out whole grain flour as susceptible, but ALL flour can get rancid after a time. If you don't use a LOT of flour, store it in the fridge.
I also use the fridge to store my cooking oils. This increases the life of the products, but they will still get rancid eventually so make sure you sniff the stuff before you use it, especially if you can't remember how old it is. I only use extras virgin olive and expeller pressed grape seed oils which are polyunsaturated. These oils are highly susceptible to rancidity if stored at room temperature for a long time. Although I use mine fairly quickly, I still store them in the fridge to be on the safe side. I can tell when something is going rancid way before most other people will even notice it. Although the larger bottles may look like a better bargain, if you don't use much oil, stick with the smaller bottles, and store those in the fridge. I hate when I have to throw out unused portions of anything when they get rancid before I finish them.
Olive oil, as do most other oils, gets solid when cold, so I transfer it into a wide mouth canning jar for storage, and just use a spoon to dip it out. You can also let it sit a room temp for a brief time and it melts pretty fast. Grape seed oil does not solidify in the fridge, but I have never explored why.
Here are some links to the benefits of Grape Seed Oil:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4821428_benefit-grapeseed-oil.html
http://familyfood.hiddenvalley.com/grape-seed-oil-cooking-tips-2985.html
http://healthybodydaily.com/doctor-oz-supplements/dr-oz-glucomannan-best-appetite-suppressants-to-lose-weight
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