Cheap solar cooker / refrigerator can save lives

It's pretty close to axiomatic but, in my opinion, rarely referred to in everyday media analysis of poverty: the big makers and advertisers don't make for or advertise to poor people. The emphasis is on getting those who already have to buy more and, where possible, to buy things that need to be thrown out and replaced as frequently as possible.

For example, who's finding cures for the poor people's disease of malaria? It seems that is left to the philanthropic organizations. In the case of malaria, it looks like real progress is being made, thanks in part to the corporate-level clout of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Likewise, cures that can't be leveraged into expensive extracts, treatments or pills are neglected -  and even sabotaged if they provide a cheap alternative to a corporate product. Recently it's been found that pomegranate juice has significant benefits in the treatment of prostate cancer.  However, it is also acknowledged that not a lot of promotion will be given to this because there's no profit in it.  We can rant against this all we want but face it, the profit motive is amoral and has characteristics that do not favour the most needy among us.  This is especially so when the entity making the profit is a faceless corporation.  So railing against the consequences of the stock exchange, mutual funds etc. is pointless. I occasionally use this space to promote alternatives.

Today it is the solar funnel cooker which can also be used at night as a refrigerator. If you are so inclined, the page includes  instructions to make one. It seems to me that, for very little money, a lot of these can be made. The impact on the environment is beneficial (e.g. no trees cut down, little smoke) and on people's lives potentially revolutionary, given the time and labour involved in collecting cooking fuel. This would apply dramatically in places like Darfur where women have to walk far from the refugee camps to find wood and are vulnerable to attack from surrounding Janjawid militia.

From the article:

Tests in Utah

I have personally used the Solar Funnel Cooker to cook lunches over many weeks. My favorite foods to cook are potatoes (cut into logs or slices) and carrot slices. Vegetables cook slowly in their own juices and taste delicious. I also make rice, melted cheese sandwiches, and even bread in the Solar Funnel Cooker. I usually put the food out around 11:30 and let it cook until 12:45 or 1 pm, just to be sure that it has time to cook. I've never had any food burn in this cooker.

I have also cooked food in the mountains, at an altitude of around 8,300 feet. If anything, the food cooked faster there - the sunlight filters through less atmosphere at high altitudes.

The BYU Funnel Cooker/Cooler can:

• Cook food without the need for electricity or wood or petroleum or other fuels.
• Pasteurize water for safe drinking, preventing many diseases.
• Save trees and other resources.
• Avoid air pollution and breathing smoke while cooking.
• Use the sun's free energy. A renewable energy source.
• Cook food with little or no stirring, without burning.
• Kill insects in grains.
• Dehydrate fruits, etc.
• Serve as a refrigerator at night, to cool even freeze water.

Now, who will pay for an ad to promote this simple tool and who will use it to make it "cool", like Hollywood celebs are doing with hybrid vehicles? How about a special:
When you buy your hybrid vehicle, 1,000 solar cookers will be provided to a charity of your choice.

Having read this far, you would probably be interested in an earlier post on cheap/free water disinfection.

Comments

[Ginny]

Well, I think that is ingenious. I can see many applications. Have you tried this out for yourself or are you just commenting on it for others?

[JN]

Hi Ginny,

I haven't tried it. I was thinking of it more in terms of where the real need is (perhaps if I was more of a camping type). However, it would probably be a good idea to try one out if you are planning on actively promoting sending a lot of them somewhere. In the article the BYU team wisely sent a few to the area(s) they thought might benefit. There are usually local factors that can affect the acceptance and practicality of ideas like this.

It would probably be a good item to include in a long-term survival kit.

I'm working on a post that is more oriented to our affluent society and involves something I *have* done a fair bit about. Watch this space!