Ecological Kitchens: An Essential Element for Better Health in the Home
David Whitfield Vaughn
and Ruth Saavedra de Whitfield
¨Alternative technologies for cooking are the most important tools that we have in order to reduce the suffering of human beings and relieve environmental degradation.¨ -
- Darwin Curtis, President of Solar Household Energy, a non profit organization dedicated to dissemination of alternative technologies through entrepreneurs.
Alternative energy technology, especially in the form of improved stoves, alleviates serious problems in the areas of: HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMY, BRINGING VALUE TO THE LIVES OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN, in developing countries.
Studies have proven serious health problems, such as respiratory diseases, cataracts, carbon monoxide in the blood stream of pregnant women, lung cancer, burns, impure water and poor nutrition, caused by the lack of fuel and excessive work for women, and the same for children who search for wood and who breathe contaminating particles that accumulate inside their homes. Alter a brief investigation of several improved stove programs and their impacts, of observations taken from programs in Africa, Asia, Central America and one ecological cooker program in Bolivia will establish a vision for future solutions.
Health: Several million people suffer regularly from diahhreal illnesses caused by contaminated water. Many suffer from respiratory and ocular diseases from conditions in which they cook (smoke), sometimes equal to the effect of 10 to 20 packs of cigarettes per day. Malnutrition is often caused by ingesting food that is not completely cooked and by cooking everything in just one pot (done because of a scarcity of fuel). Their consequences are, in part, the death of 14 million children each year and a life span in many countries of less than 50 years.
Environment: The unsustainable use of biomass for burning is causing environmental degradation in the Third World, where although only a little energy is consumed compared to the industrialized World, 90% of energy is used to cook food. At the beginning of the 21st century, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that the scarcity of fuel affects at least 2.4 million people. The use of wood as fuel contributes to deforestation, soil erosion, water contamination, loss of soil fertility and, ultimately, desertification.
Economy: Many families are forced to spend more on fuel than on food itself, affecting their nutrition, health, and their capacity to acquire adequate medical care.
Equality: In many areas of the world, cultural practices condemn women to lives of arduous work searching for fuel. This work could be stopped with the use of improved cooking methods.
THE COMMON DEMONINATOR IN THESE INJUSTICES IS FUEL.
The burning of coal, liquid petroleum, biomass or animal waste, are identified to directly cause chronic respiratory illnesses in adults and children. Studies have determined that the use of fuel for food produces unacceptable levels of contamination inside the home, according to indications of COHb in the blood. The use of animal waste or biomass as fuel deprives the soil of recycled fertilizers and reduces the size of harvests along with the earth's capacity to feed livestock.
Shortages of cooking fuel cause families to employ methods of acquiring fuel that negatively affect their nutrition. The availability of fuel affects their cooking habits and their ability to provide themselves with food. There are identifiable links between issues of fuel, food, water, and the lives of children, and also between women's use of time and their health. All are factors that affect the quality of life of people who must cook over open flame and which eventually reduce their life expectancy. Moreover, the dependence on fossil fuels and firewood is unsustainable.
IN-HOME AIR CONTAMINATION
To reduce the inhalation of smoke and, in turn, its related afflictions such as cooking injuries and burns caused by traditional preparation methods, is the principal motivation for putting better cooking equipment into practice. The number one cause of the death of young children under the age of five in Central America is acute respiratory illness. This is tied directly to the use of open flames (for stoves) for cooking in the home.
In the article: "In-Home Pollution and its Effects on Health", Dr. Panaday informs us that, based on an analysis in India, where 260,162 people over the age of 20 who live in homes where biomass as cooking fuel is used have a much higher indice of active tuberculosis than those who live in homes where cleaner fuels are used. Moreover, the incidence of asthma is greatly augmented in the developing world, most likely tied to in-home air contamination. Additionally, Dr. Panaday demonstrated the relationship between the indicators of lowered birth-rates and the presence of CO2 in the blood of mothers and their children.
In his editorial titled: "Biomass Energy, In-Home Air Pollution, and Health", Auke Koopmans informs that the results of studies conducted in developing countries indicate that concentrations of particles produced by traditional biomass used in kitchens are often 10 or more times higher than the standards set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Mr. Koopmans explains that exposure to these high levels of contamination is consistently associated with acute respiratory illnesses (ARI) and is the greatest cause of life-threatening illness and death in the world. Doing so, Koopmans maintains that in-home air pollution is the second greatest environmentally-based source of illness after potable water and basic sanitation, and second only to this in importance for global health.
According to the studies mentioned, two types of respiratory illnesses related to smoke have been established, resulting from the burning of biomass: chronic obstructing lung diseases in adults, and acute respiratory infections in infants and young children. Ambas illnesses are frequently found in families that use traditional open-flame stoves without interior ventilation in the house. Other effects to health are: adverse effects to pregnancy (low birth weight), cancer, etc.; these are also suspected as consequences of cooking with biomass in unventilated places with traditional ovens. For detailed information on biomass and health, please refer to Smith (1987), WHO (1992).
From these studies one can deduce that the effect of contaminating agents (emitted by the burning of biomass during cooking) in the health of women and children should be very alarming. They establish the need to use several strategies, alone or combined with others, to drastically reduce the level of emissions.
OTHER HEALTH-RELATE ASPECTS
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently estimated that some 1.6 million unnatural deaths are caused each year by the use of solid fuels (biomass and coal). Illnesses such as cholera, typhoid, gastroenteritis, dysentery and infectious hepatitis kill more than 400 children in the underdeveloped parts of the world each hour, converting into the loss of millions of hours of worker productivity each year. Access to water in housing is uncommon in developing countries, and two out of three people in the world have to bring water from outside into their homes.
In Third World countries, the affliction of illnesses caused by contaminated water and a lack of sanitation continues to grow, and often the primary cause of diahrrea is contaminated water.
According to the United Nations (UNICEF), diahhrea is the most common childhood illness in developing countries. Dehydration resulting from diahrrea is the primary cause of the death of children under five, killing approximately five million children each year. This illness is also the most common origin of children's malnutrition, which could lead to death or to permanent deterioration of physical and mental development.
The organization Ayudas Internacionales works with improved stoves in Guatemala.
On his webpage, Mr. Don O'Neal mentions some aspects often pasado por alto related to health. "Cooking over an open flame is the culturally accepted way to cook in rural Guatemala. Like their mothers and grandmothers cooked before them, they do without thinking or considering other alternatives, while it provides a good place to sit and say, "It's so dangerous!" Cooking over open flames creates two important dangers: burns and respiratory infections."
O'Neal explains that homes are generally small, with the stove in the middle of the room. The children play or learn to walk in these conditions, facilitating accidents near the fire. According to the WHO, one out of five children in Guatemala does not live past five years of age. The principal cause of death at this age is acute respiratory infection (from breathing smoke from the oven). From the day of their birth, children are put on their mothers' backs while they cook over open flames. Though respiratory infections are not as visible as burn victims, their results in their victims are equally devastating and are silent killers.
Improved cookers allow the open flame not to be on the floor, preventing the flames to reach clothing, avoiding children falling in the fire or running around it, and moreover preventing smoke in the house. Improved cookers save lives! It is also a more convenient way to cook for women, especially for pregnant women who comment that cooking de paradas is more comfortable.
THE ROLE OF GENDER
The obligation to provide water and firewood for domestic use, particularly in conditions that contribute to environmental degradation, is a massive charge upon poor women and rural and urban young girls. Moreover, the health effects of domestic use of biomass (wood, animal waste, agricultural residues) and of coal are suffered for the most part by women. There are several important themes that could be summarized in the following manner:
" The scarcity of firewood plagues women, putting the responsibility on them to find solutions.
" The strategies they choose to confront these realities can affect the state of food since the availability of firewood affects cooking habits and the availability of food.
" We must have a better comprehension of the negative impact on communities limiting the access to and use of natural resources. The relationship between firewood, food, water, the time of women and women's health merits additional attention.
" Respiratory disorders in women are tied to exposure to smoke, resulting from domestic food preparation. Nevertheless, respiratory infections in women go on without treatment.
IMPROVED COOKERS AS A SOLUTION
Evidence from studies and field work in many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America demonstrate that the introduction of Improved Cookers have brought considerable advantages which benefit in urban, rural, and impoverished homes.
Many types of solutions for problems of health, economy, social wellbeing and the environment have existed, associated to themes related to energy used in the home. A survey was distributed around the world, asking for information about alternative systems for food preparation.
The responses to that survey demonstrate that the need for better technology for cooking is globally recognized. Although most of the programs primarily focus on improved biomass-burning devices, more frequently they are being put into operation in conjunction or integrated with efficient biomass, heat retention and solar cookers. In Bolivia, one of the most recognized programs in the world that addresses the transfer of technology related to innovated cooking methods has been in existence since 1999.
ECOLOGICAL KITCHENS - INTEGRATED FOOD PREPARATION SYSTEMS
In a report, the French environmental organization "A.D.E.M.E." and scientist Robert Chiron describe the project of Sobre La Roca and the Whitfield's methodology of solar cooker dissemenation. "An innovative methodology developed by David and Ruth Whitfield has been achieved. Efficient wood stoves, ovens that utilize the principles of heat retention, and solar cookers could be an integral part of this appropriate technology. The theory and the ideas - transmitted to the participants in participatory workshops, and supported by a substantial follow-up period, have allowed the transformation of people's new habits to form".
As he explains in his report, that method has been modified consistently by the Whitfield's by incorporating lessons learned by acquired experience by the owners between 2000 and 2003. Almost 1,000 cookers constructed, 800 people trained, and solid scientific data prove the efficiency of the methods and the methodology used in this project.
The participants were surveyed before the course and in intervals of two months during a period of six months following. The results help to document the capacity of the ecological kitchens, highly efficient in terms of reduction of greenhouse gases, enough to participate in a carbon credit register, demonstrating their efficiency in measurable terms.
His document proves that solar cookers can be assimilated into the Bolivian culture (and probably into other similar cultures). It demonstrates 65% fuel savings, which translates into a CO2 reduction near 900 kilograms per year per each cooker (according to the report conducted by Ruth and David Whitfield).
Improved health, better nutrition and a higher quality of life are the secondary advantages of their use, which also affect sustainable development.
The Whitfields' work, observed by Chiron, documents the increase of consumption of healthier food, pasteurization of water and home-made boiled drinks, which implies an improvement in nutrition and health. It is common knowledge that cooking within the house with wood harms the health of women, while the consumption of wood has decreased by 85%, certainly implying the betterment of health in women and children.
Time savings recouped from cooking itself and collecting firewood permits additional activities for the generation of additional income. Applied in a large scale, this phenomenon could positively affect the GDP of developing countries around the world.
