The Solar Cooking Archive Wiki

November 2009

• The holidays are fast approaching. As in years past, Solar Cookers International (SCI) wishes to encourage its members and supporters to consider alternative gift-giving, the practice of making a meaningful contribution to a worthy cause in lieu of a traditional present. There are many great reasons to engage in this form of giving, including: promoting altruism, mitigating the effects of the holidays on the environment, and emphasizing the true spirit of the season. A popular way of participating in alternative giving is to make a donation in someone else’s name. For this we offer gift cards personalized with a hand-written message of your choosing. And for those who prefer to buy something that can be unwrapped, there’s good news -¬ the proceeds from sales of our solar cooking products support our nonprofit work, and the gift recipients are introduced to the wonderful benefits of cooking with the sun! To place your holiday orders, please visit the SCI Marketplace or contact SCI Office Manager and Marketing Coordinator Sierra Scott at (916) 455-4499.

• Beyond Zero talks to Deepak Gadhia of Gadhia Solar (transcript, or audio)

• Solar cooking comes of age in Kenya - Al Jazeera

• New mobile solar bakery benefits the population of Méouane, Senegal (original in French) - Agence de Presse Sénégalaise (See also Solar restaurants and bakeries.)

• UN Environment Fund donates 140 solar cookers to the women of Ndoukoura, Senegal (French) - Agence de Presse Sénégalaise

• "Every [Indian] individual/household should have a solar cooker," says Arvind Virmani, Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. (Read interview) - Moneycontrol.com

A Scheffler Community Kitchen

• Beyond Zero Emissions interviews Wolfgang Scheffler: Audio and Transcript (Thousands of Scheffler Community Kitchens are now installed at hundreds of locations around the world. Wolfgang Scheffler has made his dish designs and associated intellectual property available for free to create a solar world.)

• A Reuters video shows an EcoAndina project in the village of Misa Rumi in Argentina where everything is powered by the sun. Pictured above is the town bakery where 5 kg of bread are cooked every hour.

October 2009

• Solar power gives Andean villages a new lease on life - Reuters

• The September 2009 issue of Solar Cookers World Network's newsletter is now online.

• Kenya: Entrepreneurs Cashing in on Green Campaign - Business Daily (Nairobi)

Hilary Clinton speaking at the Global Philanthropy Forum Conference 2009

• Hilary Clinton mentioned solar cooking in her remarks at the Global Philanthropy Forum Conference 2009: "...and women cooking meals over solar-powered stoves that produce less black carbon and soot. We see the cutting down of pollution and respiratory disease, and saving women from long trips to collect firewood, and save diminishing forests." (text, video)

Pat McArdle demonstrates solar cookers for disaster preparedness at the National Defense University in Washington, DC.

• Solar Cookers at the National Defense University - Digital Video and Imagery Distribution

• Vietnam Solar Serve News #23 now online

• 60 Minutes clip about the great annual animal migration in Kenya and how it may be in danger due to charcoal production for cooking fuel

September 2009

You can now donate solar cookers to offset your own carbon emissions.

• Solar Cookers International East Africa Office trainers traveled to the Kimilili District, Maeni Location, Kamusinde village of Kenya to train 36 community leaders involved with the Kamusinde Christian Community Based Organization in the use of solar cookers for cooking and water pasteurization.

• Solar Sport box cooker project launched in Uganda - All Africa.com

• Solar Cookers International is seeking a new Executive Director.

• The July 2009 issue of Solar Cooker Review is now online.

• Indian Government to back small manufacturers of off-grid solar applications

• Kiva is a website that connects individuals in developed countries with entrepreneurs in developing countries, facilitating person-to-person loans. If you are looking for funding for a solar cooking project, consider contacting the Kiva field partner in your country.

August 2009

• Indian government to increase funding for off grid solar power including solar cookers - Business Standard

• Former Peace Corps Volunteer Proposes Solar Cooker Project for Africa - U.S. News and World Report

• Senator Supports Solar Cookers in Darfur - The New Jersey Jewish News Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) says he will forward the results of President Obama's Special Envoy to Sudan General Scott Gration’s efforts to study and improve the efficacy of solar cookers, which, by reducing the need for women to leave refugee camps to gather firewood — where they are often attacked — can help decrease violence against them.

• Solar cookers' Shine On at Sierra 2 - Sacramento Press (Press report about the Shine On event organized by Solar Cookers International)

• Dr. Bob Metcalf gave a very informative interview to Kirk Hamilton PA-C, of http://www.prescription2000.com, an online resource that delivers credible nutrition research to health professionals and to the public. Listen here. There is also a transcript available.

• National Defense University Project that Aims to Help War Torn Nations Includes Solar Cooking as one of its Recommended Deployable Technologies - Office of the Secretary of Defense Public Affairs

• Make a Parabolic Solar Cooker from a Bamboo Papasan Chair - The UberReview--Gadgets and Wired Madness

• Parabolic Solar Barbecue in Canada - The Standard

• Cooking with the Sun in Colorado - Washington DC Examiner.com

• Build a Solar Cooker from old CDs - Tree Hugger

• Students create Salud del Sol to market solar cookers as autoclaves in Nicaragua - State Department Federal Credit Union Brass Magazine

• Solar Cookers Help Maasai Women in Southern Kenya Lift Up Africa Newsletter Solar Cookers International and Lift Up Africa Form Partnership to bring solar cooking and retained heat cooking to Maasai women.

• Minnesota Solar Ovens Help Feed the World's Hungry - CBS TV Affiliate WCCO Since 1988 the Solar Oven Society SOS Has Delivered Thousands of Solar Ovens Around the World.

• India's Largest Solar Cooker - Green Muze

July 2009

• CBS TV coverage viewable online: Solar cooking gaining in popularity and Sharon Cousins is championing the cause

• Solar Cookers International's Annual Report for 2008 is now available online.

• Solar cookers were featured on Good Morning America on July 29, 2009. Watch here.

• Solar Oven Chef is blogging/photographing what she cooks on every sunny day for one year.

• Solar Cookers International is now on Twitter.

• Solar Cookers International's annual Shine On event is fast approaching. Save the date: Wednesday, August 26th. This year's Shine On will be at Sacramento's Sierra 2 Center. Our featured speakers will be Dr. Bob Metcalf, who will give an update on the SCI Safe Water Project and Elaine Corn, Sacramento Bee food critic and Capital Public Radio personality. At last year's "Celebrating New Directions" Shine On we hosted 225 people who heard speakers, including Dr. Metcalf, talk about our recent successes and exciting new plans. Dr. Metcalf also showed off SCI's Portable Microbiology Laboratory (PML). Our guests feasted on hot dogs, veggies, and an array of delicious solar-baked desserts. We hope to see you again this year. Remember: Wednesday, August 26, 5:30 p.m. at the Sierra 2 Center, 2791 24th Street in Sacramento, California.

• Keep on the Sunny Side with a Solar Cooker - Cruising World (Boating family cruises off the Pacific coast of Mexico and cooks tamale pie with a solar HotPot)

• Saving the World One Falafel Ball at a Time - Huffington Post (Chefs learn to fry falafel balls in a parabolic solar cooker just before sunset)

• Solar Fueled Cookup A Hit - Stabroek News Georgetown (Guyanese observers and media were astounded to see that the cardboard and aluminum foil Cookit was able to cook a local chicken and rice dish in two hours using only sunlight.)

• Backyard BBQ with Sunshine - Mother Nature Network (After all the veggie dogs are scarfed, do backyard BBQs leave you with a not-so-green taste in your mouth? Give a solar oven a try.)

• Sun In the Oven - www.publicservice.co.uk. Karyn Ellis, Director of International Program Development at Solar Cookers International, explains how solar power can tackle disease.

• Economic Survey urges Indian Government to eliminate cooking fuel/kerosene subsidies and ensure rural households have a solar cooker and a solar lantern - The Hindu, Business Times

• Discovery Channel Global Catastrophe Survival Series Participants Will Build Solar Cookers - Examiner.com

• FEDEX Delivers Solar Cookers to Myanmar Civil War Refugees in N. Thailand - Freight-Net

For older news, please see Solar cooking news archive.

Questions and comments: info@solarcookers.org.